2014 15 december lr

Volume XXXIII ■ No. 2 ■ Issue No. 89 ■ DECEMBER 2014

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Photo Na‘alehu Anthony

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[inside]

MA KE KULA

ON THE COVER: The HPA Village Campus is diverting about 400 pounds of waste from the landfill weekly as a result of the school’s Zero Waste pilot program (see story on page 22). All students in grades K-8 are learning about diverting waste and turning “trash” into a valuable resource through recycling and composting.

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Staff

[features]

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Editor Phyllis Kanekuni, APR

21st Biennial Scholarship Auction Set for April 25, 2015

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[departments]

Administrative Appointments Announced _ Ari Bernstein ‘94 Directs Lihau’s Journey

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From the Headmaster

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HPA Advancement

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HPA Admissions

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Pushing the Green Movement Forward

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HPA Academics

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Biotechnology Students Clone DNA From Endemic Hawaiian Reef Fish

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Student Voices

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Student Spotlight

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Center Stage: A Spotlight on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

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On Stage at Gates Performing Arts Center

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HPA Student Council

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Cover Story: Zero Waste at HPA

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HPA ‘Ohana Association

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Coaches Corner

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Alumni News

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From Aunty June’s Kitchen

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On Campus

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Faculty Profile: Kumu Kuwalu Anakalea

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Alumni Profile: Ana Yarawamai ‘00

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The mission of the Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy is to provide exceptional learning opportunities and a diverse community honoring the traditions of Hawai‘i.

Alumni News Sarah Thiesse ‘98 Schorn Production Assistant Deanna Evans Contributing Photographer Patrick O’Leary Art Direction + Design Clifford Cheng > VOICE Design Public Relations Office Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy 65-1692 Kohala Mountain Road Kamuela, Hawai‘i 96743 P: 808.881.4099 • F: 808.881.4069 E-mail: mkk@hpa.edu • www.hpa.edu

[ BOARD OF TRUSTEES ] Gregory R. Mooers, Chair Laurie T. Ainslie Scott Bradley ‘80 Dr. Michael Chun Putman D. Clark ‘65

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Michael K. Fujimoto ‘70 Allison Holt Gendreau Will J. Hancock Nona F. Hasegawa ‘78 Charles G. King ‘64 Duncan MacNaughton ‘62

Rich H. Matsuda Dr. Paul Nakayama David W. Pratt William D. Pratt ‘86 Michael S. Spalding ‘66 Hannah Kihalani Springer

Dr. Peter Vitousek ‘67 Roy A. Vitousek III ‘68 Taffi Wise

Ma Ke Kula is published two times a year in December and July for students and their families, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of HPA. Ma Ke Kula reserves the right to select and edit all materials submitted for publication.

[ From the Headmaster ] Lindsay R. Barnes, Jr.

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LOHA! What a pleasure it is to write to you again. To say the least, it’s been an incredibly busy several months here and, largely, a most productive time for our people and our programs.

Any fans out there of Isaac Asimov, the great science fiction writer? What, you may ask, does Isaac Asimov have to do with HPA? As far as I’m aware, very little, actually. What I do know, though, is that Asimov waxed prudently on the topic of transition. Perhaps his most famous quote on the subject is this: “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.”

Here at HPA, we’re immersed in a year of transition, and I believe we’re succeeding in major ways.

Programmatically, we continue to promote cohesion, collaboration, and coherence within departments, within school divisions (Lower, Middle, and Upper schools), and even across grade divisions. Our Instructional Leader system, now in its second full academic year, stresses rigor and accountability, two tenets of our current strategic plan. New courses are being added. Exciting new strands of study are being created within departments. Our pilot capstone projects are moving boldly forward; in the years to come, plans are for capstone projects to be requirements for all students to have completed before they advance to Middle School, to Upper School, and to graduation.

For sure, this is a programmatic transition for HPA, and, while a number of challenges remain, the overall process is coming together nicely.

We’re also experiencing transition in personnel. Recently, Edgar Spencer ‘65, a veteran of 27 years at HPA, retired as Maintenance Superintendent to explore some wonderful opportunities related to the restoration of his Hawai‘i Island ranch. To say that we will miss Edgar and his lovely wife, Lita (who also retired as Admission Office manager), is an understatement. And yet, with those who have been chosen to succeed Edgar

and Lita, we are confident that we have chosen well. Far from being a troubled transition, the process was ordered and pleasant. For this, we are thankful.

Finally, as I write this column, we have one more transition in personnel that’s fully underway. Robert McKendry, our former chief financial officer and present Head of School-Elect, is preparing to follow me as HPA’s next chief executive officer, and the process in place is already paying dividends.

Whether as a direct or indirect participant, I have witnessed the highs and lows of transitioning from one head of school to another. To say that such transitions can be troublesome is putting it mildly. A great deal of compassionate and intelligent planning is required to design a transition process that (1) helps to allay concerns that may arise when a change in administrations is imminent, (2) equips the incoming head of school with tools needed from Day One on the job, and (3) keeps the pedal to the metal with no loss in momentum in advancing a school’s mission.

What’s also required – especially when the head-elect has been selected internally – is the willingness of the current and incoming executives to work well with each other for the good of the school they love. And this is what is happening now at HPA. Robert and I are in full support of each other as this transition year rolls out. Largely, I am the stay-at-school headmaster now, the person in charge of overseeing the forward movement of most of our current programs for the remainder of this academic year. I continue to enjoy my work, and, at least seven days out of every 10, there’s no place I’d rather be and nothing I’d rather be doing.

Robert, on the other hand, is engaged in an ambitious near-and-far/learn-the-ropes program during this transition year.

And he’s succeeding magnificently.

Robert’s current duties largely fall into three categories: (1) acting as the point person for all school activities relating to consolidation, (2) traveling widely to attend workshops and conferences, to observe our student

recruitment process, and to introduce himself to alumni, prospective students, and others, and (3) working closely with me while here on campus on a wide variety of topics that typically find themselves on a head of school’s desk and involve members of all constituencies: students, their parents, former students, faculty members, staffers, community leaders, trustees, and others. I could not be more pleased with the relationship that Robert and I continue to enjoy and with the manner in which he is preparing to become our next head of school.

Yes, Isaac Asimov was correct when he said, “It’s the transition that’s troublesome.”

What he did not say is that transition trouble is inevitable. Here in 2014-2015 at HPA, we are writing the book on how to make transitions in the world of independent schools as troublefree as they can be. And we’re finding that two simple thoughts can keep everything moving forward in the most positive of ways: Keep individual egos and politics under control.

Never let them get in the way of doing what’s best for the school.

Enjoy this issue, everyone! Many thanks to you for your great support of our people and programs and for all that you add to the spirit of HPA. ■ All my best,

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 3

21st Biennial Scholarship Auction Set for April 25, 2015 Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy’s 21st Biennial Scholarship Auction will be held on Saturday evening, April 25, 2015 in the Hapuna Ballroom at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.

Hosted cocktails and auction preview begin at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m. The main event opens at 7:30 p.m. with a live auction of fine art and specialty items.

The HPA auctions were born in 1974 when Anna Lindsey PerryFiske, a member of the HPA Board of Directors and owner of Anna Ranch in Waimea, and Bernard Noguès, HPA director of admission and financial aid, joined forces to help create a viable scholarship aid program at HPA. The last two auctions in 2011 and 2013 raised a total of more than $1 million to benefit the school’s financial aid program. The school owns all auction items and 100 percent of the proceeds go directly to HPA students. Currently, 283 students (45 percent of all students enrolled) receive assistance from the program; 258 (91 percent) of these students are from Hawai‘i.

This year’s auction is co-chaired by Laurie Ainslie, board of trustees member and former board chair, and Bernard Noguès, now Director Emeritus of Isaacs Art Center.

A trademark of the HPA Scholarship Auction is the quality of items presented for sale. Mollie Hustace, director of the Scholarship Auction and Isaacs Art Center, anticipates much interest in a few paintings by the Volcano School artists, including Jules Tavernier’s Kilauea Eruption by Moonlight, an oil on canvas signed and dated 1887, David Howard Hitchcock’s Punalu‘u, Windward O‘ahu, an oil on canvas signed and dated 1918, and Alfred Gurrey, Sr.’s Ala Moana Beach, an oil on canvas dated 1915.

Featured items also include a dramatic seascape by Joseph Henry Sharp, the celebrated Western art painter, a nostalgic rendition

An antique lei manu box and Harry Wishard’s ‘70 Waimea Pastures, an oil on canvas dated 2014, are among the many items in this year’s Scholarship Auction.

of Makena on Maui by Lloyd Sexton, an elegant watercolor by Madge Tennent, and works by other celebrated artists of the last 100 years, including John Kelly, Shirley Russell, Ben Norris, Hajime Okuda, Juliette May Fraser, and Harry Wishard. Other auction highlights include antique and modern koa furniture and bowls, books on Oceania, antique kapa samples, and extraordinary vacation packages.

The auction committee is a dynamic and dedicated group of loyal HPA friends who are actively seeking outstanding new artwork, travel opportunities, and other auction surprises that will appeal to guests.

Unique items, art objects, and services will be selected for the auction through March 2015. All auction items will be available online for preview starting in March 2015 at http://isaacsartcenter.hpa.edu/.

If you would like to support the auction, or reserve tickets, please contact Janet Melton at 808-881-4044 (e-mail: advancement@ hpa.edu). Tickets will include dinner accompanied by complimentary wines, and French champagne during the auction.

“The event will be an exciting gala celebrating HPA’s many achievements,” according to Hustace. “It will be a most enchanting evening.” ■

Martha Greenwell’s “Mouse House” on Display at Isaacs Art Center The magic, memories, and gifted artistry of Martha Lowrey Greenwell’s “Mouse House” Christmas Village wonderland returns to Isaacs Art Center this season.

The Christmas Village, affectionately known as “The Mouse House,” and a special Christmas tree decorated with Greenwell’s handmade Emgee ornaments will be on display at HPA’s Isaacs Art Center through January 10, 2015. The exhibit also includes selected photographs and brochures of Greenwell’s remarkable Emgee business that for decades produced beautifully-crafted, clever, and cheerful ornaments still adorning homes today. Greenwell’s superb sense of organization and creative vision are evident in each unique artwork.

“This is a perfect time to remember Martha Greenwell’s remarkable life and friendship and celebrate the many talents of this beloved island painter, who shared her art with such generosity and humility,” said Mollie Hustace, director of the Isaacs Art Center.

Keiki and the young-at heart will enjoy the hand-made mice in their miniature shops and homes that Greenwell fully decorated with tiny ornaments, wreaths, candies, and her paintings. Visitors who have experienced “The Mouse House” before return year after year to find something new to delight them.

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The Christmas Village made its first Hawaii Island appearance in December 2005 at the Kona Historical Society when the village returned to Greenwell from Oahu after more than 20 years of being part of an annual holiday tradition at the Queen’s Hospital Auxiliary’s “Festival of Trees.”

All of the artifacts featured in the display are from the attic and tool shed of Greenwell’s in-laws, Frank and Violet Greenwell of Palani Ranch. It took Greenwell eight years to assemble the village.

The Isaacs Art Center at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission is free. The Center will be closed between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. For information, or to arrange group visits, please call 808-885-5884. ■

In Memoriam: Martha Lowrey Greenwell December 27, 1920 – July 13, 2014

LEFT: Bernard Noguès and Martha Greenwell at the Isaacs Art Center’s grand opening of the Martha Greenwell Retrospective on September 3, 2005. RIGHT: Martha Greenwell was honored at the HPA Scholarship Auction on April 25, 2009 at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel.

Last July, a bright new star began to shine in the skies of Hawai‘i.

It was Martha Greenwell who had taken her easel, brushes, and pigments, and was beginning to paint her new world with the same attention to details and the same love she had given to her Hawaiian landscapes.

Martha may not be here, but she will live on in the wonder of her paintings, masterpieces that capture the essence and inner soul of our Hawai‘i Nei, her birthplace and her inspiration. She profoundly admired her masters, D. Howard Hitchcock and Lloyd Sexton. She knows now that she was their equal (they told her so.)

Martha was a woman of great presence, modest and even humble regarding her artistic achievements, imbued with an inner strength and dignity that accompanied her wherever she went, exquisitely courteous and generous, and gifted with a subtle and sometimes mischievous sense of humor. Her Christmas cards, showing her, now in her nineties, riding an ATV or perched high in the bucket of a treetrimming truck, are themselves collection pieces!

Above all, Martha was loyal to all who knew her. She was generous with her time and her paintings. Her first gift to the HPA scholarship auctions was in 1974, the first auction, and the last one in 2013. She also gave to many other causes. Her paintings became the stars of auctions. Always modest, she always found it surprising that her works should fetch so much money!

A friend of mine who lives in London and met Martha a few times when he was here, wrote the following lines: “When you meet her, the clocks stop and you feel you will never be cold again” and “She has left behind a legacy through the life she led; she left behind treasures of the heart, a little piece of Hawai‘i wherever you are in the world.”

Late in the afternoon, Martha would step onto her lanai, high up on Palani Ranch, and contemplate the majestic view unfolding at her feet. There, she would chat with Jimmie, her late husband of many decades. Jimmie, another large figure in the history of HPA as its board chairman, and Martha, now together again. A happy thought, after all.

We cannot bring you fish, Waimea tomatoes, and popoulu bananas, Martha, but we see you every day through your paintings and our memories.

