MELINDA GOHN – World’s Longest Peace Poem – PEACE POEM MAUI

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Jason Schwartz with MELINDA GOHN– Melinda is a wonderful woman who initiated the International Peace Poem Project in the late 1990’s- also leads the Dr. Martin Luther King Poetry Contest throughout the Hawaiian Islands schools- a delightful show. ….PeacePoem.org. 6-17-2019

Summary & Transcript Below…

Interview with Melinda Gohn on the International Peace Poem Project and Maui Poetry Community

1. 1. 1. 1. [00:00 → 07:20] Introduction and Origins of the International Peace Poem Project

• The interview begins with host Jason Schwartz introducing Melinda Gohn, founder of the International Peace Poem Project, which started on June 23, 1996—over 23 years ago.
• Melinda and Jason recount their initial collaboration during a poetry event in Lahaina, Maui, involving community poets and the Maui Life Poetry Society.
• The project’s ambitious goal was to create the world’s longest poem on peace, inviting worldwide contributions starting on the summer solstice to symbolize light and hope.
• Early support came from local government and community members, including then-Mayor Linda Lingle, who contributed lines to the poem.
• The project grew with the help of volunteers and local poets like Lawrence Hill, Frank Rich, and others, emphasizing a collaborative community spirit.
• Early technology support was critical: Maui’s future politician Angus McKelvey, a computer whiz, designed the project’s first website, enabling global participation.
• The project emphasizes inclusivity, inviting all people worldwide to contribute their lines about peace in any language.

[07:20 → 14:00] Focus on Youth and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest

• Melinda, an English and poetry teacher, shifted from medicine to education to support children’s poetry, driven by her own childhood experience of being an unrecognized poet.
• The Peace Poem Project actively engaged schools internationally, gathering poetry from over 90 nations.
• In 1999, they launched the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest in Hawai‘i, initially covering four islands and expanding to include Molokai separately due to growth.
• The contest encourages all grade levels, with teachers submitting poems written during Black History Month in honor of Dr. King.
• Two winners are selected from each class, fostering a high chance of success for many children.
• Prizes included unique art gifts, certificates signed by local mayors, and public recognition during assemblies on each island.
• The contest uplifts often overlooked children—quiet, sensitive, and introspective students—giving them a valued voice.
• Over the years, the contest has helped discover young poets who return repeatedly, developing their skills and confidence.

1. 1. 1. 1. [14:00 → 17:37] Notable Contributors and Community Support

• The Peace Poem Project has received contributions from famous Maui residents and visitors, including Willie Nelson, who spontaneously added a line to the poem.
• Other distinguished contributors include the late Senator Daniel Inouye and even a blessing from the Vatican.
• Local artists like “Davao,” who worked with Andy Warhol, have donated prizes and portraits, highlighting community arts integration.
• The project encourages ongoing participation from the public, welcoming new submissions through their website (peacepoem.org).
• The poem was inspired by a six-year-old child’s idea, emphasizing the innocent and truthful voice of children in advocating for peace.

1. 1. 1. 1. [17:37 → 24:00] The Maui Live Poetry Society and Its Roots

• Melinda chairs the Maui Live Poetry Society alongside Frank Rich (aka Wide Garcia), organizing free public poetry readings at various libraries.
• The society started reading poetry in the early 1990s, initially without a formal name, inspired partly by the film Dead Poets Society.
• The group adopted the name “Maui Live Poetry Society” to reflect their spontaneous, live poetry style, inviting interaction and improvisation.
• They have a rich history with longstanding poets such as Elsita Stirling, who was renowned for her metaphor-rich, rhyming poetry and who held successful book signings well into her 90s.
• The society includes a diverse group of established poets, including Ellen Levinsky, David “the Bear” Wilson, Gary Kubota, Lawrence Hill (deceased but deeply missed), and Bryan DeVries, a haiku master and musician.
• Their gatherings are noted for the quality, thoughtfulness, and caring nature of participants, contributing positively to Maui’s cultural and artistic life.

1. 1. 1. 1. [24:00 → 32:15] Honoring Civil Rights History and Diverse Community Support

• The project honors civil rights pioneers like Natalie Tyler, who was a Freedom Fighter during Dr. King’s campaigns in the South, and Murrayfield Johnson.
• Natalie spoke at Dr. King Award ceremonies, providing powerful firsthand accounts that deeply moved attendees, including reconnecting with old friends after decades.
• The contest has been supported by multiple Maui mayors and civic leaders, such as Jeremy Harris, Kimo Apana, Joanne Yukimura, Harry Kim, Charmaine Tavares, Arakawa, and Victorino.
• Teachers statewide have embraced the contest, with many returning yearly to bring new students into the program.
• The project collaborates closely with the governor’s office, which provides official recognition certificates to outstanding teachers.
• Poetry themes from the islands often reflect nature and family, evolving over the years in response to world events like 9/11 and the election of President Obama.
• Hawaiian language poetry has been increasingly incorporated, especially through Hawaiian immersion programs, with key teachers like Greta Martinez on Molokai fostering bilingual poetic expression.
• The project views these contributions as a vital part of cultural preservation and linguistic revival.

1. 1. 1. 1. [32:15 → 41:19] Impact of Poetry on Youth and the Broader Community

• Poetry allows children to express their insights, fears, hopes, and reflections on global and local events.
• The contest also reaches military base schools and private institutions, with a broad statewide and international presence.
• Teachers find the contest valuable for meeting educational benchmarks across history, communication, arts, and social studies.
• The project receives approximately 2,000 poems annually, all read and judged by volunteer educators, retired principals, and artists.
• Judges include respected local figures such as Dorothy Betts (musician and writer), Renee Riley (retired college instructor), and Donna Whitford (retired principal and Hawaiian language expert).
• The project prides itself on volunteerism and community ownership, avoiding dependence on large donors or corporate control to maintain its integrity and mission.
• It fosters unity by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, including different political and social viewpoints, who come together to celebrate children’s creativity and peace ideals.

