Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island
Elsie Wilcox Elementary School STEM teacher Natsumi Yamasato and U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono watch on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, as Wilcox STEM students test out their skimmer project.
Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island
U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono listens to an Elsie Wilcox Elementary School student explain the makings of her skimmer project that’s being held by STEM teacher Natsumi Yamasato on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, during Hirono’s visit to the Lihue elementary school.
LIHUE — Accompanied by Kauai Complex Area Superintendent Leila Maeda-Kobayashi and Elsie Wilcox Elementary School principal Corey Nakamura, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono visited the Lihue elementary school on Thursday to see a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) class in action.
LIHUE — Accompanied by Kauai Complex Area Superintendent Leila Maeda-Kobayashi and Elsie Wilcox Elementary School principal Corey Nakamura, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono visited the Lihue elementary school on Thursday to see a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) class in action.
Wilcox students in Natsumi Yamasato’s STEM class worked on a skimmer project designed to separate oil from water. Hirono expressed her concern for declining enrollment and interest in STEM education, more notably among females.
Hirono also had the opportunity to visit an art class in a neighboring classroom and had the experience of utilizing watercolor pencils to create her own personal project alongside the students who were working on a “Sight is Beautiful” poster contest sponsored by the Lions Clubs.
The students’ interests, including those of the three designated “student ambassadors,” led to a discussion of community schools for which grants are available.
The Learning Policy Institute defines “community schools” as public schools that partner with local organizations to provide academic, health, and social services directly to students, families, and neighborhoods.
Earlier in the day, Hirono provided a summary of her work in Washington, D.C., via an on-air radio interview, and visited the farm of local farmer Jerry Ornellas who has successfully grown and harvested several loads of rice on his Kauai farm.
Based on his work with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, Ornellas wants to produce rice locally, as rice was previously grown in certain parts of Hawaii.
Hirono said lunch featured musubi, or rice balls, created from the Ornellas-grown rice, and was very good.
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