Aloha wau ia ‘oe. We love you. ■ —Bernard Noguès / Founder and Director Emeritus of the Isaacs Art Center

HPAadvancement Lucy Frost Lewis, Director of Advancement

Having just returned from visiting HPA alumni, parents, and friends in Seoul and Tokyo, and in D.C. earlier this fall, I am enjoying an ever-expanding understanding of just how vibrant our ‘ohana is and how truly passionate everyone is about our school. No matter the location around the world, we all speak a common language filled with aloha! And the impact of HPA’s commitment to developing global citizens is evident at every turn.

Hawai‘i, in and of itself, is among the most diverse states in our country, making it an ideal location for equipping our students with a level of cultural sensitivity that will propel them into a world without perceived boundaries. That our students hail from 18 countries, 17 states, and throughout the Hawaiian islands only serves to further enrich the HPA experience and broaden their knowledge about what it really means to be a global citizen.

Head of School-Elect Robert McKendry at the Seoul reception held November 14.

Head of School-Elect Robert McKendry at the Tokyo reception held November 19.

Among our fundraising priorities is to expand the opportunities available to our students to visit international areas. Our goal is both to continue to offer context for what they are learning on campus while also enabling them to share the powerful impact of their own experiences living and learning in an area of educational riches. OneWorld, HPA’s new travel program (see Martin Ferrell’s column on page 10), is a program designed to take our students around the world as a complement to class curriculum, and we are striving to make these opportunities available to every Middle and Upper School student over the course of his/her time at the school, regardless of their ability to pay.

Additionally, and in many ways of even greater importance, is the effort to increase support of the school through the Annual Fund, which provides vital funding for all of HPA’s programs. Schools in the best position to remain programmatically nimble and innovative in the opportunities they can offer their students benefit from Annual Funds that contribute in excess of 10 percent toward the cost of operations. Increased Annual Fund contributions also help every school minimize the demand on tuition. Currently, HPA’s unrestricted support accounts for less than one percent of our budget.

As we are seeing in every town we visit, in every post and picture we see online, and in every bit of volunteer time and energy spent, the passion of our ‘ohana around the world is unlike any other. We invite you to join us in ensuring that students today feel the powerful impact of the generosity of those who came before them and those who are making their experiences at HPA possible. ■ MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 5

New Administrative Appointments Announced Dan Petrill has been named chief financial officer and TJ Kalaniopio ‘94 has been named director of facilities.

Petrill who most recently was the school’s controller, stepped into his new role on September 1, 2014. He replaces Robert McKendry, CPA, who was named HPA’s head of school, effective July 1, 2015.

McKendry transitioned to his head of school-elect position on September 1, 2014.

Petrill joined HPA in 2010. He has a wide range of accounting experience on the island of Hawai‘i, including controller positions at Hawaiian Abalone Farms, and MacFarms of Hawai‘i. He previously was chief financial officer and coowner of Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company.

Petrill earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Michigan State University, where he worked for eight years as a senior financial analyst.

Kalaniopio returned to his alma mater on November 17, 2014, replacing Edgar Spencer ‘65, who retired after 27 years of service at HPA. Kalaniopio most recently was carpenter/project engineer at Quality Builders, where he worked for 16 years. During that time, he was involved in a number of construction projects at HPA, including the Castle Lecture Hall and the technology center, the Energy Lab, Isaacs Art Center, the student union, teacher cottages, and residence hall renovations. Kalaniopio, who attended Fort Lewis College in Colorado, also is founder of Hinahina Design. ■

A Fond Aloha. After a collective 56 years of service

HPA, like all institutions, was built by people who gave their life, love, and sometimes their treasure to it. People such as Jim Taylor, Father Kunichika, Henry Clark, Anna Lindsey-Perry Fiske, and devoted faculty members who made HPA the school it is today. With the retirement of Ed Spencer ‘65, another HPA giant is gone.

Every day, as we come and enjoy our beautiful campuses, we should think of those who keep them so. The fields are mowed, the buildings are clean and functional, things work, thanks to Edgar and his crew.

Ed supervised the maintenance of our campuses for decades.

For decades, he said: “Yes, we can” to innumerable requests for help (did a large bank borrow his motto?) At the HPA auctions, Ed and his team carried fragile objects to and from the venues where these auctions were held. Not one such object was ever broken. When I was in charge of Isaac Art Center, large pieces of furniture and paintings would often have to be picked up or delivered on short notice. There were times when I had to call early in the morning and ask if a truck could be sent to the Kona airport to pick up an unexpected shipment.

The answer was always the same: “Yes, we can.”

At the auctions, Edgar and Lita would direct the students to show the items we were selling. It was a perfectly orchestrated ballet, every boy and girl entering the auction room precisely when the auctioneer would call their lot number. There was never a miscue, never. Guess who will be on duty at the next auction of April 25?

Ed Spencer, a Waimea boy, proud of his Hawaiian heritage, proud of his HPA graduation in the mid-sixties, living every day the Hawaiian traditions of kindness, generosity, kokua, malama piha pono, a gentle man, a gentleman.

We will miss you, Edgar, but we are comforted to know that you are only a telephone call away (by the way, would you be able to pick up a painting at the airport on December 25?)

I’ll answer for you: “Yes!” You have earned the aloha of generations, Edgar! Enjoy your retirement at the ranch. ■ —Bernard Noguès / Founder and Director Emeritus of the Isaacs Art Center

to the school, two beloved employees, Edgar ‘65 (27 years) and Lita (29 years) Spencer, respectively retired on November 3 and October 31, 2014. Edgar most recently was the school’s facilities superintendent and Lita was the Admission Office manager. We wish them all the best in their next life adventure!

Lita Spencer has been a crucial part of the admission team and will be sorely missed. Her decades of experience at HPA meant that I relied on her for advice to make sure we were always moving in the right direction and being as effective as we could be. She played the role of “Dear Abby,” den mother, statistician, office efficiency expert, and admission office historian. If someone needed to know if a student had inquired before, we could always count on Lita to tell us when the student had inquired, as well as list all the childs’ relatives living in the community.

To me, there are two words that best describe Lita’s tenure at HPA. Loyalty and love. Lita was fiercely loyal to HPA and loved the school. It was an important part of her life with her sons attending HPA, and the Spencers’ long history working at HPA. Lita’s love of the school meant that her work was never a chore or burden for her, and I sincerely appreciated her enthusiasm and cheerful personality. Her contribution to our successes in the Admission Office are evident to all of us who had the joy and honor of working with her. Lita, we wish you all the best and hope you have an even more successful adventure on the ranch! ■ —Joshua Clark / Director of Admission 6 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

HPA Honors Long-Time Employees…

…And Welcomes New Faculty and Staff:

Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy recently recognized the following employees for their dedicated service to the school:

New Faculty Members: Corey Humphrey-Upper School English, T.J.

15 and 20 Year Employees: Dana Petteys-Upper School ESL and Registrar (15 years); Cathy Grant-Third Grade (20 years); and Teri Chong ‘82-First Grade (15 years). Missing: Lisa Sakurai-Auxiliary Programs (15 years).

Donovan-Upper School Art/Ceramics, Vanessa Kalama-Lower School Educational Assistant, Sara Toga Collings-Upper School Learning Specialist, Kim Honda-Lower School Educational Assistant, Adrienne White-Upper School History, Rita Wen-Middle School Chinese Language, and Sheldon Ormsby-Upper School Spanish. Missing: Noah Dodd (K-8 garden coordinator).

10 Year Employees:

Dr. Mark Ravaglia-Upper School Math; Mariah Dodd-K-8 Guidance Counselor; and Kona McKeague-Maintenance.

New Staff Members: Bryan Fukunaga-Information Technology, Sarie

Imonen-Aquatics Program Coordinator; Lisa Dahm, Admission Office Manager; and James Walker-Bookstore Manager. Missing: Victoria Yu, CPA-Controller.

In Memoriam: Denny “Uncle Denny” Dement, Sr. January 3, 1927-July 21, 2014

5 Year Employees: Mimi Villarin-Health Services, Marilei LindseyHousekeeping, Carolyn Jarvill-Health Services, Joyce Martin-Upper School Spanish, Tiare Police ‘86-Admission Office. Missing: Adoracion (Dori) Acidera-Housekeeping, Marina Tichotsky-Upper School Music and Performing Arts, and Fred Wawner-Dean of Students.

Denny “Uncle Denny” Dement Sr. kept the Village Campus a safe place to live and learn for 30 years. He retired from his post in October 2011.

“Between his hourly walks and checks and directing traffic, Uncle Denny always found time to show how much he cared about us,” said first grade teacher Teri Chong ‘82.

As an athlete and sports fan, Uncle Denny continued to keep up with HPA sports and all that was happening on campus. We will miss you, Uncle Denny. ■ Photo courtesy Jane Taylor ‘68.

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_ Ari Bernstein ‘94 Directs Li hau’s Journey Film Will Screen at Waimea Ocean Film Festival January 1-4, 2015 By > Phyllis Kanekuni

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FTER SHOOTING FIVE DOCUMENTARIES for the Beamer-Solomon family’s Halau O Po‘ohala, HPA’s digital media and fine arts department chairman Ari Bernstein ‘94 got a better sense of the struggle dancers face in perpetuating an ancient culture while living in a modern world. _ This idea served as the foundation for Li hau’s Journey, a 30-minute film directed by Bernstein, which premiered at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival on O‘ahu to sold-out audiences on November 2 and 9 at Dole Cannery Stadium 18 and on November 7 at the IMAX Consolidated Theatre in Koko Marina. The film had its Hawai‘i Island premiere in Kailua-Kona as part of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival and will be among the films screened at the Waimea Ocean Film Festival January 1-4, 2015. HPA is one of the host venues_ for the Waimea Ocean Film Festival. _ Li hau’s Journey is a coming of age hula drama, which follows Li hau as she travels from the ocean to the mountains, retracing the steps of her ancestors before an important hula competition. The film features the 150-year hula legacy of Halau O Po‘ohala and the halau’s lead dancer, Leiomalama Tamasese Solomon ‘12.

“I first worked with Leiomalama when she was a student in one of my classes, which was producing a segment for PBS Hawai‘i’s Hiki No, a student news network,” said Bernstein. “Leiomalama was a host for that segment and as a veteran performer, she was very comfortable in front of the camera.”

One of Bernstein’s intentions in making the film was to provide audiences with a “local girl” hero.

“Hawai‘i needs _ films that show local girls in a positive light,” said Bernstein. “Li hau’s Journey gives parents and grandparents an opportunity to bring their daughters and granddaughters to see a positive role model for their generation.”

“I hope the film gives audiences a better appreciation for today’s cultural practitioners, who are perpetuating traditions that are thousands of years old in a fast-changing world,” said Tamasese Solomon. “Hula defines me and I hope the film helps others discover

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what defines them and to have a better understanding of who they are and why they do the things they do.”

Bernstein shot the film entirely in Waimea and Kohala last June and July, and worked with on-island talent. The cast features Kumu _ Hulali Solomon Covington as Li hau’s mother, Kumu Keala Ching of Na Wai _ Iwi Ola as the halau’s kumu, and Pa‘akaula Kalawaianui ‘06 as Li hau’s boyfriend. Karl Kasberg and Russell Paio wrote the original Hawaiian soundtrack. Hawai‘i Sen. Malama Solomon, Halau O Po‘ohala’s cultural historian, was the film’s executive producer and cultural consultant. Allan Trevette wrote the script and also served as one of the film’s producers.

Bernstein recruited his students and former students to work on the project, providing them with valuable production experience.

Roman Kandirovskiy ‘14, Nate Ladwig ‘16, Nick Penny, Claudius Saalfeld ‘14, Michael Spetich ‘14, and Hiro Ueno ‘14 assisted with scouting film locations, working on set as grips with professional mentors, and assisting in post production with color correction and sound mixing at Technicolor in Los Angeles.

For more information about the Waimea Ocean Film Festival and event updates, visit: www.waimeaoceanfilm.org. ■ TOP LEFT: Kumu Keala Ching of Na Wai Iwi Ola and _ Leiomalama Tamasese Solomon ‘12 (Li hau) film a scene at the Pu‘ukohola Heiau National Historic Site.

TOP RIGHT: Director Ari Bernstein _ ‘94 prepares to shoot a scene for Li hau’s Journey.

LEFT: Ari Bernstein ‘94 and Leiomalama Tamasese Solomon ‘12 at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival’s premiere of _ Li hau’s Journey on O‘ahu.

HPA Hosts Waimea Ocean Film Festival January 1-4, 2015 Reels are set to roll when the Waimea Ocean Film Festival (WOFF) returns to Waimea and the Kohala Coast January 1-9, 2015. Films and programs will be featured January 1-4 at venues in Waimea, at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, and at The Fairmont Orchid, Hawai‘i, before moving January 5-9 to _ Four Seasons Resort Hualalai.

The combination of award-winning films, intimate breakfast talks, Q&A filmmaker sessions, compelling speakers, artistic exhibits, and receptions is not to be missed.

Through thought-provoking films and discussion, the festival immerses participants in a greater understanding and awareness of the ocean, our culture and ourselves. Informative Q&A sessions offer moviegoers the opportunity to delve deeper into the film’s message and production while posing questions to filmmakers. Last year’s festival offered 60 Q&As and a dozen casual breakfast talks with filmmakers and experts associated with film topics.