1. 1. 1. 1. [41:19 → 54:27] Community Engagement, Justice System Outreach, and Personal Stories

• Poetry readings are held regularly at multiple libraries across Maui, including Lahaina, Wailuku, and Makawao.
• Frank Rich (Wide Garcia) is highlighted as an inspiring poet and artist who has been a core member of the poetry community for decades.
• Gary Kubota, a retired journalist and playwright, is noted for his significant contributions to Maui’s theater scene and Hawaiian cultural history.
• Melinda shares heartfelt stories of young poets like Iris Riverstone, a grand prize winner who expressed the deep importance of poetry in her life.
• The project welcomes poetry submissions from around the world, including places as distant as Saipan, Alaska, and Michigan.
• Melinda has participated in poetry projects inside the Maui prison system, working with both men and women inmates, including a memorable evening of stargazing tied to the Russian Mir space station symbolizing peace.
• Despite challenges such as staffing shortages in the prison system, the poetry program provided meaningful creative outlets and moments of connection for incarcerated individuals.
• Melinda discusses the struggles many students face, including homelessness and family instability, and how poetry can be a healing and empowering force.
• She expresses pride in her work as a teacher at Lokelani Intermediate School, emphasizing the shared mission of educators to uplift and support children.

1. 1. 1. 1. [54:27 → 56:16] Closing Remarks and Call to Action

• Jason and Melinda conclude by encouraging viewers and listeners to visit peacepoem.org and submit their own lines of poetry about peace.
• Contact details including an email (poem@maui.net) are provided for those interested in participating or learning more.
• Melinda acknowledges the many volunteers, teachers, and community members who have sustained the project over the years.
• She expresses hope that the project will continue long into the future, spreading Dr. King’s message of equality, justice, and peace.
• Both guests thank the audience and express optimism that the children and poetry will continue to inspire positive change worldwide.

1. 1. 1. Key Insights

• The International Peace Poem Project is a unique, community-driven effort to promote peace through poetry, especially involving children from Hawai‘i and worldwide.
• It has grown organically over 23+ years, supported by local leaders, artists, teachers, and volunteers without reliance on large funding bodies.
• The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest is a central program that connects students with history, civil rights, andcreative expression.
• Poetry serves as a powerful educational tool and a medium to nurture empathy, cultural preservation, and social cohesion.
• The Maui Live Poetry Society enriches the local literary culture with regular public readings and the involvement of notable poets.
• The project bridges social divides and provides a platform for often overlooked voices, including marginalized children and incarcerated individuals.
• There is a strong emphasis on sustaining the project for future generations, with hopes to expand its reach and deepen its impact.

1. 1. 1. Keywords

International Peace Poem Project, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest, Maui poetry, youth poetry, community arts, Hawaiian language poetry, Maui Live Poetry Society, civil rights, peace advocacy, poetry education, volunteerism, cultural preservation, prison poetry program, global poetry contributions, poetry readings, community engagement, Maui artists, peace poem website.

1. 1. 1. FAQ

Q: How can someone contribute to the International Peace Poem Project?
A: Visit peacepoem.org to submit your lines of poetry about peace in any language. You can also email submissions to poem@maui.net.

Q: Who can participate in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poetry Contest?
A: Students from all grade levels statewide in Hawai‘i are encouraged to participate, including public, private, and homeschool students.

Q: Are the poetry readings open to the public?
A: Yes, Maui Live Poetry Society readings are free and held monthly at libraries in Lahaina, Wailuku, and Makawao.

Q: Does the project involve any notable contributors?
A: Yes, notable contributors include Willie Nelson, late Senator Daniel Inouye, and local artists like Davao who have supported the project with artwork and prizes.

Q: How is the project funded?
A: The project is largely supported by small donations from community members and volunteer efforts, maintaining independence and integrity.

Q: Has the project worked with incarcerated populations?
A: Yes, poetry workshops were held in Maui prisons in the early 1990s, providing creative outlets for inmates despite logistical

challenges.

This detailed summary reflects the full scope of the video interview, capturing the history, impact, and ongoing work of Melinda Gohn and the International Peace Poem Project within Maui and beyond.

00:00

good morning 11 o’clock on Monday I’m Jason Schwartz this is a neutral zone we have a wonderful guest today [Music] [Music] that is moment our damn you watch this hand [Music] please meet you hope make your good morning everyone you know this is 2019 that’s a funny thing to say 2019 it was just a few years ago few years to me when did this happen I have a guest here that I met what year did you start your thing there we began the International Peace palm project on June the 23rd 1996

01:29

1996 so that’s 23 years ago nice one I met Melinda gone-gone right Melinda gone gone she is a wonderful wonderful lady you’re gonna find that out in the next hour I am Jason Schwartz and we’re here sitting in kak you radio now you out there who find us on Facebook live thank you but also at Maui neutral zone calm you can find us later on YouTube all that stuff and this is show number 46 I think isn’t that amazing yes to me that’s amazing last week we had Jim Loomis on Jim Loomis who won the could

02:16

you is the winner of the first Maui Writers Conference award and now he’s in his upper 80s he wrote a book the guy who called you know tales from the trees how to save the cosmos until Tuesday he is a wonderful guy and when I think of that why did I think of that because all these years go by and they’re great people I was I guess fortunate to be on the Commission for culture in the arts in Maui and my last official act was to go out to Lahaina there was this poem there were these people doing some kind

