Lighting Fire For Learning In Palolo Kids

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Nestled between Palolo Elementary and Jarrett Middle schools, the Herman Hu Achievement Academy serves as a “home away from home” for underprivileged children in Palolo public housing.

“When I first got there, most of the kids never knew how to turn a computer on,” said operations director Milton Hutchinson. “We’re in the computer age, so to have a whole group of people who do not know how to use them is detrimental.”

Housed on the second floor of the Palolo Valley District Park gym, the academy competes with other computer stations that are for public use. Hutchinson’s biggest challenge is getting kids to open his door instead of walking past without noticing the welcoming, club-like atmosphere.

“Kids come in because it’s free. (Hopefully) they see us, move over and do more work for us. The biggest problem a lot of these (kinds of) programs have is bringing kids in the door.”

Hutchinson and volunteers are reaching Southeast Asian, Samoan and Micronesian youths from age 8 to 16 through a computer network sponsored by the non-profit Mutual Assistance Association Center. MAAC operates the center with $10,000 in learning programs. Some days it’s classes in basics like web page design and Microsoft Word. On Thursdays Hutchinson might rent a film or plan an activity. He also showers them with incentives to keep learning.

“The kids really like it most of time,” he joked, “(but it also) gives them a place of security.”

One girl, he recalled, nearly homeless because of absent parents, entered Hutchinson’s realm and received food as well as education. Some Micronesian teens, who felt out of place at school, are warming up at in the academy’s lab.

“(The center) makes them feel comfortable to learn at their own pace,” Hutchinson explained.

Hutchinson hopes to develop more ways to reach out the larger community, including seniors and parents, such as a website to link them to information in the world outside Palolo Valley housing.

“It’s an exciting situation. There’s nonstop growing,” he said, noting he’d like to run the center all day long, instead of its present 2-5 p.m. weekdays schedule.

To beef up his volunteer crew, interested residents can call 737-9633. He’s looking for “young go-getters and semi-retired professionals.”

The center is also seeking donations of any kind.

“If everything goes right,” Hutchinson said, “we should be there for at least another 15 to 20 years. People that need the most help, we’re there for them.”

The Herman Hu Achievement Center was named after Hutchinson’s late friend who initiated the whole project.