“People love the non-stop excitement of having so many films, speakers and programs to choose from,” says Tania Howard, WOFF founder and director. “We often hear from attendees that the festival is a life-changing experience.”

New this year, a 20 Punch Card adds the element of a treasure hunt to the event, as Starbucks Coffee offers a prize for those who attend 20 film blocks.

For event updates, visit www.waimeaoceanfilm.org, Waimea Ocean Film Festival on Facebook, or contact info@waimeaoceanfilm.org. ■

HPA Community Book Club Meeting January 15, 2015 The Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy Community Book Club will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 15, 2015 in the Dyer Memorial Library, Upper Campus. Community Book Club meetings are free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served and participants are invited to bring a snack to share.

Lois Inman, Dyer Memorial librarian, and Jaime Johnson, Upper School English teacher, will lead the group.

The current book selection is The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Masterly suspenseful, sweeping, piercingly intimate, The Lowland is a work of great beauty and complex emotion; an engrossing family saga and a story steeped in history that spans generations and geographies with seamless authenticity.

For more information, contact Jaime Johnson at jjohnson@hpa.edu. ■

HPAadmissions Joshua Clark, Director of Admission

Fact Finding As HPA alumni or parents, you recognize the value of the HPA experience. In the admission office, we have been blessed because many of our local families have done a superb job of talking about the benefits of an HPA education. In fact, we have experienced an increase in day applications and enrollments.

We are hoping to replicate that word of mouth momentum for our potential boarding families in Hawai‘i, across the U.S., and around the world. Our first challenge is that most people around the world don’t know about HPA. We know there are many families who are looking for a boarding experience, but they don’t know where to look. We are very aware that a large number of those families would be a great fit for HPA and we need to find ways to reach them. The best chance we have of reaching other families to talk about HPA, is through our current HPA ‘ohana network.

Our most valuable resource in admissions is the families who already are fans of HPA. We need your help to identify others who might be a fit for HPA. Our first step is to learn more about you. We would appreciate hearing from both alumni and parents (current and past) at admissions@hpa.edu with answers to the following four questions: ■ How did you first hear about HPA? ■ What made you consider boarding versus a local option?

■ When you were considering boarding schools, what were the most

important factors in making your decision (e.g. location, distance from home, specific program)?

■ Why did you choose HPA over other options?

A second crucial step is to learn more about your community. In your e-mail to admissions@hpa.edu, please tell us more about your community: ■ What are the local educational options in your area? What are the

local public schools like? Are there any charter schools nearby?

Do you have any private schools nearby, and are they popular?

■ If HPA were to visit your neighborhood, what background information and advice would you give about the local area?

Do you have any recommendations that you believe would help us find success if we recruited there?

■ Are there any prevailing themes in conversations with your friends and neighbors when talking about education? For example, are most conversations focused on limited resources and opportunities for children in your area?

■ Are there any parent groups, organizations, or schools you would recommend we visit if we were in your area?

This information can help us better identify key traits of a potential HPA family. The more we know about you and what was most important to you when selecting HPA, the more we can identify like-minded prospective HPA families. In addition, the more we know about your community, the more we can potentially find areas with prospective HPA families to target for more admissions attention and travel. We appreciate your support of HPA and look forward to hearing from you! ■ MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 9

HPAacademics Martin Ferrell, Dean of Academics

At HPA, we are committed to providing the exceptional experiences that we believe are essential to inspiring our graduates to become global citizen-leaders. Widening the lens through which our students view the world and interpret experience will come through a range of means—research abroad, international internships, and crosscultural collaboration, to name a few. We aspire to offer our students the very best opportunities for enriching their learning and their living.

As we look toward a future full of those opportunities, HPA is moving swiftly to broaden the international cultural immersion experiences available to our Middle and Upper School students.

In addition to the potential for second language acquisition, this program will instill in our students the critical global sensibility and cultural sensitivity so vital for the young leaders we strive to develop at HPA. We are certain this is the right place to start.

In this nascent stage of our global movement, our primary goal is for every Middle School and Upper School student to have the opportunity to immerse him or herself in another culture during her course of study in each division. We are moving forward this year with a pilot program designed to host seven trips during spring break, each of which would involve about 10 students and two teachers and would last roughly three weeks, largely based on our current language offerings: two in the Middle School (China and Costa Rica) and five in the Upper School (China, India, Japan, O‘ahu, and Peru).

Based on applications this year, we are able to run five of the trips— Middle School China, India, Japan, O ‘ahu, and Peru.

As we build the financial resources to do so, our next goal will be to propel this program forward by fully funding all of the pilot experiences for up to 15 students per trip, or a total of 100 Upper and 50 Middle School students, along with 18 chaperones. Ultimately, our intention is to endow the program to ensure its permanent success and to enable us to move to an application process that is meritbased. Opportunities to expand classroom curricula into real world experience are and will continue to be an even greater distinguishing feature of an HPA education. ■ Editor’s note: During this pilot phase, annual funding of $50,000 is being sought to provide an essential program foundation as we strive to realize our ultimate goal of a having a multi-faceted, international, immersion program. HPA will be seeking funds to build an endowment to provide for the long-term viability of the initiative. For more information on supporting the global initiatives at HPA, please contact Director of Advancement Lucy Lewis at llewis@hpa.edu.

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[student] voices A Life-Changing Experience By > Noor Sarwar ‘15

Language Opens Doors By > Alice Patig ‘16

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We rode camels into the desert for a night of camping under the stars in the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga.

I am pictured third from the right. Photo courtesy Noor Sarwar ‘15.

hen I first walked through the door of my Chinese classroom as a sophomore, I had been interested in learning this language and culture for years. Little did I know what was awaiting me only a few months later; I would soon befriend a Buddhist monk on a Sunday afternoon stroll in the province of Sichuan and hold hands with new Chinese friends while wearing a life jacket in a unbelievably crowded, gigantic wave pool, counting down in Chinese for the next gigantic wave to move the large crowd once more.

I took Chinese purely out of curiosity, as I am bilingual, speaking German and English. I also learned French earlier and fulfilled my language credits.

Chinese is so fundamentally different from everything I have ever learned or experienced—the mysterious and rich culture, the country’s structure and its rapid modernization and rise in the world’s economy, and of course its highly complex writing system.

In October 2013, I started taking my first Mandarin Chinese high school course. There, my Chinese teacher, Mr. Cheng, introduced the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), a full immersion program in the Chinese culture and language. The program is a highly competitive, merit-based scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. To my surprise, I was awarded the scholarship after completing a long application process.

My journey began on July 4, 2014. The first stop was New York, where we attended an orientation to prepare us to make the most of our experience. We attended numerous seminars, while getting acquainted with the other excited selected students. It did not take

IVING IN MOROCCO for two months was a life-changing experience. I received a fully funded National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, to learn intensive Arabic for the summer in the country’s capital city of Rabat.

I spent four hours every day attending Arabic classes with 14 other amazing American students. When I was not at school, I was exploring the diverse terrain of Morocco. I rode camels into the Sahara desert to camp under the stars; I strolled through the mountain town of the blue-washed medina in Chefchaouen; I spent time playing with children at a local orphanage and preparing free dinners with a volunteer association in my host community.

Going to Morocco without knowing any Arabic proved to be a struggle at times. I remember meeting my host brother and coming home from school alone for the first time. I sat stiff and quiet in the back of an old, beaten-up Mercedes Benz grand taxi as I hoped that I would spot the metal pole on the side of the freeway that led to a little dirt path into my neighborhood. I nervously shouted over the seven large men that surrounded me to pull over to the side of the highway where I saw the familiar dirt path, but no pole. Immediately, a wave of relief washed my face as I hopped out of the taxi and jumped over the pole, which was resting on the ground. When I finally reached a golden flower gate at the end of the street, all pride disappeared as it refused to open. The rumbling of the lock and the thrusting of that gate would always remain my host brother’s first impression of me, and would also become his daily cue to let me in. When I finally got inside, my host brother poured me a cup of the renowned “hawai” punch that plastered CONTINUED ON P.32

FAR LEFT: My new friends—Cici Heard of Mississippi (left) and Aarsheya Hooda of India and now a student at the University of Pennsylvania (right)—and I took an excursion to The Great Wall of China. LEFT: My host family took me to a restaurant in Deyang. Photos courtesy Alice Patig ’16.

long for all of us to get comfortable with each other; by the end of the summer, we would be like a family.

Second stop was Beijing, where we traveled with the American Field Service (AFS). In Beijing, wonderful Chinese AFS volunteers took us on a trip to the Great Wall of China. This first encounter with China was an overwhelming experience for all of us.

From Beijing, we flew to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, a region known for its pandas and spicy food. We stayed in Deyang for the next 42 days, a “small” city nearby with a population of about four million people. We lived with host families and went to school five days a week at the 德阳外国学校 (Deyang Foreign Language School) to learn about the Chinese culture and language.

The Chinese are known for their extreme hospitality, which proved to be true. Our host families awaited us with gifts and hugs and CONTINUED ON P.32

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 11

[student] spotlight

Peer-to-Peer Pilot Program Proves Win-Win for All Freshman Computer Science Class Combines Learning and Fun By > Phyllis Kanekuni

I

T IS LATE NOVEMBER and Dr. Bill Wiecking is reviewing semester exam topics with the 12 freshmen in his Computer Science class in one of the Energy Lab classrooms. The list of topics might not mean much to most of us, but these freshmen are taking it all in. As Wiecking explains it, the first day of the two-day exam will cover UNIX, CAT 5, wireless (router/access points setup), HTML5/MAMP, sensors, Raspberry Pi, and finally, something that is familiar, the Flappy Bird Game. But wait, it’s not just the Flappy Bird Game; it’s the code for the Flappy Bird Game students are working with in code.org.

And the second day of exams?

Minecraft. Specifically, eight basic logic systems that allow computers to make decisions.

Enter Miller White, a senior and self-described Minecraft aficionado and “technical hobbyist.” He also placed 25th nationally at the Technology Student Association (TSA) VEX Robotics Competition, but White is so humble, you would not ever hear this from him.

It all began last year, when White was a student in Wiecking’s Advanced Computer Science class.

“Miller took what we learned in class and ran with it,” Wiecking recalled. “He created a smart key card prototype system for our Energy Lab that he redesigned as a key card scan system from scratch; he currently is working with school officials to develop a security system that would be used across campus.”

Wiecking recognized the need for a freshman-level computer science class and approached White about being a teaching assistant for a new semester-long freshman elective computer science course.

White jumped at the opportunity to be part of this pilot program, making it the first time a student is assisting in teaching his peers at HPA. Wiecking also credits Martin Ferrell, dean of academics, who encouraged the creation of the course, which is intended for and restricted to incoming freshmen.

The class goals are to introduce freshmen to the complex ideas of computer science—circuitry, programming, and logic in an engaging environment. Wiecking and White worked throughout the summer to develop a curriculum around the minecraft.edu platform,

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a MOD (modification) of the popular video construction game used specifically for education.

“We thought this would be a great way to use something the students were familiar with,” said White, who started playing the game about four years ago when it was first developed.

Wiecking and White set up a minecraft.edu server for the class that can be accessed from off campus. White uses his free periods to prepare for the class, which meets three times a week. He teamteaches two of the classes with Wiecking and his remaining free period of the week is committed to an Independent Study course in Mandarin Chinese.

“Miller is a selfless, passionate, engaged peer teacher of these kids, and his commitment mirrors the same enthusiasm and deep thinking that he brings to his own studies,” said Wiecking.

The students absolutely agree that White’s presence in the classroom has made a huge difference in their learning.

“This is one of my favorite classes,” said Griffin Head. “If Miller wasn’t here it would be a lot different because Miller was the one who knew how to play Minecraft.”

“It was awesome and fun having a student as a teacher,” said Jody Jamin.

“Miller’s someone we can relate to because he’s a student,” said Ethan Jones.

“It’s pretty nice because he treats you differently; he knows students,” echoed Kailer Garcia. “He’s a good, creative teacher.”

The class is so successful, students come in before school, over lunch, and after school to work on their advanced assignments.

“Miller is the living concept of giving back, of stewardship. He gets no credit for his work with these kids, but he spends countless hours of review with them, and has become their de facto leader, a sort of pied piper of computer literate freshmen,” said Wiecking, who noted that one student completed the 20-hour introductory code.org course in just two class periods and another completed the course in three periods.

“We need to meet their needs,” he said.

That means increasing the rigor of the Advanced Computer Science classes for these students, who also can take Advanced Computer Technology and Independent Science Research as sophomores. White has documented his work and Wiecking hopes some of these students will choose to assist in future freshman computer science classes.

For White, “Half the fun is getting to watch their faces light up when they get it. I hope some of them will choose to give back as I have when they’re seniors.”

While the freshmen prepare for their semester exams, White is looking ahead to life beyond HPA. “This is the first time I’ve instructed a large group and now I’m thinking about going into teaching; maybe as a college professor, getting a Ph.D. “It’s going to be cool regardless of what happens. This class has shown me I really like sharing.” ■ Editor’s Note: Something else you might not hear from the very humble Miller White is that he has starred in several school musicals, including 42nd Street, in which he played Julian Marsh. He most recently brought Gaston to life in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which played to record-breaking audiences in Gates Performing Arts Center November 13-16.