02:55

of poetry thing they asked the mayor mayor Lingle remember her to write lines and I was out writing lines for this poem and the International Peace poem had a leader and this leader was this beautiful lady Linda Melinda you and a couple of others were really I remember the whole thing Kenny Hulk whis made paper yes we it was an entire process a number of poets came together and we were mmm doing poetry for the Maui Life Poetry Society at the time and Lawrence Hill and Frank Rich and myself Melinda gong were leading the readings

03:38

and we decided that we do this crazy wonderful endeavor and create the world’s longest poem on piece so we began the piece poem on summer solstice the day of greatest light and we invited the community to come and participate in the beginning of this what we hoped would be a historic new poem and so it was and Jason it was wonderful because you came representing Mayor linkle’s office and you added her lines and you also added your own on that day I do remember yes yes and it it impressed me

04:16

the whole effort and you guys and your positive spirit and you know I really was never in the government I was on this coal you know culture and arts thing we had no power and we sort of recommended nothing it was a very empty kind of a thing at that time and how was being used so here I was I was now stepping out and I felt like I wanted to continue supporting and so it seemed like for a number of years I was just extremely involved with you you were and you supported us in wonderful ways not only with your emotional and spiritual

04:56

support but you also gave to us wonderful prizes that you were able to contribute to our winners and they were wonderful in fact I now where is that’s a whole other piece because this giant piece poem wasn’t his we had what they were winners but now you guys I guess it was mostly spirited by you it well we began to do a project within the peace poem project itself we had an endeavor when we began the poem we wanted to create the world’s longest poem on peace and invite everyone worldwide to contribute their

05:33

lines which we did we in those days news you know these were new days for those of you who remember the year 1998 1999 people were just getting online just getting computers and in fact we’re grateful still to angus McKelvey and he before he went to law school and began to serve the great Maui community actually was a computer whiz and he is he designed our first website Wow as a donation I mean the help that we get from the community and he continues to serve Maui as you know I saw him just

06:08

the other night actually in the end so now was this the peace poem webs or was it the this was the original peace palm website and so an offshoot when you said winners I thought wow wait let’s let them understand you’re a teacher yes yes I am and what’s your subject I teach a poetry in English I’m an English teacher with a specialty in poetry and I also teach art I’m like were you that when that started no at that time I was working in medicine but I’d been a lifelong poet

06:38

and devoted to the idea of supporting children’s poetry since I was a child as a child poet I was not recognised or encouraged and so to me the idea we came upon the idea of involving students internationally so the International Peace poem project part of what we did was we contacted schools across the world and invited them to contribute poetry which they did and if you go to our website peace poem org you will see samples of the children’s poetry and other citizens from over 90 Nations

07:20

peace Palm D’Or is one make sure you guys get okay and then also we because we are working with students we thought gosh we should really focus on students right here in the islands so in 1999 we launched the first dr. Martin Luther King piece poetry contest statewide isn’t that a wearing radiator every time she says into the microphone I’m thinking right you gotta speak over the mic because all the peas are popping thank you these are popping like Mary Poppins but uh so in 1999 as a I guess

07:57

want to say an internal sprout came the Martin Luther King peace poetry contest and these were then in all the grades and you spread it out through all these islands how many islands are we on now no we began with four islands and we now include Molokai separately because it’s gotten so large Wow and we have funny what poetry and peace can do to the hearts of young kids I would like to think that us big kids all over the world will hear the voice that you get out through these wonderful kids and the

08:38

things they write and it is it’s this tremendous the first year we were able to work with the Department of Education and we got their mailing list and we’ve been honored to have that ever since and we have built also our own subset of all the private schools and home schools and church schools and every school we can get an audience I invite you please send me any schools or anyone interested we’re happy to work with people to have the poem girl basically we ask every teacher in every school to have their

09:09

children write peace poetry in honor of dr. King during Black History Month and then they either email or mail the palms to us and we read every poem and we pick two winners from every class so our hungry child has a good chance of winning and then we arrange assemblies on every island to honor the winners and I remember I had a limited edition print of a peacock in Paradise from Richard fields and I remember you guys were pained pain ly rolling them up not like giant giving them as prizes and the

09:50

children are so thrilled to receive not only a prize but they also receive a certificate from the mayor congratulating them on contributing to the peace poem yeah I’ve been involved in a handful of your ceremonies through the years as emcee or whatever it be that’s always been fun it brings parents together it brings children together it brings a incredible awareness of how rich our children are and how their fountains with so much to say and so you know sometimes and we think of little guys

10:27

many of us in the world you know I don’t have any children but when I see children of all these ages coming up with things that really show their insight and their sensitivity and really been a fantastic thing to watch well the wonderful thing is it these are the children that are often overlooked these are the Nerds these are the little quiet ones these are not the jocks or admits that maybe pretty or you know handsome or athletic children these are the ones who are quiet quite often a pretty and

11:02

athletic but you’re right there they’re the ones that are you know not often given a light and they’re given a voice here and great it is wonderful to recognize the children and also and in fact I say children being a teacher but their K through 12 and we are delighted to have these tiny little winners that come to us and sometimes it’s interesting now on Maui one year we had this one little boy and he was just in the third grade and it was his third time on our stage third grade third time on the stage

11:40

which seems unbelievable he came from the same school but every year and this particular school Sacred Hearts in Lahaina we’re proud to say that we were part of their curriculum yearly and so every year children each class would continue to write poems and send them in with different teachers different lesson plans but we find our poets or should I say our poets find us now so we had found a little poet there he was just third grade and he had written a wonderful little poem so it gives him a

