From Classroom to Community: UH Hilo Students Champion Tūtū and Me May 13, 2026

When Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool Program Director, Amanda Ishigo, walked into an English classroom at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, she expected to share but didn’t expect to be moved. What unfolded was a reminder of exactly why community programs like Tūtū and Me matter so deeply.

Lauri Sagle, English Professor at UH Hilo, invited Ishigo to speak to her class, which had chosen Tūtū and Me as the lens through which students would explore literacy in young children and community advocacy. The class had also organized a book drive for the program, collecting more than 50 books to donate to our keiki. A tangible act of care that set the tone for everything that followed.

“I was so impressed that you chose Tūtū and Me as a focus for studying literacy in young children and community advocacy. It was wonderful to meet a former Tūtū and Me participant in your class. What a great reminder of our program’s vision!”
– Amanda Ishigo, Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool Program Director

Among the students in the class was a former Tūtū and Me participant, a testament to the program’s reach throughout the years in East Hawaiʻi. Seeing a young adult who once sat in the traveling preschool now studying its impact at the university level was, for Ishigo, a great reminder of the program’s vision.

Taking the initiative entirely on their own, students handwrote more than 50 postcards addressed to Hawaiʻi’s Mayor in support of funding for Tūtū and Me. Through this experience, the students practiced their right to civic engagement, using their voices to express their concerns to our elected officials. Advocacy from our youth carries a weight that cannot be manufactured.

The generosity didn’t end there. The class donated more than 50 books for the keiki served by Tūtū and Me. Our families are currently building an “At-Home” library for summertime reading, and these books will be matched with keikiwho will treasure them.

This visit is a beautiful example of what happens when education and community care meet in the same room. Mahalo nui to Professor Lauri Sagle and her students for their passion, their postcards, their books, and their belief that our keiki deserve every opportunity to thrive.

To learn more about Tūtū and Me Traveling Preschool and ways to support our mission, visit pidf.org/tutuandme.