Graziano Named Semifinalist in 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program

Sandulli is Named Commended Student in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program

Senior Harmony Graziano has been named a semifinalist in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Martin Ferrell, dean of academics, made the announcement.

Graziano will continue in the competition for 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be offered next spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

Graziano, the daughter of Paul Graziano and Sharon Snuggs of Kapaa, Kauai, is an active member of the HPA community. She is very involved in theater and the performing arts and her recent productions include Beauty and the Beast, 42nd Street, Flowers for Algernon, and the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She also is a member of the varsity swimming and water polo teams and president of the Zephyr Literary Club, which produces the school’s annual literary magazine.

About 1.4 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2015 will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 308,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title. ■

Senior Julian Sandulli has been named a Commended Student in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program. Martin Ferrell, dean of academics, made the announcement at a recent assembly and presented Sandulli with a letter of commendation from the school and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program.

Sandulli is the son of Richard and Kelly Sandulli of Kamuela.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2015 competition by taking the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.” ■

Welcome to the HPA College Fair!

Top Spellers Thirty-eight students in grades 5-8 participated in the HPA spelling bee on November 4. Eighth grader Hayley Emmons (left) and classmate Kealia Haitsuka were the co-champions in this year’s school spelling bee. Emmons and Haitsuka now advance to the Hawaii Island District Spelling Bee on January 10, 2015 at HPA’s Gates Performing Arts Center. The winner of the district competition will represent Hawai‘i Island at the state spelling bee. ■

Thirty-seven colleges and universities were on hand for HPA’s College Fair held November 19 in Castle Gym. “We were excited about the number of schools that were able to attend and their geographic diversity, which provides our students with a wide range of options,” said Andrew Kelsey, HPA’s director of college counseling. ■ MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 13

Pushing the Green Movement Forward

By > Davy Ragland ‘15

LEFT: Green University 2014 conference attendees and speakers. RIGHT: Davy Ragland ‘15 (right) with finalist Charlie Cevallos of George Washington University in fair trade and organic clothing

I

N NOVEMBER, Caylin Kojima ‘15 and I attended Green University 2014, a three-day sustainability conference at Marin Country Day School in Marin County, California. We were selected to present at the conference because of our performance in Project Green Challenge, a 30-day sustainable and conscious living journey that primarily focused on personal education, communal action, and global results through the use of challenges that promote social awareness.

Project Green Challenge inspired us to make a difference by providing us with specific resources and practices that we learned to utilize for change. It also gave us a more complete picture, so we can intelligently lead the green movement, without just saying “pollution is bad,” but by actually offering viable solutions.

At the end of the challenge, our team had the most points and we were selected from thousands of participants to share our experiences and ideas for the future with esteemed eco-leaders. At Green University, we started by being fully immersed within the sustainable lifestyle. We ate only fresh, local, organic, seasonal, and non-GMO (FLOSN) food, got a complete makeover with fair-trade clothing and hygiene products without manufactured chemicals, and even stayed at a hotel that makes environmentally conscious decisions, such as using grey water and alternative energy.

After seeing that living a green lifestyle was possible, we met people who are big in the sustainability community, such as Ken Cook, president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group; David Burstein, chief executive officer & founder of Run For America; Anna Cummins, co-founder of 5 Gyres; David Dietz, founder of Modavanti; Tiffany Finck-Haynes, food futures campaigner for Friends of the Earth; Rob Friedman, strategist and campaigner for Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Amy Halman, president and formulator at ACURE; David Lannon, executive vice president of operations at Whole Foods Market; Stacy Malkan, award-winning author and co-founder of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics; Julie Mastrine,

14 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

We listened to these industry leaders speak about how they are each making the future a little bit more sustainable, and we were inspired. activism marketing and social media manager at Care2; Kyle Rabin, director of programs at GRACE Communications Foundation; Debbie Raphael, director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment; Janette Rizk, vice president of social media and public relations at Phelps; Katie Schneider, senior manager of communications at Fair Trade USA; and Erin Schrode, co-founder of Teens Turning Green.

We listened to these industry leaders speak about how they are each making the future a little bit more sustainable, and we were inspired. We also got to work with them, create plans for the future, and design social platforms for change. I then had the opportunity to present my transformation journey and ideas for the future to these people at the end of the conference. Now, we have the knowledge, guidance, and resources to help push the green movement forward. ■ Davy Ragland ‘15 presents at the Green University 2014 conference.

Eliana Kaplan and Davy Ragland Receive Hiatt College Scholarships Seniors Eliana Kaplan and Davy Ragland are this year’s recipients of the Hiatt College Scholarships for Community Service and Academic Creativity and Initiative. HPA parents Jerry and Mahilani Hiatt were on hand for the presentation at the Upper School assembly on November 17.

Kaplan received the Community Service Award and a $1,000 scholarship for embodying the spirit of servant leadership. Kaplan serves as student council president and has been involved with student council for the past four years. She is active with the school’s Service Learning Advisory Council (SLAC), student ambassadors, and also has volunteered in the community as a legal intern and as an usher at Kahilu Theatre. She is very involved in theatre and dance at HPA and in the community. She most recently starred as Belle in the school’s presentation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

HPA Students “Drive” Keck Telescope Seniors Alina Sabyr and Daniel Matsuda had a rare opportunity to “drive” the Keck Telescope during the evening of November 29. As members of Jerry Bleckel’s Astronomy course, they spent the semester learning about the stars in our universe, including classroom lessons with W. M. Keck Observatory astronomers Mark Kassis, Randy Campbell, and Luca Rizzi, but this was their opportunity to put their learning into action.

Assisting Kassis, the duo manned the helm of the Keck I telescope control at the Observatory headquarters in Waimea. Kassis’ multi-year project is to study star cluster IC348, located in the Perseus constellation. The team used the MOSFIRE detector to study the infrared spectra of several stars within the cluster. The cluster is of particular interest because it consists of “young” stars (about 3 million years old) that are located only 316 parsecs from the Sun. Kassis hopes his long-term project will confirm previous results and add to the atlas of the powerful MOSFIRE instrument.

Daniel Matsuda ’15 (far left), Alina Sabyr and HPA Astronomy teacher Jerry Bleckel (seated, center) receive instruction from W.M. Keck Observatory support astronomers Marc Kassis (standing, left) and Scott Dahm. Photo courtesy W.M. Keck Observatory.

Jerry and Mahilani Hiatt are pictured with this year’s recipients of the Hiatt College Scholarships, HPA seniors Davy Ragland and Eliana Kaplan.

Ragland received the Academic Creativity and Initiative Award and a $1,000 scholarship for his numerous research projects at the school’s Energy Lab, which range from brainwave research and experimenting with human-machine interfaces to prototyping a CO2 sensory instrumentation device for predicting sleep apnea and designing and 3D printing a medical cast for his sister. He recently was one of six student presenters at the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools’ Schools of the Future 2014 Conference and was part of a student team that represented HPA at the Project Green Challenge Finals November 20-24 in San Francisco.

The Hiatt College Scholarships were established in 2004, when Jerry and Mahilani Kellett Hiatt established the Mahilani Kellett Hiatt Endowment Fund. The Service Award recognizes a student who provides extensive and meaningful local service to the community, while the Academic Creativity and Initiative Award recognizes a student for scholarly work above and beyond the regular academic curriculum.

Award recipients are selected based on nominations from their classmates and faculty. These nominees then are reviewed by an independent school committee. ■

Daniel Matsuda ’15 and Alina Sabyr ’15 listen to W.M. Keck Observatory support astronomer Marc Kassis (far right), along with HPA Astronomy teacher Jerry Bleckel during their recent visit to the Observatory headquarters. Photo courtesy W.M. Keck Observatory.

Sabyr and Matsuda took turns operating the telescope and choosing the spectrum and aligning the instrument. The night represented the first time HPA students have worked directly with local astronomers.

“We hope to expand this connection with the astronomers in our community as the HPA astronomy program grows,” said Bleckel.

Sabyr was impressed by the whole experience.

“I was thinking of studying astronomy in college,” she said. “Now that I see what they actually do, I’m even more interested.” ■ MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 15

Biotechnology Students Clone DNA from Endemic Hawaiian Reef Fish Study is Part of Global Genomics Project

By > Andrew Perala ‘72

2

DECADES AGO, the science of genetics in the movie “Jurassic Park” entranced people worldwide. Audiences bought a billion dollars worth of tickets to watch dinosaurs, reborn in a futuristic science lab and now very hungry, chase delicious people across a jungle island.

Who wouldn’t want to see that?

The goggly-eyed science of the movie’s genetic cloning is as far away today as it was in 1993. But other aspects of genetic science, inconceivable back then, can now be found in the science labs at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.

In Stephanie McDowell’s Upper School Biotechnology class, imagination run wild has been captured in a bottle.

Or more precisely, a micro-sized test tube the size of a pencil’s sharpened end.

For more than a month this fall, students in the advanced class researched, planned, and conducted a single experiment in DNA research. There were no dinosaurs. But there was real science and results that will be published in a new digital catalogue of species. With lab equipment that cost less than a good used car, McDowell’s students isolated, purified, and cloned a region of DNA from an endemic Hawaiian reef fish, the Saddle wrasse or Hina lau-wili (Thalassoma duperrey).

The students’ 129-step experiment was part of a global effort to digitally catalogue the earth’s fish, mammals, plants, birds,

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TOP (l to r): Brittani Boora, Lauren Sullivan and Stephanie McDowell remove gill tissue from saddle wrasse. Abbey Riley measures the length of the first captured saddle wrasse, and prepares to photograph it.

Stephanie McDowell with saddle wrasse gill tissue samples at Puako.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Brittani Boora and Lauren Sullivan transfer reagents with micropipettes. Left: Jake Anderson, Stephanie McDowell, and Teia Knoll review lab protocol. Students place PCR reaction tubes in thermocycler.

mosquitoes and more. Some 25 countries are participating, with national committees securing funding and assigning research.

This opportunity was made possible through the Barcoding Life’s Matrix program, a science innovation project hosted by Coastal Marine Biolabs with funding support from the National Science Foundation (DRL1030083).

HPA is the only high school in the state and one of 50 nationwide to participate this year. In cooperation with the Bishop Museum on O‘ahu, research scientists there are vouchering the students’ specimens.

At the heart of the Ka Makani research are samples of blood-rich gill tissue from 10 wrasse caught in early October near Puako with a special activity permit from the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources.

“It’s a really important initiative,” McDowell said. “The DNA we get from our experiment will be assigned a code and become part of an easily accessible genetic catalog of some 50 millions species.”

The digital code – a barcode - assigned to the HPA fish and all others in the new catalog will help future researchers more easily track populations, biosystem diversity, and the general health of specific species, and allow researchers “to detect (a species) from merely parts of them, and at any life stage where identification could be difficult,” McDowell said.

“I didn’t think it would be this interes-

ting,” said senior Jake Anderson as he sat relaxing with his teammates after an hour of precision sample-measuring and DNA cloning. “It’s kind of opened my eyes.”

Teammate Brittany Boora agreed. “You see all these machines in our experiment in college. It’s nice to learn how to use them.”

Anderson, Boora, and fellow senior teammates Lauren Sullivan, Adam Dunham, and the other students in the class spent October and part of November carefully following 129 steps laid out in their lab manual, with each step requiring two people or more to sign off.

On a Thursday morning in late October near the end of their experiment, the students had refined their gill samples’ DNA using complex techniques like “polymerase chain reaction or PCR” and “agarose gel electrophoresis” to get an acceptable sample, clean, pure, and documented rigorously to submit to the project for verification and assignment of a barcode.

While the students worked, the lab was a picture of perfect research techniques. The students, all in white lab coats, moved their miniature test tube samples with polished technique, and a focused intensity that brooked no extraneous conversation. As some students used thin glass pipettes to shake loose 20 microliters of nearly invisible droplets into tiny test tubes, others carefully inserted test tubes into centrifuges, running each specimen through several spin cycles whirring at up 14,000 rpm.

The students finished their day’s tasks with a bit of a collective sigh, relaxing only when the sample trays had been placed into the thermocycler. There, for the next three hours, the oven would raise the temperature of their tray of samples to 90º C, then cooled them down to 50º C; repeating the process 30 times.

That’s how one strand of DNA became a billion, a sample of the CO1 mitochondrial genes large enough to submit for verification and digital coding.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Adam Dunham said.

According to McDowell, the research work the students accomplished in their DNA lab could have far-reaching paths.

“This lab experiment shows there is potential future commercial value, in that it can detect presence of undesirable animal or plant material related to food stuffs and invasive species.”

As a teacher, McDowell is professionally interested in the “genetic relatedness, or the degree of divergence, of native and endemic organisms of Hawai‘i compared to ancestral populations.”

“I have loved this class,” said junior Haley Dow. ■ Editor’s Note: Freelance writer and editor Andrew Perala ‘72 lives in Waimea with his family. He is a co-winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 17

Center Stage A Spotlight on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast By > Harmony Graziano ‘15

Photos courtesy Patrick O’Leary

18 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

H

OW DO YOU TURN a bare stage, filled with only zealous teenagers and a piano, into a 19th century French castle replete with enchanted napkins, a magical candlestick, and a fearsome beast?

“It’s a long artistic journey filled with many twists and turns,” says technical director Jared Terpak. “In the end, we end up with a masterpiece filled with hard work and dedication to share with our community.”

Putting on a show is, in my experience, akin to baking a cake.