12:12

voice and then to also gives artists in our community an opportunity to support this venue because for instance I’m happy to say today that I’d like to take a moment if I may I brought a special gift for you thank you because of your participation with our project over all these many years thank you and a very well-known local artist Davao yeah from LA and a wonderful well-known artist who worked with Andy Warhol and his given prizes for many many years I believe 15 years to our project and we’re so

12:47

grateful to him but he sent to us if I may forgive me for reaching a portrait of Elton John to be presented to Jason Schwartz Frank and we are so delighted it does say with all my Aloha Davo 2019 Wow so with his things and with our things Jason thank you we’d like you to have that lovely prize what a time to get an Elton John this is the Rocket Man just came out right yes yes thank you some recognition for you Frank and it’s so ironic because both Jason Schwartz and Dava have been longtime supporters of

13:28

our project because of their belief in peace and encouraging literacy and the arts to our children and to our students statewide it’s a big task well and I am I am so thrilled still going you’re you probably have a hundred thousand more how many signals of you how many lines approach you they are bordering on our big mark of two hundred thousand two hundred thousand lines of original poetry and people can still put wines in right we invite everyone to still contribute to the peace poem project we want you to go

14:00

online to peace poem org grande you’ll see my smiling face and you can just pop on so send your lines and it’ll come up and put your lines on and email your lines to me now our poem was started by a six-year-old child because we wanted the truth in the innocence of children to bring through and so don’t be afraid it can be in the language of your choice and it doesn’t need to rhyme but just we ask that it be about peace and your sense of peace we got Willie Nelson’s lines we’d like

14:32

to you hear how sure okay well audience you may not know but Willie Nelson does spend time on Maui and occasionally at this time he was still singing at a place called Charlie’s which is in the small little seaside town in Maui called Paia so one night I got a call from a friend and we call it the coconut Wireless on Maui and they said Willie Nelson singing down to Charlie’s so I couldn’t go but I sent one of our little gals to go and she waited outside the door till he came rambling out after

15:01

this hat and asked him to put his lines on the poem and he didn’t even know wave no hesitation he slapped it on top of his old Maui Cruiser his old car and he wrote there are none too big there are none too small there is enough Aloha for all and he drove out into the night and we’re very proud of all of our lines we have lines from the late great Senator Inouye and we received a blessing from the Vatican which I still have and we have all kinds of lines on poetry but it would be more complete if you

15:40

would send yours to us out there an audience land if you waiver it or thought about peace take a moment and go on peace poem org and do send us your lines on peace we’ll add them to the peace poem and I have been to the United Nations once as a speaker for this great project and when we finish it we’ll take it back and present it in your words of peace your mana will go with us as one and contribute to that great wonderful message of peace for the world Wow so well I’m happy to get this from Davao I

16:14

am always amazed you also were a little leader I still are you have things that go at different libraries and you have gatherings about point poetry in the island this is true Thank You Jason I I chair with Frank Rich also known here to the community as wide Garcia we chair the Maui Life Poetry Society and have since 1990 to read three or four and we have readings at the libraries here on Maui they’re always free and open to the public and just go on to our website you can cut contact us on Facebook and up

16:52

will come the reading schedule and you can also go online and just type in Maui poetry and I’ll come up and the poetry schedule will come up and we invite you to come to a reading as I recall was early 90s probably there was a movie with Robin Williams called the Dead Poets Society and I always wondered if the Maui Live poets kind of sprung from that inspiration oh no actually how insightful of you Jason in some ways that’s very true we had first started reading poetry on Maui and we didn’t

17:26

have a name yet we just were reading at a bookstore and this was in Lahaina and when that bookstore faded away we decided not to so by then we discovered each other one there in the wharf that’s right the wharf cinema Center the endangered species bookstores I recall is its name and so we began to read under the banyan tree in Lahaina and then we decided we would adopt a name so in view of the fact that the dead poetry society film had just come out and it was so moving but also we had developed a way of doing

18:02

poetry that we called going live and we would just pick a subject and at that time put up and down and maybe over our hands and just start doing poetry Lawrence and I and then Frank all we’re doing live poetry so we deemed ourself the military the Maui live Poetry Society well you know Malinda gone you have been a distant inspiration the Maui live Poetry Society I remember at 5:05 funds Front Street there must have been a bookstore there oh yes there was in fact that was run by I’ll think of her

18:41

name now Joanne in a moment I was making part and answered and there was a lovely poet whose name was elsita Stirling Oh she was actually friend you guys are wonderful yeah well Sita was you can tell that she lived to a grand old 98 99 99 well she was curious about being a hundred but she made it to 99 and that I met her in her mid 90s yeah her mom Lili is a dime’s with her daughter I really was the daughter friend of my lady Ariel oh yeah and so I always we had a couple of shows with Elsie 10 and I was so glad

19:23

she got involved with you guys she was quite a star tell us about her she was remarkable and she did beautifully rhyming poetry and she employed metaphor and color and MA and she was just tremendous but she had published a book and so we had a book signing for her at the 505 bookstore and gosh we’ve filled up that square there must have been 40 people and that’s a lot for a book signing in in Maui and and she was I think 94 95 at the time right I’ve always amazed me that she could recite a lot of her poetry with no

20:04

asunder she just knew her poetry yes it’s a hint and she was just always just a bright spirit and that I think a lot of people at the time were inspired by her and also some of the other poets that you have in your group that are there a long time oh my goodness well we have wonderful Ellen Levinsky who helped us to found the peace poem and has been a supporter and still does poetry with us and of course we have David Wilson we know affectionately as the bear he simply called the bear and we have gosh

