HSTA honors Kumu’s Cupboard president with 2023 Friend of Youth Award

When Kumu’s Cupboard opened its doors in 2017, it filled a deeply rooted need for educators on Kauaʻi to quickly and easily grab free supplies for their classrooms.

Merna Jim experienced this need firsthand, having taught at Kapaʻa Elementary for more than 30 years before she retired. “As a new teacher years ago, there wasn’t much support in terms of curriculum, school supplies, classroom supplies,” said Jim, who currently serves as Kumu’s Cupboard board secretary. “We live on an island that is somewhat remote, so it’s difficult getting supplies, and now the cost of shipping things is very expensive, and for some teachers, getting off island is very difficult.”

Enter Kumu’s Cupboard, which occupies a storefront at Kukui Grove Center in Līhuʻe. Once a month, K–12 educators who work directly with students at any Kauaʻi public, charter, or private school can sign in, receive an inventory list that tells them how much of each item they can take, browse the store for items they need, and check out at the register.

Their bill is always $0.00.

The nonprofit’s widespread ability to impact students in such a positive and important way inspired the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association to honor Kumu’s Cupboard president and co-founder Elyse Litvack with the 2023 Friend of Youth Award.

Sarah Tochiki, HSTA Kauaʻi Chapter president and band director at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, nominated Kumu’s Cupboard on behalf of the Kauaʻi Chapter executive board.

“We know the [Hawaiʻi State Department of Education] doesn’t always provide everything that classrooms need, and we know that teachers spend a lot of money out of their pockets, and Kumu’s Cupboard saw a space where they could help out teachers to ensure that every student in every classroom could have whatever they needed to be successful,” Tochiki explained.

“Students, even if they buy all of their supplies at the beginning of the year, go through them,” she added. “I can really discreetly go and just hand them something that I’ve picked up from Kumu’s Cupboard, and that’s been a blessing to be able to do, because then they don’t even have to worry that they don’t have something, or they don’t have to worry that the teacher is going to be nagging them.

“We consider ourselves to be very lucky on the island of Kauaʻi because we have Kumu’s Cupboard, and I’ve talked to colleagues around the state who are jealous that we have such a wonderful facility here that we can use anytime that we need to, to be able to get things for our students and for our classrooms,” Tochiki said.

Jonathon Medeiros serves on the HSTA Human and Civil Rights (HCR) Committee, which organizes the annual Friend of Youth Award. The Kauaʻi High language arts teacher said by spotlighting Kumu’s Cupboard, “the hope is that other people around the state would learn more about it, and it might spark interest across the state, and so other people might figure out, ‘Hey yeah, we can do something like that here, but maybe we’ll tailor it to our community in this way.’ And that really would be kind of the dream outcome of this.”

Kumu’s Cupboard president and co-founder Elyse Litvack was presented with the 2023 HSTA Friend of Youth Award by HSTA Kauaʻi Chapter at its final representative assembly of the school year on May 16 at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.

A one-stop ‘shop’ for books, resources, lending service, equipment, and more

Kumu’s Cupboard is committed to helping Kauaʻi teachers provide the best education and environment for their students. One wall is dedicated to new books with a recently added diversity section, inspired by educator feedback and a grant from a community member.

“Teachers tell us that after COVID, there seems to be an uptick in bullying, so we have books to promote all kinds of understanding, not only ethnic and cultural, but also learning differences and family structures,” explained Litvack, Kumu’s Cupboard president. “Recently, at the request of a teacher, we brought in some books on autism. We also have art supplies and bulletin board supplies to help promote diversity.”

There are shelves dedicated to STEAM, health and cleaning, PPE, literature, teacher resources, and student incentives. And an entire back wall is filled with gently used items, from binders to computer monitors, all collected and curated by Litvack and her team. Teachers can take as many gently used items as they need. “Our rule is if we wouldn’t put it in our classroom, we won’t put it out for teachers,” Litvack said. “They can walk away with amazing things from this section.”

In one corner, backpacks are filled with supplies tailored toward different grade ranges: K–1, 2–5, middle, and high school. Teachers can pick them up for students who would otherwise go without. “They can come in and get a backpack anytime during the month, even if they’ve already shopped, because when kids need them, they need them now,” explained volunteer Bertie Bloom.

Kumu’s Cupboard also runs a lending service featuring dozens of items — microscopes, math manipulatives, literature sets, teaching kits, even musical instruments — that educators can check out, similar to a library. Across the room, die-cut, laminating, and comb binding machines are available to use.

Medeiros, Kauaʻi High teacher and HSTA HCR Committee member, said, “I know teachers who are here once a month. Some teachers plan it out ahead of time (and say) ‘I’m going to come at the end of this month, so I can come at the beginning of next month, because I need things right away.’”

‘Teachers need to know that the community supports them’

As a retired elementary school educator who taught for 30 years in Seattle, Litvack is adamant: “Teachers need to know that the community supports them.”

She still vividly recalls a teacher’s reaction when Kumu’s Cupboard first opened. “I had a teacher say to me, ‘That first time I shopped, I went to my truck and cried.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, was somebody rude to you? What happened?’ And she said, ‘I’ve taught in the district for 10 years, and this is the first time I know that the community cares about what I’m doing,’” she said.

Kumu’s Cupboard is heavily involved in community events and initiatives, like Read Across America, Teacher Appreciation Night, and the Visitor Industry Charity Walk on Kauaʻi. “We believe in giving back to the community to offer to help organizations that help us, but also to help teachers build connections,” Litvack explained.

Litvack says her overall goal is to continue to support and expand what Kumu’s Cupboard can do for educators, which currently includes adding a Hawaiian Studies section.

“Often what happens here is we grow based on what we’re hearing from the teachers and even the community,” she said. “I always say that I look forward to the day I can lock our doors because education is fully funded, but I don’t think that any of us will be out of a volunteer job in our lifetimes.

“Everything we can do to enrich the lives of teachers will keep teachers,” Litvack said. “I know all over the state, but especially here, we lose teachers. Often the cost of living is very, very high. It’s even difficult to find a place, and so (we want) to be able to help teachers in any way we can.”

HSTA members, do you know an outstanding individual who works to support Hawaiʻi’s youth outside of their professional duties? Nominate them for the 2024 HSTA Friend of Youth Award.