Our cake – the fall production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – will eventually be adorned with small yellow tulips and a blue ribbon stolen straight from Belle’s head, the picture of a most delightful magic.

First, you need the ingredients. Depending on the cake you’re baking, you might require a few kinds of flour, a handful of cooking oils, and various combinations of milk, flavor, or baking powder to make it gel. You won’t see a finished cake by just staring at a carton of eggs on your counter; likewise, we don’t see a finished show by staring at unmarked scripts and pages of music on the first day of rehearsal.

Our ingredients, too, sit separately and seemingly unmixed: a director, a group of 40 or so excited high-schoolers, a script from Musical Theatre International, 20 cans of paint, a piano, and wisps of melodies from Disney movies past. So began our journey with Beauty and the Beast just four months ago in balmy August afternoons that would eventually transform into a most enchanting fall.

In cooking, mixing might be the easiest part because you can throw everything into a bowl and turn your mixer on “high,” letting the cake essentially make itself. However, in a show, the proverbial mixing of ingredients is the trickiest step, one that relies on a delicate combination of patience and talent to perfect. As with any sport, activity, or baked good, you rely on a foundation of excellence (a recipe, if you will) to carry you through the process. In our case, we often look to our “foundation” of seasoned theatre veterans, both our classmates and our instructors, for guidance in finding that perfect balance.

This year, experienced performer Miller White ‘15 led the cast through vocally challenging group numbers and trickily-choreographed movement pieces. White, who stars as Gaston, used his contagious extroversion and unfaltering sense of spirit to lead underclassmen, taking countless moments to help his fellow performers during the process. Another key ingredient in our figurative batter is the expertise of knowledgeable instructors: between director and costume designer Marina Tichotsky, technical director and lighting/set designer Jared Terpak, assistant musical director Philip Cheng, and choreographer Elizabeth McDonald, the cast had surefire examples for success. The last key ingredient comes from the history books itself; nothing makes a show better than a fun, enchanting script, or a melodically enticing soundtrack. Thankfully, Beauty and the Beast has both, primarily brought to life by the spirited mezzo of Eliana Kaplan ’15, who plays Belle, and the deep baritone of Calvin Chang ‘15, who stars as the fearsome Beast.

As the cake bakes and we begin preparing our show, the cast spends countless hours in front of a piano, perfecting Alan Menken’s timeless melodies, or on stage, learning blocking for fun group numbers like the dazzling Be Our Guest or the catchy Belle. As the cake begins browning and we are in our final stages of production, the cast adds costumes and props to the mix to rehearse with the right amount of preparation for the show.

OPPOSITE: Gaston (Miller White ‘15) sings Me, trying to convince Belle (Eliana Kaplan ‘15) to marry him. TOP: The “Napkins”—Harmony Graziano ‘15, Elyse Fujioka ‘17, Kathryn Byrnes ‘16, and Makena Hardwick ‘15—perform the cancan in the musical number Be Our Guest.

In the end, we end up with a masterpiece filled with hard work and dedication to share with our community.

Jared Terpak, Technical Director

“The beginning of November is always my favorite part,” notes Jessie Ainslie ’15, who plays Babette. “It’s the time when everyone’s done their work and you get to just put on a silly dress, go on stage, and start really having fun with it.”

Ainslie’s sentiment echoes throughout the Gates Performing Arts Center walls; the theatre begins bubbling with the kinetic energy of director Marina Tichostsky’s piano and the walls suddenly bear a fresh coat of paint, or the stage hosts a new table or lamp, small details reflective of an exciting time to come. The show gathers energy for weeks before it is ready to take out of the oven.

Then the show goes on. For four days, the cast moves as a unit, jetting on and offstage, hitting tunes, and moving the plot. For four days, the crew scurries to move set pieces and call an appropriate time for the lights to go up in a perfectly timed tactical operation. For four days, the orchestra comes alive with some of Alan Menken’s greatest work, the violin bow jumping off the strings and the piano joyfully keeping pace. For four days, Gates Performing Arts Center breathes life and love into our show, and then we go back to, indeed, being “Human Again.” ■ Editor’s Note: Harmony Graziano ‘15 is a semifinalist in the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program (see page 13) and has been very involved in theater and the performing arts at HPA and in the community. A fun fact—Harmony’s favorite foods are orange chicken and animal crackers!

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 19

On Stage at Gates Performing Arts Center Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is Spectacular!

Ka Makani Players’ presentation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast drew record audiences during its run November 13-16. The cast featured Eliana Kaplan as Belle, Calvin Chang as The Prince/ The Beast, Miller White as Gaston, Kaipolani Hubbard as Mrs. Potts, Tanner Riley as Lumiere, Colby Camero as Cogsworth, Wolfgang Brennan as Lefou, and John Paulo Ortega as Maurice. Thirty other

HPA students played supporting roles, with 50 more students in the orchestra and assisting with production.

HPA theatre instructor Marina Tichotsky was the director, music director, and costume designer. Phillip Cheng was musical and production assistant, Elizabeth MacDonald was choreographer, and Jared Terpak was technical director and set/lighting designer. ■

The Tale of the Chinese Zodiac The Tale of the Chinese Zodiac, a fun, multicultural folk tale presented by the second and third grade classes on December 5, revealed how 12 special animals got their places in the Chinese Zodiac. The kindergarten and first grade classes will present the next performance at 2:15 p.m. on February 6. ■

20 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

C-Rhyme and Pun-ishment In the nursery rhyme justice system, two separate, yet equally important groups represent the people—the detectives and the magistrates. Seventh and eighth grade students presented their rhymes in the Law and Order musical spoof, C-Rhyme and Punishment on October 9 and 10. Middle School music teacher Barbara Kopra directed. ■

Alice’s Adventures with Idioms

Fourth and fifth graders presented Alice’s Adventures with Idioms on October 3 in conjunction with the students’ language arts program. All the familiar Wonderland characters – the White Rabbits, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the Mad Hatter and March Hare, the Cheshire Cat, the Talking Flowers, the King and Queen of Hearts – were there to share their kooky wisdom as they helped Alice and her pets navigate the mysterious world of the English language. ■

And in Our Community…

Handbell Choir Rings in the Holidays The Middle School Handbell Choir, under the direction of Georgia Poláková, spread holiday cheer around the island in a series of free public performances.

“It is pure joy to share the magic of handbells with Hawai‘i Island communities,” said Poláková. “Giving is what this holiday season is all about and our students love sharing their handbell music with others.”

The group performed at Prince Kuhio Shopping Center in Hilo, the Parker Ranch Tree Lighting at Pu‘uopelu in Waimea, Waikoloa Kings Shops, Waimea Town Farmers Market, and the Parker Ranch Food Court. ■

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 21

Zero Waste

HPA

Two Meanings of “Diversion” By > Matt Piercy

HOW MUCH WASTE CAN 10,000 PEOPLE GENERATE IN SIX HOURS?

W

ITH A RECORD-BREAKING attendance at this year’s 23rd Annual Pumpkin Patch on October 26, the 10,000 event-goers produced about 845 pounds of trash, according to Upper School Agroecology students, led by Deighton Emmons, who dissected the “trash.”

However this year, HPA redefined “waste.”

With an eye toward a sustainable future, the school chose the annual event to kick off its Zero Waste initiative, diverting 89 percent of the Pumpkin Patch waste from the landfill and turning its trash into a valuable resource.

One goal of Zero Waste programs is to divert 90 percent or more of materials from the landfill through recycling and composting, making the Pumpkin Patch effort a resounding success.

Noah Dodd, K-12 garden coordinator and Zero Waste guru with a passion for taking care of the planet, spearheaded the school’s Zero Waste initiative. Using a grant from Recycle Hawai‘i and matching funds from the HPA ‘Ohana Association, Dodd designed a five-stream rainbow color-coded system to guide users through the disposal process. The bins were systematically placed in order of value—with green on one end signifying green waste and the color of money for its value (paper plates, compostable silverware, food waste) followed by blue (HI5 redeemables), yellow (paper/cardboard), purple (mixed recycling, #s 1, 2, 3, 4, & 7), and red on the other end symbolizing “alert” and landfill (shaved ice cups and Styrofoam items).

“Noah and Sam Robinson worked tirelessly on finding the right

22 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

containers with the right colors and verbiage, so it would be easy to understand where to put your rubbish,” said ‘Ohana Association President Pamela Heitz.

Middle and Upper School students, along with teachers and administrators, manned 10 strategically-placed Zero Waste stations at the event, showing Pumpkin Patch attendees which bin to place their trash in for composting and recycling.

“It warmed my heart as I watched preschoolers to senior citizens stand there and contemplate, what goes in which bin,” said Patty Walker, K-8 assistant principal, who volunteered at one of the Zero Waste stations. “As I guided others, I only heard compliments such as, ‘HPA well done’ and ‘Impressive set up!’ But, more than anything else, people said, ‘Mahalo for doing this for our community!’”

Hideyoshi Akai ‘15, student council vice president, also volunteered at a Zero Waste station and opted to stay long past his shift.

“Selfish enough, helping Zero Waste made me feel better about myself,” he said.

HPA is no stranger to sustainable practices, particularly with the opening of the Energy Lab in 2010. There have been successful studentdriven initiatives, such as Back to Tap launched in 2011 with the goal of eliminating single-use plastic water bottles. In 2007, HPA hosted Green Fest Waimea, an event presented by environmentally-conscious HPA students who were inspired by Live Earth, a global 24-hour event with nine main concerts on seven continents, all taking place on 07/07/07.

Green Fest Waimea was an eco-friendly, carbon-neutral event run completely on bio-diesel generators and even included a Zero Waste

OPPOSITE: Kayla Johnson ’16 and Daniel Groves ’18 man one of the Zero Waste stations at this year’s Pumpkin Patch.

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: Dylan Ryan ’16 assists community members at a Pumpkin Patch Zero Waste stations.

Noah Dodd, K-12 garden coordinator and Zero Waste guru, with volunteer Ian Stone at the Pumpkin Patch. Photo courtesy Lisa Dahm.

Noah Dodd, Waste guru, explains the Zero Waste “sorting game” to first graders in the Ulu Mau Garden.

station. For years, the school also has collected HI5, cardboard, and paper and leftover food waste went to a local farmer’s pigs. The list goes on.

The addition of Dodd’s full-time position for the 2014-2015 school year allows HPA to take Zero Waste to the next level—schoolwide— beginning with a pilot program at the K-8 Village Campus.

HPA’s K-8 Village Campus size makes it the perfect “training ground” to raise a Zero Waste consciousness. Before the bins ever arrived, Dodd’s educational program began in the Village Campus’ Ulu Mau (perpetuating growth) Garden. Students in grades K-8 learned about traditional burning and burying of waste, along with an alternative option—diverting waste. A fun-filled assembly gave students an opportunity to reach into a bag of assorted waste and decide where napkins, tin cans, and corn cobs might go. Village Campus teachers “competed,” with students cheering them on.

“Beginning with our keiki only seems sensible,” said Kumu Kuwalu Anakalea, K-8 Hawaiian Studies teacher. “Living on an island affords many unique opportunities; among these is the chance to fully feel land’s finite boundaries. Pretending that our waste ‘disappears’ is impossible.”

The program’s success on campus takes all departments working together—students, faculty, and staff, as well as Sodexo, HPA’s food service provider.

Dodd’s zeal has inspired his students, who now consciously think about which bin to use in classrooms, the hallways, and even in the dining room.

“I can’t help but grin whenever I hear students moan when they or anyone has to put something in the red bin,” shared English teacher Stephanie David-Chapman.

An added bonus is when students extend their learning beyond the classroom and into their homes (see list on page 33).

Seventh grader Mia Patig commented about “how it’s important that we continue to focus on Zero Waste and doing the ‘right’ thing.”

She also pointed at the importance of convenience.

“At my house we compost, recycle HI5, and separate our plastics and paper. But, it’s harder to do here than it was in Germany. In Germany

everyone does it. In our community of 20 houses, we had special cans and one big garage where we took everything. Then, a service would come pick it up. We didn’t have to take it to the transfer station.”

Zero Waste does not happen overnight. Education and habits render expectations that are not instantaneous.

“This is a shaping of culture,” said Anakalea.

With about 400 pounds being diverted from the landfill weekly at the Village Campus, the initial steps are promising. Carrying even more than the 400 pounds weight is the incalculable substance beyond the education students are receiving.

Fifth grader Bear Wawner enthusiastically stated, “It is fun to be a part of Zero Waste because we not only talked about it, we did it!”

With the receipt of a generous $1.5 million grant from alumnus James C. Kennedy this past summer, HPA continues to improve upon its reputation as an academic school distinguished by an array of opportunities in the field of sustainability and energy conservation studies. Zero Waste is one such “study” that is synchronized with this vision. Already, ideas are blossoming with respect to the possibilities of compost audits, partnership programs, capstone projects, and the multiple entrepreneurial industries for profit contained within this diversion of resources.

“HPA is ahead of the game in Hawai‘i,” said Dodd. “We share the ‘cutting edge’ with just a few schools. We are all different, while at the same time, share a value for pushing the envelope in considering what is possible on our campuses.”

Is there any coincidence that the word “diversion” has two meanings? Merriam Webster defines diversion as “the act of changing the direction or use of something,” but also as, “something that people do because it is enjoyable.” ■ Editor’s Note: Matt Piercy is a passionate educator, writer, and traveler who cares deeply for all things sustainable. He often can be seen commuting to school on his bicycle, or gardening in his home's edible landscape. He co-led HPA’s Sustainability Congress this past summer.