20:41

a host Gary Kubota has a longtime writer and poet supporter absolutely and I know you had have wide Garcia yes he’s my co-conspirator always just really has things to say in Lawrence I mean Lawrence Hill was a marvelous poet he passed and left the planet three years ago we do miss him he was a poet extraordinaire and a great great supporter of the Peace poem project and he always had a live thing to say he was remarkably gifted and you know we look at so many people Bryan DeVries who’s also a fellow poet and artist and a

21:21

contributor and he is a haiku master and he writes haikus on his artwork which is terrific and he uses a fire and he’s a very interesting guy musician besides yes a musician absolutely wonderful guy you have an amazing group of people and you know I I don’t know if pieces always the theme but I’ll tell you it comes through you have just really beautiful incredibly thoughtful caring people coming to your events you know the people they are always so interesting and not only that always big contributors to you know to

22:03

lifting our planet off the ground yes yes we have longtime supporters like I n Adams who’s a wonderful poet and gifted gifted orator really Gwen gorg who’s a former president of the african-american heritage on Maui and she’s been a wonderful supporter and speaker for our project in the past there was a lovely lady her name was Natalie Tyler oh yeah John and Natalie I know yes and they were well known on Maui and when I learned that she had been a member of the Freedom Fighters for those of you who may not remember

22:38

this and when dr. King was beginning his great work on civil rights there were a number of people that of all colors that went to support his work in South and in Montgomery they had the marches and then they had the bus rides and Natalie was there and she had been there when it was you had to be very very brave very brave to be there yeah and people lost their lives in that great struggle yeah I remember that was a lot of conversation I met another gentleman named Murrayfield Johnson black eye who was

23:12

there and knew Natalie from years in different segments and got together here on Maui to say hello again yes Natalie it was it was we also are benefiting from those brave acts today and the brave actors today in fact yes we had asked her to be a speaker at our dr. King Awards on Maui this was about maybe 10 years ago before she left the islands right and before she became ill and she spoke about her time in the south working with the freedom fighters and their experiences and from the back of the room King this cry of recognition

23:52

and there was a woman who had been there with her again and they had not seen each other for what forty years and so it was a tremendous thing to not only to hear what Natalie had to say and to share with our people that and the children who needed to know of that great struggle the children but then these two long-lost friends would find each other wasn’t that I mean it does as they say here in the islands it makes chicken skin it gives you the feeling that something greater than yourself is working Oh chokes me up well I’ve

24:30

always just every time I go to anything that involves you it is just such an uplifting experience you bring you’re like a magnet for really wonderful people I mean I I must say I’ve just always been just amazed that they just come and they say your group is I mean I’ve always felt such a warm connection to our maui poets yes but also when you speak of people that return it’s I must say it’s in our dr. King piece poetry contest yearly and this is our 20th year we’ve been involved with teachers

25:13

statewide returning teachers who come either after year and bring their students into the contest and and then bring other teachers in to the contest and we’re very proud to choose on each Island a Teacher of the Year for the Peace palm contest and this now for these past what five six years we’ve been working with the governor’s office we’re very proud of governor’s recognition and were able to present our teachers with a certificate of recognition from the governor for working with our poetry project and this

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year for instance on Maui we had Alicia Jacobson from who school Wow project year after year bringing students in we’re gonna take a break here I’m with Melinda Gohn and we are talking poetry we are talking about a lot of things we’re gonna give recognition to the people that support our radio station in our shows and then we’ll be back with Melinda so hang on everyone let’s see what’s up Saturday night at 8:00 and Sunday night at 9:00 on Kak you 88.5 FM we experienced dead air

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not that kind of dead air we’re talking Grateful Dead Grateful Dead music for an entire hour Saturday night at 8:00 and Sunday night at 9:00 with me Cory Daniels on kak u 88.5 FM zone with me Jason Schwartz would like to sincerely thank David Bryan for his support David was founder and head of school at new Road School in Santa Monica California and as the board chair at the Ojai foundation and on the board for brave new films the neutral zone has heard live Mondays at 11:00 a.m. here on Kak

27:02

you 88.5 FM the voice of maui and again on saturdays at 7:00 a.m. as well as on TV and on Maui neutral zone dot-com did you know al Kaku has week-long summer youth camps in studio production learn all the studio rolls equipment green-screen and produce segments for TV and online come have fun at ikkaku camp weeks available in June and July separate camps for ages 9 to 12 and 13 18 so too ikkaku org or call eight seven one five five five four to enroll a youth today deadline to register is June 18th have you ever wanted to produce

27:44

your own TV show find out how with our kaku’s TV studio production course this hands-on class will teach you everything you need to know about studio production concept design and operating the cameras – audio mixing and video switching the next TV studio costs are 10 May 22nd k-19 so visit our cocoon org or call eight seven one five five five four and sign up today hi I’m Jason Schwartz host of the neutral zone kak Yu is a listener-supported station this means that all the great programs you hear

28:20

like mine are sponsored by you as well as on writers if you would like to help keep the voice of Maui looking loud and clear go to kak UF m dot org slash donate today and get them and don’t miss the neutral zone Mondays at 11 a.m. on 88.5 FM a voice of family well it looks like we’re back I was searching my phone to see if I could get an email that came this morning of some of the poetry that the I want to say kids but it’s like you say it’s more than the young adults students students everyone has been

29:04

doing but I’m not able to spot it but um so we’ll have to Park that idea but I think you have lots of do you have some of the poetry up online also yes I do and I do want to invite you to go again to Pisco morgue and where it says view the poem you can click right on that there’s also a world displayed and if you click on the world you can go to different countries and see the poetry and photos of people in students worldwide that have sent us poetry and that’s what the International Peace poem

