Heartfelt experiences about leaving their native countries and adjusting to a new life in Hawaii are a common thread entwining stories that have been written by students at Waipahu High School to improve their English-language skills.

Enrolled in Waipahu’s English Learner Program, some 175 students who participated in the writing project have roots in Chuuk, Pohnpei, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Samoa and Tonga.

Their stories have been published in three books in partnership with Bess Press as the result of a three-year Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant under the state Department of Education. The grant, starting in 2021, focused on promoting bi- literacy to incorporate English as well as a student’s native language.

Jeremiah Brown, English Learner Program coordinator, said most of their narratives are particularly touching, including such topics as their immigration experience, homesickness, their first day of school, or bullying; a few shared the heartache of parental divorce, an alcoholic father or the death of a mother. Some partnered with other students in retelling fables and folk tales from their home countries, using a graphic-novel format.

“It has been a wonderful project. I saw their confidence grow, being willing to share their stories in front of an audience, which is not easy to do, especially if it’s in your second or third language, and it was about a personal topic,” Brown said.

The students range in English skills from those who have just arrived in Hawaii to those who moved here five years ago, he said. Waipahu is the state’s second-largest public school with more than 2,500 students, and approximately 18% of students receive English Learner support.

Brown said 40% of Waipahu students are multilingual, with at least 17 languages besides English spoken on campus. This year 95 students have earned Hawaii Seals of Bi-literacy (a statewide program recognizing language proficiency in English and another language) — “that makes our school pretty special,” he said.

Writing the books was a multiple-step process of getting feedback from other students on how to improve their stories and many revisions over the school year. Their fluency and familiarity with English grew with each rewrite and discussion.

What surprised him was how thrilled the students were to see their stories in an actual “glossy, full-color book — it was like, ‘Wow, this is a for-real thing!’ It’s not just a Google doc they’d never look at again. It was published forever,” Brown said.

The first book, “Rising From Our Roots,” came out the first year of the 2021-2022 school year and sold 400 copies (at $25); the last two, “Windows and Mirrors” and “Holding On,”were released six months ago but have not yet been put on sale. Students worked on two more books in the past school year that should be published by December or January.

Purchasers have included the East-West Center’s Pacific Islands Development program, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Education and the Consular Agency of Tonga, as well as multilanguage programs across the U.S., Brown said.

Ener Masaichy, who graduated from Waipahu in 2023, wrote about rediscovering the values that mattered most with his family in Chuuk in “The Trip That Changed Me From a Boy to a Man.” When he moved to Hawaii in 2017, he barely spoke English; now 20, he is a teacher’s assistant in the English Learner Program at Pearl City High School, which is also writing books under the literacy grant. Masaichy plans to study automotive technology at Honolulu Community College in the fall.

He signed up as a teacher’s aide “because I saw people like me needed more help to succeed in what they wanted to do in life and more. They were shy and not brave enough to speak out.”

“I know how it feels when you first come from your island and you don’t know anybody here. I had the feeling of wanting to move back home because of all the racist comments I was receiving. But I ignored it and tried to be a better me. … Some of the Micronesian students are kind of shy to speak out because some students from here (may) tease them about how they sound when they try to ask questions,” Masaichy said.

He will always remember what his Waipahu English teacher Jaimin Ruan said once: “Never hide where you come from and who you are.”

“Writing this book helped me with my English a lot because of all the revising, reviewing and rewriting. The hardest part was being able to tell how I felt personally because I don’t usually share that out to people.”

When his story was recently published in “Windows and Mirrors,” “I felt so very excited ’cause nobody in my family has ever became an author. It was surprising for them to see my story in the book.”

Ruan, an 11th grade English teacher in Waipahu’s English Learner Program for five years, “Motivation is the biggest factor for language development, and most of our students are pretty motivated.”

Ruan said if students are determined to succeed and hope to make a new life for themselves in Hawaii, they will work hard at their lessons. Eventually, they will get better, as shown by their English proficiency tests.

There are only a few beginners in each of her classes, so they receive more individualized attention from multilingual assistants; the more advanced students also step in to translate and lend support.

“We also have a very good learning environment. Everyone at Waipahu High School, they know that even though we come from a different country, we’re here as one family, so we always help each other.”

Brown said 100% of the book sales are used to fund $1,000 scholarships to college. The first four scholarships were awarded in April to Pauleen Keith Figuracion, Evon Jyka Lozano, Amleht Netwan and Christian Dave Tangonan. Their stories are published in “Rising From Our Roots,” and all have earned Seals of Bi-literacy.

The authors are dubbed “Multilingual Marauders,” referring to Waipahu High’s mascot (a Martin Marauder B-26 bomber plane). The books are sold only on the school website: bit.ly/3RvcZu9.

Kalika Ayin, the coordinator and a teacher of Pearl City’s English Learner Program, said her students have written “The Food of Our Land,” published in 2023, which shares family recipes and the reason they chose the dish, in both English and their home languages. In their second book, “New Beginnings,” students reflect on what it was like to move here; it is currently in publication and will be available later this year. Contact kalika.ayin@k12.hi.us for book purchases.