FOR MORE ON ZERO WASTE GO TO P.33

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 23

_ One Konane Move After Another X

24 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

[faculty] profile Kumu Kuwalu Anakalea

By > Matt Piercy

K-8 Hawaiian Studies _ “Getting off Maui was a Konane move,” emphasized Nicole “Kumu Kuwalu” Anakalea. “Not ending up just another statistic was reason enough to find a way to graduate. However, there was a burning desire to see from a different lens.”

K

_ o nane, an ancient game of strategy invented by the Hawaiian Polynesians, was repeatedly referenced by Anakalea as she reflected on how the universe helped _ guide her life, one Ko nane move after another.

Her arrival at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy was one such move. After teaching for 10 years at Kanu o ka _ ‘Aina, Anakalea was ready for a new challenge. In her fifth year at HPA, Anakalea’s expertise is spread across the Village Campus and her influence in the greater island community is equally evident. Her kuleana (responsibility) includes teaching students in grades 1-5 Hawaiian culture lessons. She also is a cultural specialist for garden classes on Tuesdays. _ Anakalea sees her Middle School elective, Na Pua Koai‘e Hula Ensemble, four days a week, and teaches Hawaiian Language three times a week. Outside of school, she is kumu (teacher) for Hula _ Waikaunu Halau and _ stays more than busy helping organize events _ with Puko‘a Kani ‘A ina Community Development, a non-profit that seeks to improve opportunities for Native Hawaiians and their community. One such event is the Makahiki. From October through _ March, in partnership with Ka Moku o Keawe Makahiki, Anakalea assists in the community and across districts teaching Makahiki and the importance of mind, body, and spirit. Anakalea also offers cultural programs in various rural communities, including Miloli‘i. And she is at home with her two sons and taking care of her elderly mother.

“It’s family, hula, and everything cultural that fills me up.

“Mahalo hula,” continued Anakalea. “Through hula I was able to travel to New Zealand, Japan, Tahiti, and the mainland.”

Her sons were born into the hula family, but were adopted by the wa’a (canoe). Kaniela, Anakalea’s elder son, was learning the ropes and stars when he was eight years old from master navigator Papa Mau Piailug. _ _ “Ten years later, at 18, he was asked to join Hokule‘a and return to our ancestral lands,” said Anakalea. “He took us all home. After all the war, disease and hardship…we are still here.” _ _ Kaniela recently returned from sailing on the Hokule‘a. Anakalea proudly, yet so humbly shares how the seed was allowed to return home. The passion in her eyes seems to melt into compassion as she speaks about connection and how her son left as a boy and came back a man.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Kumu Kuwalu Anakalea leads the ‘Eli Honua ceremony for the Ulu Malama Terrace Farm at the Upper Campus on October 31, 2013. The sacred ceremony awakens the land and the surrounding elements.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Instructing seventh grader_ Brock Imonem (left) and eighth grader Sihkea Jim before they compete in Huki Ku Papa at the school’s Makahiki Games on November 25; with Middle School teacher Julie Camarillo at the school’s Makahiki Games; working with students from Hawai‘i Community College in the Village Campus garden on November 15.

Elijah, Anakalea’s younger son is a sophomore at HPA and is _ _ likely to have the opportunity to sail Makali‘i and return Hoku le‘a from the south in three years. Both sons have learned the importance of a sense of place, what it means to be pono (live a righteous life), and how we all are connected. Remembering, but also valuing connection inevitably led Anakalea along the path to study and then teach geography.

“Geography really is just understanding human relationships and how we interact with the Earth. And that’s what native Hawaiians basically had.”

Anakalea maintains there is power and magic in Hawaiian stories, where people called the rains and thunder. Or moved clouds.

“If you watch kids chant Hiki Mai and then see the sun come out from behind the rain and clouds, you would know what I mean, said Anakalea. “Kids believe. We adults have too much rubbish and have been told so many times how to feel and not to feel. Kids trust.”

Anakalea lives what she believes. She knows how to read her audience, is well-versed in her subject, and imparts it with passion.

Her students share what they have learned with their peers, creating the same “magic” present in Hawaiian stories. Anakalea is open to _ learning and making one Konane move after another. ■ MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 25

Eliana Kaplan ‘15, President

Charity balls, singing students, Pumpkin Patch booths, and a week of spirit marked the first semester of the 2014-2015 academic school year as we welcomed new students into our HPA community and sadly waved goodbye to graduating seniors.

In August, students participated in class retreat days that featured hikes, beach days, gym activities, and a multitude of catching up and bonding activities for each individual class. Shortly after, students united in a “Backto-School” dance that collected donations of school supplies and raised money for the ALS Association in accordance with the “ice bucket challenge” sensation. Students attended two other dances, Sadie Hawkins and Fall Ball, as they respectively raised money for the Kohala Watershed and Hawai‘i’s chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation. These dances and numerous other student-run fundraisers exemplified the increased effort of the Student Council and the student body to give back to the community in all facets of campus life.

We welcomed the freshmen class to the Upper School by pairing each freshman with

a senior “big sibling” to serve as a friend and mentor throughout the year. At the first joint class meeting, laughter filled Gates Performing Arts Center as many seniors brought food, cards, and treats for their “little” as the classes answered a series of questions that helped each senior “big” get to know his/ her freshman “little.” The freshmen will have the seniors to guide them through their first year as high school students.

In September, our headmaster’s house transformed into an elaborate music lounge complete with a stage, performers, and mountains of ice cream and Nutella in the year’s first Lava Lounge event. Memorable performances included the singing stylings of Karika Lepik ’18, the musical talents of Will White ’16 and Clarence Chardeau ’18, the dance moves of Keisuke Anzai ’15, and the jaw-dropping performance by Yerden Suraganov ’18 on a traditional Kazakhstani string instrument. Students left with full stomachs and a greater appreciation for the musical and artistic talents of their peers.

October marked a hectic and exhilarating time of year with Parents Weekend, Pumpkin Patch, and Spirit Week. Classes and clubs prepared and ran booths for HPA ‘Ohana Association’s 23rd Annual Pumpkin Patch.

Booths ranged from the junior class’ Keiki Maze to the Chinese Club’s acai bowl food station and everything in between. As the 10,000 visitors came through the HPA campus, students played an integral part in

_ HPA Honors Kupuna at Annual Paniolo Parade

_ _ I ka wa ma mua, I ka wa ma hope - the future is in our past — was the theme of the 39th Annual Paniolo Parade & Ho‘olaulea held on September 20 in Waimea. HPA’s group included more than 100 students, parents, and _ faculty members walking in honor of kupuna Judy Folk, Babs Kamrow, Francis Kainoa Lee, Bernard Noguès, Georgia Poláková, Marc Rice, JoAnne Rocha, and Dick Solmssen, who 26 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

have a combined 291 years of experience in service to HPA. Kumu Malani DeAguiar and Kumu Kuwalu Anakalea, who organized HPA’s unit, led the group in chanting the ‘Oli Komo and _ _ Ma lana Mai Ka‘u along the parade route, which helped unite members of the community in their celebration of the paniolo culture of Waimea. ■ Photos courtesy Anna Pacheco.

Photo courtesy Patrick O’Leary

HPAstudentcouncil

the successful festivities of the day. Later in the month, students took part in another set of festivities: Spirit Week. Student Council’s Spirit Week this year featured Bed Head Day, Tacky Tourist Tuesday, Twin Day, Celebrity Day, and Halloween Costume Day. A glance around campus featured the Pac Man pair of Gabbie Ewing ’15 and Pomai Wise ’15, the haunted doll, Sarah Im ’16, and Slim Shady as interpreted by Adam Pigott ’17. These, along with countless other costumes, graced the HPA in an entirely successful, fun-filled week of spirit.

As the first semester of the 2014-2015 year comes to a close, the student body and Student Council foresee a second semester filled with an even greater focus on community service, and the much-anticipated 36th Annual Upper School Olympic Games. We look forward to semester two’s activities, events, and memories, but for now, the student body prepares for finals and looks toward the closing of a magnificent first semester. ■

Giving Back to Our School and to Our Community Upper School Service Day

2014 International Coastal Cleanup

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Isabella Asanza, Ella Kotner, Megan Canniff, Jessica Oh, Chen-Wei Hsu, and Kaliko Smith display their completed comfort pillows for the American Cancer Society.

Steven Guppy and Reyn Kaneshiro paint a garage at Small World Preschool. Trent Wise, Kincaid Kawananakoa, and Kenny Dupuis make bokashi at the Village Campus’ Ulu Mau Garden under the direction of Noah Dodd (second from left), K-12 garden coordinator.

Students in grades 9-12 happily volunteered for service projects on campus and in the community on Novmeber 14. Projects included work at the Village Campus’ Ulumau Garden, painting and window washing at Small World Preschool, making comfort pillows for the American Cancer Society, assisting with Project Free Shoes in Kona, bench painting in Kennedy Square, cleaning at Kahilu Theatre, Energy Lab path clearing, assisting at the Keiki Friday Funday, and more! ■

About 80 students in grades four, five, and seven, and 15 teachers and parent volunteers, recently participated in the annual International Coastal Cleanup sponsored by The Ocean Conservancy.

The students, who focused their efforts at Spencer Beach Park, Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor, and Kawaihae Surf Park gathered about 300 pounds of debris, including 2,700 cigarette butts, 1,300 plastic and metal bottle caps, and 341 food wrappers. The students also gathered fishing line, a car battery, an end table, and even an espresso machine! Seventh graders analyzed and documented their findings.

The International Coastal Cleanup is the world’s largest volunteer effort for oceans and waterways. Volunteers of all ages from every continent remove trash and record specific types of marine debris being collected, allowing The Ocean Conservancy to compile, analyze, and track this data year-by-year and make discoveries about the behaviors that cause the debris. ■

L TO R: Bear Wawner, Matthew Wiecking, Maygan Ching (left) and Jordan Perry and Tait Lawson add their debris to the gather debris and document their findschool collection site at Kawaihae Surf Park. ings at Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor.

Sharing Our Blessings: Thanksgiving Food Drives

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

Students in grades K-12 and HPA employees collected non-perishable food for the Hawai‘i Island Food Bank and the Waimea Food Pantry. All of the items were delivered on November 25 to share with island families. ■

The Lower School Student Council and Mariah Dodd, advisor and K-8 guidance counselor, supported the UNICEF drive this Halloween and exceeded their goal of raising $1,000 for children in need. Middle School students also participated in the drive and together the students collected $1,143.71 for UNICEF. ■

Lower School Student Council members organize food donations for delivery to the Hawai‘i Island Food Bank.

Pictured l to r: Charlotte Kassis, Andrew Sebastian, Jack Arrillaga, Pu‘uwai Anderson, Jackson Roberts, Lily Kassis, advisor Mariah Dodd, Ken Nordin, Alyssa Ounyoung, Colton McMackin, and India Clarry Sohriakoff.

Upper School students gather food donations for delivery to the Waimea Food Pantry. Front row, l to r: Leslie Sung, Sarah Kim, Ella Kotner, Noor Sarwar, and Kiki Kozuma. Middle row, l to r: Keanu Young, Kento Komatsu, Reyn Kaneshiro, Sabrina Marvin, Hana Haitsuka, and Erika Horton. Back row, l to r: Malcolm Davis, Daniel Groves, Adam Kennon, Cody Lambrecht, and Kenny Dupuis. Photo courtesy Harry Wright ‘16.

Lower School Student Council members count change collected during the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF drive with assistance from Patty Walker, K-8 assistant principal.

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 27

HPAohanaassociation Pamela Heitz, President pamelaheitz@sbcglobal.net

Pumpkin Patch Brings HPA ‘Ohana and Hawai‘i Island Community Together Event Grosses $105,000 Every year during Parents Weekend HPA puts on one of the biggest events on the island with Pumpkin Patch. This year, however, Headmaster Lindsay Barnes and the senior administration had to make the difficult decision to postpone this huge event for one week due to Hurricane Ana. We didn’t know how this postponement would affect our 23rd Annual Pumpkin Patch, but we were hoping for the best. Well, to say we exceeded our expectations would be an understatement.

The amazing Will Zucker, our very own ceramic teacher and lacrosse coach and general manager at the Wave Radio Station, and his team at the Wave did an amazing job getting the word out about the date change. This year’s Pumpkin Patch set an all- time record, with close to 4,000 cars and 10,000 people!

Along with the new $20 wristbands, we had some other new ideas that we implemented this year, including locally-grown pumpkins from one of our own HPA parents! Even with Hurricane Iselle making a direct hit on Hawai‘i Island they were able to save more than 100 pumpkins for the Pumpkin Patch!

With a $5,000 grant from Recycle Hawai‘i and a matching grant from the HPA ‘Ohana Association, HPA’s Noah Dodd put on our first ever Zero Waste event. Noah, Sam Robinson, and their team did the unthinkable…with more than 10,000 people, only about 90 pounds of rubbish went to the landfill!! A big mahalo to Deighton Emmons and his Agroecology class for compiling the Zero Waste data!

Volunteers always make the day, and this year was no exception.

More than 150 volunteers were on hand to help with the work and the fun. The ‘Ohana Association owes a deep debt of gratitude to the HPA administration, faculty, and the maintenance and security teams for their support and kokua in putting on this event!