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but for the thing with the children is that stuff up online or no actually no but I do have the excerpts of all the winning poems yearly you can look at Google dr. king Maui 2019 I’ve become this year’s article with a paragraph on the winning poem oh I see for instance this year we’re very happy that in Maui we had a wonderful wonderful experience we had some great poetry and we also went to Molokai where the students there were reciting in English and in Hawaii in I saw that here in Maui that’s right

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and in Maui excuse me in Oahu this year for the first time on Oahu we had a grand prize winner his name was Capanna I’m sorry Colo kupuna and he was recognized for writing a poem in Hawaiian with an English translation wow that’s exciting it is exciting and because we’ve been really anxious and promoting literacy and poetry all these many years but it’s a special thing I as a teacher moving here and understanding how precious languages are have been thrilled with the Hawaiian immersion

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program that has brought back if you will the Hawaiian language into usage but poetry is a very special part of language and when you are able to bring poetry into a language then people are really working with the language and importantly the children now on Molokai II we have a teacher whose name is Greta Martinez I would be remiss not to mention her and she has been teaching the children English Hawaiian and Hawaiian for many years and they have been submitting Hawaiian poetry now for about six years every year

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Greta sends us this amazing work and so when we see this type of work I feel that it is a landmark in a linguistic advance in bringing back the use of Hawaiian to the Hawaiian community at large and if we’ve been helpful in some small way for this taking place we’re so happy and so I think in a big way you know especially I think in like you say in Molokai you where things are quieter you know this is a really beautiful focus to give to people that you know have a different kind of lifestyle I bet

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the the piece poems that come from a place like Molokai have to be very different than the ones we find in different places here on the islands actually I was asked yesterday yesterday we celebrated our 20th our 20th year in Oahu and someone said is there a theme is there an overarching theme for the islands that you would say is different and I majored in English and in poetry when I was in college so I thought greatly about themes and I had to say its nature here in the islands if there is one great theme a secondary theme is

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certainly family in terms of if you were to use one descriptor for what a what are we doing what emerges but then you look at the poems over all these many years now for instance when we started it it was 2000 it was a new millennium we thought it was going to be a millennium for peace and the poetry was joyful but the next year was 9/11 if you remember and quite frankly the poetry that we received reflected that and the grand prize winner that year I still remember the poem and I’m sorry I can’t

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remember the little name of the little girl that won she was in she was 13 14 14 and she was from Radcliffe in in a wall and she wrote the island of Manhattan is awash with cheers Oh breaks me up I still remember that phrase you know so they’re like our little temperature gauges these children and now there was a great joyousness when mr. Obama became president and you had a whole wave of wave of poetry that was so joyous and it was distinguishable because we had been at war before and the poetry does and could become very

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sad and we do have children that are from all the schools military as well we’re honored to receive them Here Come is a wonderful school and they have us as parents Air Force Base as Lord is your curriculum and we’re so proud of their work with us we have mid-pacific Institute that works with us and we have been yearly many schools work with a statewide but it’s so interesting to see what comes to us and how the children reflect what we all feel well yeah I am everything like I said every time I go I’m always moved by

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what these children say the way they express themselves you know I’m with some of our present world events at least a lot that we hear in the news piece is not a giant theme that is where is our Department of Peace where is our department what’s going on with dr. King I mean we are living in a bigger world but the kids really are a reflection of what’s going on in the world yes and the teachers are so important because without our project without our teachers we would not have this successful dr.

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King project we have as I said teachers I we invite every school statewide public and private and we always personally invite all the teachers that have worked with me to contribute again because you never know we send out letters and they may wind up in the trash can instead of going to the teachers it just it’s so hard for the teachers they’re so overwhelmed and we’re so grateful but the thing that’s marvelous is that as a teacher I am a teacher and I know that when you teach the kids about civil rights and about

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dr. King you’re reaching all the benchmarks that teachers need to impart we’re looking at history we’re looking at communication skills we’re looking at art if you wish and you can bring in song and dance and and and you bring in the poetry and the great speeches of dr. King so as a lesson plan you know you can’t go wrong and I’m delighted when we receive grateful letters from our teachers telling us how important it is to continue our project well I was just gonna say that your

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project really I am not sure specifically have you reached out to the Kings themselves because I would think that this piece poem this project about honoring dr. King which is so flourishing here could reach out across the country to be able to keep dr. King’s name and presence and message in the hearts and minds of people long past us Luigi I have to remember that thank you Jason because this is my dream that there be a way that this contest be continued into perpetuity far beyond my lifetime but I think it’s it’s really as

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it began it was a part of the International Peace poem project but it’s become its own identity it’s become its own self in fact I really have to work hard to keep up with it because it’s it’s and we are all volunteer there’s no paid staff I’m so grateful because I have artists and teachers and retired teachers and retired principals and retired scholars that work with us as judges to judge the poetry and we look at every poem and we get about 2,000 poems a year statewide Wow yes so

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it’s either coming one or two years where we were all sitting around and reading poetry and evaluating it was just a really great experience and to meet the people that are doing the judging was great fun for me oh it is we have wonderful wonderful writers and original artists for instance Dorothy Betts some of you may know her as a singer and respected musician on Maui she’s also a gifted writer gifted writer and she’s one of our judges and she’s actually volunteered and come as an entertainer

