Continuing a legacy of exploration and discoveries
by Sharon Higa | Oct. 11, 2022
My first moonwalk sighting was not a fancy dance move but rather the buoyant leap by an American astronaut on the surface of the moon in the summer of ’69. While I was too young to understand the significance, it stayed with me because it coincided with my family’s move to Hawaii where the flight crew splashed down in the ocean on their return to Earth.
Decades later, Art and Rene Kimura of the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium approached Hawaiian Electric to support the inaugural Charles Lacy Veach Day of Discovery and, more recently, the Boy Scouts’ Ellison Onizuka Day of Exploration on Oahu to honor the achievements and legacies of Hawaii’s late astronauts.
The Kimuras’ passion for educational excellence and their numerous accolades and awards in promoting science and space exploration to students resonated with Hawaiian Electric.
“If we can encourage more Hawaii students to pursue careers in the STEM fields, we should be doing it like Art and Rene who have created programs and events that are fun, interactive and engaging,” said Kurt Tsue, Hawaiian Electric community affairs director.
Charles Lacy Veach, who grew up in Honolulu, graduated in 1962 from Punahou School where the first Lacy Veach Day of Discovery was held in 2002. Promoted as a day-long program highlighting space, science and hands-on educational activities, the free event was a hit with students, teachers and parents.
At the 2008 Lacy Veach Day of Discovery, Adria Fung was a freshman at Sacred Hearts Academy and member of the all-girls robotics team, which had an exhibit at the event. Already bitten by the STEM bug, she would graduate Sacred Hearts and go on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in robotics engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute while minoring in Chinese and Mathematics.
Adria returned to Hawaii and earned a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies, STEMS2 (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Social Science and Sense of Place) from UH Manoa in 2017. That same year she took a teaching position at St. Louis School where she created the middle school robotics program and founded Team 4270.
Art Kimura had followed Adria’s career and knew her long list of credentials and honors, along with her deepening involvement in VEX Robotics, would make Adria the perfect choice to step into the role of robotics education specialist with the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium. Adria accepted the position in 2021.
Today, Adria oversees the planning and execution of the Lacy Veach Day of Discovery, among other programs, and her career has come full circle as she continues a legacy of inspiring a new generation of explorers.
“My greatest joy as an educator is being able to see the spark or the A-HA moment in a student where they are able to connect the STEM concepts they learn in school and see the relevance or application in their everyday life,” said Adria.
To register for the 21st annual Lacy Veach Day of Discovery to be held on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama campus, visit http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/index.php/21-lacy-veach-day-of-discovery/. The event is free to the public, but registration is required to attend the workshops.
Sharon Higa is a senior communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.