In Hawai‘i, the word aloha is used quite often. Aloha is a state of mind, a series of actions, not merely a word. At its core, it means treating the world and others like they are a part of you. Living aloha involves sharing your kindness and wisdom, your heart and true self with your community. Everyone in the HPA ‘ohana should be proud of what they accomplished at this year’s Pumpkin Patch—from taking a risk of doing the wristbands, to having our pumpkins grown locally (with no plan B), and having the enormous task of putting together our first Zero Waste initiative. There were a lot of changes at this year’s Pumpkin Patch and change can be scary. But when you change for the right reasons, great things will happen! Thank you for all of your support and your aloha spirit!

We look forward to finding and funding unique, creative, and valuable ways to improve the HPA Experience.

The purpose of the HPA ‘Ohana Association is to support HPA in its mission to provide exceptional learning opportunities for its students.

We invite every parent, student, faculty, and administration member to lend your voice in helping us determine how to maximize our impact in the HPA community in the 2014-2015 school year. ■ 28 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

Stanford University Professor Visits Agroecology Class “It’s one of the best places in the world to work,” said Dr. Peter Vitousek ‘67 (right) of the Kohala Mountains, where he has conducted research for more than 30 years. “It’s an extraordinary resource for science.”

As an example, Vitousek noted that on the mountainside of Kohala Ranch Road, there is about 140” of rain per year and on the coast side of the road, there is about 8”, making the area one of the best places to study gradients in rainfall and soil.

Vitousek, a biology professor at Stanford University and HPA trustee, was on Hawai‘i Island with several students as part of a quarter-long independent research course. He spoke to Deighton Emmons’ Agroecology students on December 3 about his work and the history of the Kohala Field System. He also examined the old cinder eruption layers that recently were unearthed above the school.

“It’s clear this was an extraordinarily productive spot,” he noted.

“This place was the most abundant of this district. Reconnecting to that is important, as is keeping in mind what was here before.”

Vitousek, who came to HPA in 1963, said he spent a lot of time in the rainforests above the school as a student and that experience “shaped a lot of who I am and what I do.” ■

Follow Your Heart and Never Give Up on Your Dreams Author, editor, and teacher Annmarie O‘Brien spoke to students in grades 3-8 during her visit to the Village Campus on November 25.

O‘Brien’s book, Lara’s Gift, has been nominated for the Hawai‘i Library Association’s Nene Award, and the author spoke about her background, her writing process, and how she got the idea for Lara’s Gift, her debut middle grade novel.

O‘Brien hopes to write two other follow-up books. In the meantime, she shared the number one tip for becoming a better writer: “READ lots and lots and lots and lots of books!”

She also shared this advice, “Follow your heart and never give up on your dreams.” ■

Welcome to Parents Weekend 2014!

A (Record-Breaking) Day for the Pumpkin Patch!

A record-breaking 10,000 people gathered at the school’s Upper Campus for the HPA ‘Ohana Association’s 23rd Annual Pumpkin Patch on October 26. Hurricane Ana forced the postponement of the event, originally scheduled for October 19, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of our community! The day was filled with fun games and activities, great entertainment, and delicious food for the whole family. Mahalo to all the volunteers and to the Hawai‘i Island community for their support! ■

About 250 parents visited campus on October 16, for the first day of Parents Weekend. The day’s activities included class visits at the Middle and Upper Schools, presentations by Special Agent Arnold La‘anui, Kevin MacLennan, director of admission at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Lewis and Clark College, and HPA guidance counselors, and a luncheon at both campuses. The day concluded with a dinner buffet in Taylor Commons Dining Hall and the popular Performing Arts Showcase in Gates Performing Arts Center, presented

by Middle and Upper School students.

Activities continued at both campuses on October 17, with parent conferences and travel abroad program information sessions.

Students in grades K-5 enjoyed special workshops with school _ specialists, which focused on the theme, Ma lama Honua—Taking Care of Our World and Our Foundations. Workshops included yoga, _ _ learning about the Hokule‘a’s Worldwide Voyage and taping a chant to share with crew members, learning about Beethoven, creating snacks from the garden, and more!

Hurricane Ana forced the cancellation of parent conferences on October 18 and the HPA ‘Ohana Association’s Pumpkin Patch was rescheduled to October 26. Despite the weather, it was a fun and very successful weekend for all! ■ MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 29

Coachescorner

Boys Cross Country Wins HHSAA DII & BIIF DII Championship

Stephen L. Perry Athletic Director

Football Falls to Konawaena in Playoffs The football team finished off their BIIF season with a semifinal loss at Konawaena.

Seniors (top to bottom) Koa Ellis, Nicky Palleschi, and Caleb Kagawa led the way with their outstanding two-way play throughout the exciting season. ■ HPA boys dominated the BIIF championships held October 24 at HPA and came away with a convincing win.

On November 1, the HPA boys team won the Division II HHSAA championship held on O‘ahu. Junior Nate Ladwig (18th) medaled at the state meet. ■ Photos courtesy Tony McCafferty

Girls Cross Country Wins BIIF DI Championship

Photo Patrick O‘Leary

Photo Patrick O‘Leary

Photo Tony McCafferty

Photo Patrick O‘Leary

30 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

HPA girls dominated the BIIF championships held October 24 at HPA and came away with a convincing win. Senior Sabrina Disney and freshman Ada Benson led the way with outstanding runs.

On November 1, the HPA girls team finished in eighth place in Division I at the HHSAA championships held on O‘ahu. ■

Photo Patrick O‘Leary

Photo Brian Powers

Girls Volleyball Has Strong Finish at HHSAA Championship

A Great Day for the Fourth Bieni 5K Fun Run and Dog Walk!

About 150 runners, walkers, and friendly canines participated in the Fourth Bieni 5K Fun Run and Dog Walk on September 28, at HPA’s cross-country course.

Overall winner was Sylvia Ravaglia (left) with a time of 23:26.24.

Ryan Johnson, son of Bieni Kohler-Johnson (center), was the top male finisher with a time of 24:01.40. First dog was “Ernie” and his human Ricci Bezona (right) with a time of 29:13.50.

The girls volleyball team finished BIIF play in second place for Division II with outstanding matches against Honoka‘a and Konawaena. Senior Gabbie Ewing led the way throughout with her allaround play.

At the HHSAA championship on O‘ahu, the girls started strong with an exciting five-set win over Radford High School before falling to Hawai‘i Baptist Academy and Kailua High School. ■ Photos courtesy Patrick O’Leary.

Cheerleading Returns

Bieni Kohler-Johnson, who graduated from HPA in 1983, passed away in June 2009 after a valiant battle against breast cancer.

All net proceeds from the event fund the annual Bieni KohlerJohnson ‘83 Scholarship at HPA, which currently recognizes four young women who are gifted in athletics, academics, or the arts; who understand their responsibility to work hard to develop and share those gifts; and who demonstrate a sincere commitment and willingness to go the “extra mile” for friends, family, or a worthy cause.

Mahalo to all the participants, volunteers, sponsor Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, and to event organizers Liz ‘83 and Mark Noetzel. ■ Photos courtesy Patrick O’Leary.

HPA Fall Sports Awards Recipients Announced HPA coaches reviewed the fall athletic season and recently honored outstanding student athletes. Student receiving awards were: GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Gabbie Ewing, Most Valuable; Alaina Bradley, Coach’s Award; McKenzie Stake, Most Improved.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY: Nate Ladwig, Jake McCafferty, and Keli‘i Van Kirk Most Valuable; Mason DePont, Brandon Melton, and Chris Whitfield, Coach’s Award; Mateo Batol, Daniel Cohen, and Jonah Hurney, Most Improved.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: Ada Benson and Sabrina Disney, Most Valuable; Savannah Cochran, Coach’s Award; Sienna Levine, Most Improved.

The fall season saw the return of HPA cheerleading as 14 girls hit the sideline throughout the football season. Coach MJ Allison did an outstanding job with the team with a dedicated group of girls led by juniors Claire Evans and Catharine Gussman. Coach Allison looks to continue working with the cheerleaders during the winter basketball season as well. Great job! ■ Photo courtesy Patrick O’Leary.

FOOTBALL: Nicky Palleschi, Offensive Back Award; Isaiah Kanaka, Offensive Lineman Award; Caleb Kagawa, Defensive Back Award; Anthony Palleschi, Defensive Lineman Award; Colin Yates, Most Improved; Koa Ellis, Holi Bergin Award.

CHEERLEADING: Claire Evans, Most Valuable; Catharine Gussman, Coach’s Award; Demetria Scoufos, Most Improved.

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 31

MOROCCO FROM P.11

each billboard around Morocco. As he pointed to the wrapper of the orange bubbly drink, his first words to me were, “Your village.”

Flying from Hawai‘i Island across the world to live with a random family in a completely foreign country was nerve-wracking at first, made all the more stressful because they barely spoke any English. However, the language barrier naturally faded as food, facial expressions, and broken Arabic helped me connect with my lovely Moroccan family. Every night at the dinner table, I constantly groaned, “chba3t” (I’m full), but all I would hear was, “koul koul” (eat eat) as hands flew to my plate, filling it with food that I could not refuse to consume. My brother would slyly continue to drop pieces of food on my plate knowing I was more than full. My host father constantly made fun of my accent and informed me that I sounded like a goat when I moaned, “chbaaa3t.” I was being messed with and laughed at, and I loved it because it was clear that I was a part of the family.

Throughout my two months in Morocco, I constantly found myself in deep conversations, from taxi rides, to bartering in the medina, to home at the dinner table with my family as my Arabic skills increased.

Learning Arabic in Morocco was the fastest I have ever learned any language. Interacting with the locals gave me the opportunity to improve my Arabic skills, and gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives and insight into the Arab view of the United States. This ability to learn, at an accelerated pace, a beautiful and critical language spoken by a large portion of the world’s population is essential for improved communication to avoid conflict with the Arab world, which is often at odds with our nation.

Royal Guards at the Hassan Tower in Rabat guard the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V, grandfather of the current King of Morocco. Photo courtesy Noor Sarwar ‘15.

We got to see a Gnaoua performance by the well-reputed Bombara Khamlia group while traveling in the South of Morocco.

Photo courtesy Noor Sarwar ‘15.

Through the NSLI-Y summer Arabic program, I learned Arabic at a rapid speed, formed lasting relationships with amazing people, and immersed myself into a new and unfamiliar culture. This journey truly gave me a purpose and opportunity to become a flexible, independent, well-rounded individual. Despite the adversity of my adventures in Morocco, I found myself constantly smiling and ultimately always arriving at my destination. ■

CHINA FROM P.11

could not wait to introduce us to all their friends and family. Not many foreigners travel to this region of China. We became THE attraction in the city for the next couple of weeks, with people whispering as we walked by, receiving special treatment in restaurants, and being asked to pose for pictures in the middle of the street.

Everyday life kicked in. In the morning, I would hear a loud call from the kitchen, 妈 妈 my host mother waking me up to cook breakfast with her. We usually had 饺⼦, dumplings, with very spicy sauce. The unusual and unbelievably spicy food required a couple of tissue boxes per meal, which amused my host family. As I left our apartment complex, I greeted the friendly guards, who were at first very confused by my appearance.

I walked to school with an American friend, took language classes form nine to noon, ate lunch, and took another two hours of language classes, followed by cultural classes, which included Tai Chi, paper cutting, calligraphy, cultural excursions to museums, and more.

After school, we enjoyed a homemade dinner with our host families or explored the city with our host siblings and their friends and practiced our new language skills.

On weekends, our host families took us on longer trips outside of the city. Some of my fondest memories are from these trips. On one of our road trips to the nearby mountains, we spent a couple of nights in a cottage, played lots of mahjong, and hiked. One afternoon, after a successful mahjong game, I decided to walk to a close village. On my way, I encountered a Buddhist temple. Knowing about the great hospitality of the Chinese, I decided to peek inside. A monk in a fresh 32 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

orange-colored coat approached me, introduced himself, and offered to show me around. I met other monks and attended religious rituals.

The monks explained the pattern of motions they followed when praying on the bright-colored cushions. It was surreal experience— me, in the middle of China, immersed in Buddhist rituals. I realized that my knowledge of the language just opened a door to the most authentic part of the culture and the people.

Overall, this exchange was a life-changing experience. It connected me with many wonderful, motivated students from across the United States. Many new Chinese friends shared their lives and culture with me, and my ability to speak the language increased immensely.

The exchange further sparked my interest to work in an international environment. I feel so unbelievably lucky to have been able to participate in the NSLI-Y program. ■ I visited the Leshan Giant Buddah with my host family. Photo courtesy Alice Patig ’16.

Spend Your Summer Exploring Hawai‘i Island’s Most Beautiful Places!

ZERO WASTE FROM P.23

TOP 10 THINGS YOU CAN DO AT HOME TO MINIMIZE WASTE: 10. Get in the habit of carrying a reusable water bottle 9. Keep cloth bags for grocery shopping in your auto.

Backpacking in Waimanu Valley.

8. Bring your own container for leftovers when dining out and do not accept styrofoam as an option.

7. Contact companies that send you junk mail directly.

Check the mailer for an opt-out phone number.

Also sign up for electronic bills and statements.