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to our Maui Awards with Les Adams when les Adams was still with he has left our planet and you know we’ve had so many people help us but she for one Renee Riley is a retired instructor from Maui Community College and we’re grateful to her Donna Whitford is a retired principal from the Department of Education and she’s one of our judges and she speaks Hawaiian and helps us with our Hawaiian language entries it’s really just an amazing project it’s fun it is in the caliber of the people that choose to do

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it that’s why I say you’re a magnet for great people there’s all these project pieces that you bring together are bringing out the best in everyone and bringing some of our great I want to say leaders in such an important thing you know poetry and encouragement of the children and peace yes dr. King well we do have our leaders too and I would be remiss if I did not think in the beginning we had Jeremy Harris is our very first mayor that recognized us here on Maui Kimo apana our horse

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we have Joanne Yukimura from Hawaii who has former mayor former Councilwoman and she’s been a tremendous supporter we have Linda Coit helping us from Molokai and a fabulous supporter and of course from the Big Island Harry Kim’s office has been magnificent all these many years and we’ve had the mayor’s in between mayor Charmaine Tavares was wonderful and brought the children over from Molokai II to work with us mayor Arakawa was a great supporter of our project and this year we have mayor

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Victorino who has supported our project in our celebration in Maui and sent us a wonderful designee to represent his office and the beautiful beautiful certificates we were able to present to the students from his office it was really nice to see I’m glad to hear that the mayor’s really all been supportive you know you have all the right ingredients children he’s dr. Martin Luther King just by himself and like you said about I in Adams I in in her presentation of his I have a dream speech has motivated people

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over the years and I know how passionate she was and still is and still always we’re doing you know and just a really you have attracted some amazing people and your poetry group wherever you go I’m always thinking how’s that a place time I can see it it’s a what is it actually yes thank you thank you we we read at three libraries the first Thursday’s in Lahaina from 6:00 until 7:15 at the library Tuesday evenings the second Tuesday of each month and the first Thursday of each month is at the

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Wailuku library from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. and the third week we’re up in Malka while at the library there of Wednesday nights and that’s a meeting that’s chaired by wide Garcia he is 84 years old and he’s you know the 80 is a new 60 that’s why he’s also a gifted artist his art is remarkable and he’s had art showings and he’s so admirable I will mention that he is done to me it’s completed two marathons Wow the first when he was 65 and the second when he turned 80 both times he O’ahu 26

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mile Wow so he’s an admirable man but his poetry is of course what I’ve always adored him for when I first met wide Garcia is his pseudonym now he’s formally Frank rich he was reciting poetry in Maui at the endangered specie bookstore when we first began doing poetry and I walked in and I was hungry for poetry oh it been a while I’ve moved here from the Berkeley area and and there was there was Frank and he was reciting poetry is and it was like he was on the Great Wall of China

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getting inspiration from Confucius the poem is just going right through him and I thought oh I found a poem I found a poet and I knew I was home yeah he is quite an interesting guy I there’s a there’s a musician on island named Devine oh yes yes of course and he told me a story when he first got here with his wife when they were young the first guy they met on the beach was Frank Rich and he’s been an inspiration to them for the years he gets into all kinds of circles and he has such a diverse area of

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interest he’s quite an interesting guy we did an interview of him the sound wasn’t good maybe we’ll bring him here to the radio I hope you do I hope you do his she’s quite he’s so terrific he really is and an inspiration an inspiration speaking of inspiration Gary Kubo de who I know you know very well as a wonderful man and he’s had some successes with his writing he’s been travelling I’d like this to bring that up I thought I’d be delighted Gary Kubota is a retired journalist and

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he’s also written a play called The Legend of Cola which was successfully produced here on Maui he received a national grant to produce this particular play which is kind of a big thing on Maui and he came to stage it’s been at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center twice and it has shown at the Hawaii theatre in Oahu and at the Doris Duke theatre in Oahu has it been recorded for it’s in the works but the film isn’t completed too as yet however I do want to mention that it’s also been

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too kawaii and tomalak ie and it’s been on the mainland it was shown in Los Angeles Berkeley and Sacramento very successfully but he’s bringing the play back the islands it will be at the Doris Duke theatre in oo-ahh on Oahu around Thanksgiving it will also be in Hawaii around that date and we’re hoping he’s hoping to bring it back to Maui as well he’s also written a book on the Hokulea he sailed with the Hokulea voyage the one that took place eight years ago and they went to

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Micronesia and he wrote a book on the Hokulea that’s up on the historic Hawaiian website I’m and if you google his name Gary Cappetta KUB OTA all of this will come forth but he’s also a gifted poet and writer and I invite you to visit his web site and tours take in the play yes yes gifted poet I haven’t really I guess I must have seen some or heard some of his poetry over the years right right he and you know we all do poetry it comes from within us and that’s the beautiful thing about

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bringing it up in the kids and knowing that it gives them a voice there is a little a little student I say little cuz she was 12 13 at the time her name is iris Riverstone and she was our grand prize winner two years ago in Maui County I mentioned her because not only the delicacy of her poem but also the spirit of her sense of what was true because I spoke with her afterwards and and with her mother and about the importance of the project and why it was important and I said why is it important

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to you iris that we have this poetry contest and she said simply because we need poetry miss oh I mean I know I felt that way when I was a little girl because I was a poet and there was there was a makes me weep there was no stage there was no encouragement there was no platform so for us to be able to extend to all the students statewide and by the way this isn’t just statewide we’re happy to have students enter from all over the world we had at school from Saipan four years ago we had Homer Alaska send his poems

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two years ago we’ve had a guy’s just school from Michigan sent his poetry and we’re always happy to select winners and send certificates but more importantly the poetry goes into the International Peace poem and will continue to grow this poem on peace so your students wherever they are are always welcome to the project that’s why I was thinking about dr. King’s family and foundations to be if they aren’t they must in some way already be aware well they have written me and invited me to their you

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know their meetings that they have in in Atlanta but it’s always in the springtime when I’m busy with the awards I have thanked them and told them that I cannot travel because I don’t have funding I would be there I don’t think it’s not a business thing but you know a franchise it’s almost like you could put together a package to be able to spread this and and grow it through the King foundation that’s true because I have the model we have how it’s done and we know how it’s done and we love what we

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do but we’re not in this for money we’re in this just just to keep the poem going we’re actually broadly supported by just small donations statewide it’s amazing we we have a few donors that are able to give us more money but the majority of the donations are between 10 and 50 dollars and we’re and we’re supported on that level by by people and the good thing is then because there isn’t just one or two big people controlling us in any way no one can ever take this away

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from us you see and we don’t have to change what we do because someone think we should this is just for the students and just to have them have this opportunity and to grow the poem and to make this poem speak for all the children and for all the people where all of the children of the world well really it’s been very wonderful I say when I go to the events first of all I’m aware of uh I want to say a staff you have people are everywhere support helping and moving and then you do a a

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nice celebration for some of the people after it at a restaurant and it’s just been a really fantastic experience and your your magnet for incredibly diverse wonderful people I just really been a pleasure thank you I think the big big thing is that we are sincere you know that this is not driven by any other reason or purpose and I think that because of that people know and believe in us because they’ve seen us year after year continue just to care for the students and to honor these students for

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celebrating dr. King and to promote his ideas of liberty and equality and justice and once those things are in place our job will be done but boy do we have work to do still we have a little work but I have faith in these kids well I don’t your events I’ve seen people on and I’m talking politics people on different sides of issues when they’re there and they’re honoring the kids in here then the children of people that are politically involved but through what’s going on with the kids they’re

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together and I’ve seen people talking and and smoothing out situations yes it reaches across every social every social status every social strata it’s lovely to see me I sure when I think meaningful story I have as a teacher I also teach and I teach Intermediate School in Kihei I had the experience that some of us have of watching one little boy by class go homeless and watching the family painfully struggle back to to getting a home and to watch this little boy but also he had entered the contest and this

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particular child was chosen as a winner for the Maui dr. King project and every year as a teacher I always asked put out a little questionnaire to all my kids asking them what was the most important thing that happened to you during your school year this year and this little boy wrote the dr. King piece poetry Awards and to me to think that that had helped him that that had lifted him and that he would always have that always have you had any kind of exposure into I’m just throwing it out there totally

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different into the prison system and the justice system have you had any kind of actually yes Frank Rich and I put on a poetry project in the Maui Prison this would have been about 1991-92 and we were there for quite a while we had to go in the evenings because we were both during the day and so we had this volunteer project and we would go in and and do poetry with he would work with the men and I would work with the women’s side and then I continued it with the women’s side longer we had one

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lovely night and it was you may remember the Russian spaceship near which means peace well this was a year that the Russian space ship Mir passed over and I was able to get permission from the warden to bring the girls in my class out on the field to look at the Stars and they had not been able to do that right and then we wrote poetry about that Russian peace symbol and we worked there for about a year but then they were not able to continue the project because they didn’t have the man-hours

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to to cover our evening meetings but we were proud of that work I mean they didn’t have guards it took it took additional personnel to take the girls from where they were and bring them through the various systems to where our classroom took place and then take them back to their rooms so they just didn’t have the extra staffing to to do that ever in the middle of some kind of thing now in fact where they’re also limited in staff or another reason there are 85 people short or something I’m just

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hopeful that they can continue their project I’m hoping that that we can have no more just lead for the justice system the way it is things there are a lot of people that I see on the in the prisons seem to have a just a revolving door and families and their cultures of all involved with a lot of things a lot of the jail things here are related from what I’m seeing to drugs oh I as a teacher you know you see these sitting tickets and you see these children that are involved because they’re so helpless and you know if the

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family culture does not value education then it’s hard for the children to come to school and this is also part of the big picture so then of course the children are not going to excel they’re not and once they’re at my level Intermediate School the ones that are having real problems are very apparent and so I’m on a crusade you know I I do crusade to to help bring these kids back and every teacher for the most part I know is on that same crusade and I’m proud to be a teacher at Lokelani

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Intermediate School in Kihei I’ve been there since 2006 I love my school I believe in our in our process and in our children and I think every teacher throughout the state is only there for that reason I mean we were there to be teachers we’re not there because of our salaries and certain things were there because we believe in our mission well and you doing a great mission can you believe we only have a minute left isn’t that amazing you’ve been a wonderful guest Melinda and you are doing great work piece poem

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org I guess is there an email address and the phone number you might want to give to our audience yes yes poem at Maui dotnet just poem at Maui dotnet and no fighters no way that piece pump that’ll work to get in touch also yeah peaceful org is actually connected to Maui dotnet if you if you click on it there will be my email and there I will be I know that they’re gonna get a lot of response from this and people love Maui and people of Hawaii and people of the world the Maui peace poem project and all that you’ve done an

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International Peace poem project Melinda Gohn you’ve been a blessing to our island and to our state and to the notions that are the world could be at a better place and the children you know I believe the children are our future teach them well and let them lead the yes and thank you and thank you to everyone that has helped our project scores of teachers hundreds of volunteers over the years I’m just one of many and thank you all for listening and think about sending me a poem on peace thank you so much thank you for

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joining us thank you guys for joining us we’re gonna see you next week next we have al Perez from Maui tomorrow Melinda thank you for joining us you’ve been a blessing thank you to everyone I’ll see you next week [Music]