6. Use drought tolerant and native plants, replace your lawn with short native grasses and/or food-bearing plants.

5. Dry clothes on a line when possible.

4. Only shop a couple times a year to avoid compulsive buys and/or buy second-hand clothing.

3. Ditch the trash can; strive to use your compost and recycling bins exclusively.

2. Get your 5Rs right: Refuse what you do not need, Reduce what you do need, Reuse what you consume, Recycle what you cannot Refuse, Reduce or Reuse, and Rot (Compost) the rest.

1. Educate your friends about your zero waste efforts (so they don’t bring waste into your home).

COMPOSTING (GRAY) If it looks like paper, compost it!

■ ■ ■ ■

Food Napkins/paper towels Paper products Pizza boxes

_ Swimming at Papakolea Beach (Green Sand Beach).

HPA proudly introduces an exciting Outdoor Summer Program for students in grades 8-12. The new Outdoor Summer Program offers students a rare opportunity to experience some of Hawai‘i’s most beautiful, remote, and memorable land and seascapes, while participating in service learning programs with local non-profit environmental organizations. This 21-day program is a transformational adventure for students to challenge themselves physically and mentally with guidance and support from HPA’s enthusiastic and experienced professional leaders. The program creates a unique space for young men and women to marry academics and fieldwork while learning about Hawai‘i’s rich history and culture. Activities will include multiple backpacking destinations to pristine valleys and beaches, active water sports in a variety of ecosystems, and working with local environmental organizations to regenerate native habitats in remote preserves.

Please visit www.hpa.edu/outdoor for a complete itinerary and to see the complete list of environmental organizations working with HPA’s Outdoor Summer Program.

For information, contact Jaime Johnson at: jjohnson@hpa.edu. ■ Dates: June 11 - July 2, 2015 Duration: 21 days

Credit: 30 hours of community service

Group Size: 13 (and two adult leaders)

Arrive/Depart: Kona International Airport, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

Grades: 8-12

Tuition: $4,000 (financial aid available) MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 33

[alumni] Profile Ana Yarawamai ‘00

ANA YARAWAMAI’S HISTORIC VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY By > Andrew Perala ‘72

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APS FROM RENAISSANCE EUROPE state the fear succinctly, with “Here Be Dragons” writ large in the unexplored ocean regions beyond land. With a singular exception, sailors worldwide had to wait for the invention of modern navigational tools – sextants, clocks accurate to seconds per month – to safely cross oceans between continents.

Yet, centuries before the world’s other civilizations dared venture over the horizon, Polynesian navigators had mastered the science and art of trans-oceanic sailing. Their daring voyages populated the entire Pacific region. Their main tool: wayfinding, the use of memories taught through oral tradition of stars’ positions in the sky, the directions of waves at different times of the day and season, and much more that was passed from generation to generation.

That tradition, rediscovered in a historic 1976 voyage by the _ _ voyaging canoe Hoku le‘a from Hawai‘i to Tahiti, carried a wave of migration in pre-historic times, and revived a huge segment of Hawaiian culture for today’s society. _ _ This past spring the Ho kule‘a sailed again on another historic voyage, a three-year mission to circumnavigate the globe. Ana Yarawamai ‘00 was on board the first leg, one of just 13 crew members selected for that singular honor.

“It was an honor to be chosen,” she said in early November.

Along with her volunteer work for the Polynesian Voyaging So_ _ ciety (www.hokulea.com), the umbrella organization for the Hokule‘a _ _ and other voyaging canoes, Yarawamai first sailed on the Hokule‘a on a leg of a long journey through Micronesia in 2007.

For that first voyage, Yarawamai had help getting onboard. Her father, Max ‘78, is originally from Yap in Micronesia, the birthplace of

34 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

legendary navigator Pius Mau Piailug. Max had learned the rudiments of sailing canoes by traditional navigation, and though he had not studied enough to become a true navigator, he became a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society in the 1980s after moving to Hawai‘i. _ _ On May 15, 2014, on the first leg of a global voyage, the Hokule‘a and its sister sailing vessel Hikinalia left Hawai‘i for Tahiti, 2,500 miles distant in the Southern Hemisphere. _ _ Onboard the Hoku le‘a, Ana Yarawamai and the 12 other crew watched as their Hawai‘i-based escort boat hauled in its towline and headed back to port.

“To see that last physical link to our families, our homes, go off was something,” she said. “That was the turning point. There was absolutely no turning back now. And I knew then that the people who are with me on this voyage are the ones who are going to get me back to my family, my home.”

On previous voyages, Yarawamai had been an assistant cook. _ _ On the first leg of the Hoku le‘a voyage around the world, she was promoted to head cook, responsible for all breakfasts, dinners, midday and midnight snacks.

“We plan for 31 days of meals. It’s a rotating six-day menu, with breakfasts alternating between light and heavy,” she said. “There’s dried and canned and fresh food. All of it is labeled and packed in plastic containers. And all of it has to be stored safely on the wa‘a, (canoe).”

Safe storage means not only keeping supplies safe from the water and weather, but also stowed equally in the twin hulls to keep the vessel balanced. That much food and water – more than 2,500 lbs. in 75 five-gallon plastic jugs – has to be considered ballast, as well as life-giving supplies. The canoe’s twin hulls were filled to the extent

__ OPPOSITE: Ana Yarawamai ‘00 on the Ho kule‘a World Wide Voyage Hilo-Tahiti Leg 1. Photo courtesy crew member Scott Kanda. TOP: Ana Yarawamai ‘00 and her father, Max ‘78, in Micronesia (2007). Photo courtesy Na’alehu Anthony.

__ Ho kule‘a Crew for Hilo-Tahiti World Wide Voyage Leg 1 (l to r): Noelani Kamalu, Lehua Kamalu, Austin Kino, Chad Kalepa Babayan (Pwo Navigator), Nainoa Thompson (Pwo Navigator), Haunani Kane, Linda Furuto, Jenna Ishii, Keahi Omai, Jason Patterson, Ana Yarawamai ‘00, and Ka’iulani Murphy. Photo courtesy crew member Scott Kanda.

As the crew neared landfall at Rangiroa, a navigational bullseye after 2,500 miles of wayfinding, Yarawamai experienced again the powerful _ _ realization that had struck her eight years earlier as the Hokule‘a approached her ancestral home in Yap. possible. But still more storage was required.

So the crew slept with their dinners.

“We had food stored beneath our bunks,” she said. _ _ In the years since Hokule‘a’s 1976 voyage, a host of accomplished navigators have spent the years required to learn the ancient traditions of wayfinding. There are 200 stars and their positions must be committed to memory. Navigators in training also must learn the patterns of wind and waves, a fundamental (not basic, but foundational) knowledge of weather patterns, knowledge of sea life and their migrations, as well as something that cannot be taught, but only experienced on a voyage: the ability to function in a state beyond exhaustion when the canoe sometimes becomes the fixed point and the earth and ocean revolve beneath you, as navigator Chad Paishon once described.

Onboard with Yarawamai, master navigator Nainoa Thompson, _ _ navigator for the first Hokule‘a voyage in 1976, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and seven apprentice navigators making their first trans-oceanic voyage.

Yarawamai was not an apprentice navigator. But she watched as the apprentices worked a schedule that required teams of two apprentices on two-day watches, then passing on their calculations to the next pair of apprentice navigators.

There was something else that all onboard realized.

“It was really imperative for the apprentice navigators to do the first leg because it is such an important ancestral route,” Yarawamai said.

But schedules do not always go as planned on the open ocean.

The majority of the crew was “incapacitated” by sea-sickness for the first 24 hours and didn’t fully recover for several days, as

Thompson described after the canoe’s arrival in Tahiti.

But as the crew gained their sea legs and were able to function, the voyage gradually evolved into something rather amazing, Yarawamai said.

“The winds were really favorable for the first week and we sailed rapidly along.” _ _ As the Ho ku le‘a covered up to 200 miles per day in that first week, a routine developed around mealtimes and the two-burner propane stove.

“Everybody pitched in, chopping and dicing onions and garlic, and helping prepare meals,” Yarawamai said. “Everyone helped. It helped make us a crew.”

Daily menus might include eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, fresh fish – ono, aku – caught trolling while sailing, fresh salad and fruit, curry, rice, canned tuna or salmon, saimin or miso soup, coffee, tea, Tang and, of course, Oreo cookies.

Food preparation became a celebration, and an opportunity to pass along what had been learned, which included where the food came from, how it was grown, harvested, or caught – all were part of the learning experience crew members passed on to school students checking in daily on the voyage through the Internet. _ _ The Hokule‘a relies solely on wayfinding to navigate. But satellite technology onboard the accompanying Hikinalia, and a Wi-Fi link between the two vessels, allows daily updates on life onboard, the voyage’s progress, and lesson plans for Hawai‘i school students, to be uploaded to the voyage website at www.hokulea.com.

The lessons for school students while en route on each leg, as well as with visiting school groups at each port of call, are a foundational CONTINUED ON P.38

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 35

[alumni news] 1960s LEE JETTE ‘60 shares, “My wife and I just completed a 9,628 mile, round the country, Visit-the-National-Parks road trip. Bison in Yellowstone, a fire in Yosemite, a flood in Nevada.....we were expecting locusts in Utah! I would advise anyone to take a car trip across the continental U.S. During our 49 day journey, we saw amazing sights, met wonderful people, and had a marvelous time.”

A

Aloha from the Alumni Office!

mong the highlights of being located in Hawai‘i is that our alumni return to campus all the time, not just for class reunions. We welcome dropins—indeed we look forward to them—so if you’re ever in the neighborhood, we hope you’ll come by.

Head of School-Elect Robert McKendry isn’t waiting for alumni to come to campus, he’s hitting the road to connect with as many graduates and families as possible. A spectacular crowd joined him for an evening in early October at the Army Navy Country Club in D.C., kindly hosted by Robert Budway ‘76. Events in Seoul and Tokyo followed in November, and we are looking forward to a gathering in Seattle in January and O‘ahu in February. And that’s just the beginning. We will keep you posted as Robert’s travel plans continue to develop. In the meantime, if you’d like to host an HPA get-together in your area, let us know!

If you haven’t saved the date already, Reunions 2015 are scheduled for the weekend of May 29-31, 2015. Classes ending in the 5s and 0s are coming together to plan their celebrations. If you’re at all interested in joining in the planning, send us an e-mail; otherwise, we will just plan to see you back on campus in May. Stay tuned for more details.

Speaking of staying tuned, there’s always lots happening at HPA, and we love

36 DECEMBER 2014 MA KE KULA

sharing it electronically. If we don’t have your e-mail address, just send us a message via advancement@hpa.edu, and be sure to like us on Facebook, join the HPA alumni group, and follow us on Instagram at hpa_kamakani.

And finally, allow me to take the opportunity to congratulate Arati Clarry ‘96, who has shifted her responsibilities as the new Director of Student Programs. An expansion of her student activities work, Arati will help implement OneWorld, HPA’s new student travel program (http://www.hpa. edu/oneworld). Although she won’t be “assigned” to work with alumni, we know her relationships with her fellow graduates range throughout the decades, so she will never be out of the HPA connection business!

Much to our excitement, another one of HPA’s finest, Sarah Thiesse Schorn ’98, returned to her alma mater last year and will now be serving as the Alumni Relations and Communications Coordinator. Already the editor of our e-newsletter and contributor to every aspect of our office’s work, Sarah has assumed responsibility for our alumni programs in the Advancement Office.

With best wishes,

Lucy Lewis Director of Advancement llewis@hpa.edu

In Memoriam JOEL B. KENNEDY ‘62 9/2/1944 – 6/23/2014 JOEL B. KENNEDY ‘62, age 69, residing in Hawi, Hawai‘i died at North Hawai‘i Community Hospital on June 23, 2014.

Joel was born September 2, 1944 to Bishop Harry S. Kennedy and Katharine K. Kennedy in Honolulu, Hawai‘i . He and his twin were the youngest of five brothers. Joel married Ann McWayne Kennedy on June 9, 1968. Joel attended Iolani School and Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy, and graduated from South Kent School (Connecticut) in 1963. He went on to earn a B.A. from Colorado College. After serving in Vietnam, he returned to Honolulu and soon began working in public relations.

He spent most of his career at Hawai‘ian Telephone Company and The Queen’s Health Systems and late in his career served as Communications Director for the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives. He retired to Hawi with his wife Ann in 2005 where he was active in leading the community newspaper and fundraising for the local library as long as his health allowed. He is survived by his brothers Bruce, Dave, and Mark ‘62 (his twin), his wife Ann, two children, Carole Kennedy Alvarado and Scott Kennedy, son-in-law Billy Alvarado, two grandchildren, Malia and Lucas Alvarado, and his dog Beau. He was

predeceased by his parents and brother Paul.

A private family memorial service was held and his ashes were scattered at sea. Gifts in Joel’s memory may be made to the Hawai‘ian Humane Society or PBS Hawai‘i.

PETER BURKLAND ‘67 spent half of the year on a driving-tour of the continental United States to celebrate his recent retirement.

On his final leg home to Bellingham, WA, in October, Peter, PHIL ABBOTT ‘67 and MARK JOHNSON ‘67 spent a couple of days at Mark’s home in Dallas, Oregon, catchingup, kibitzing and sampling Phil’s craft beers.

They also spent one morning together at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, in McMinnville, OR. They were all pleasantly surprised at the depth and breadth of the collection there, including the Spruce Goose - an SR-71 Blackbird spy plane and about 100 vintage military and civilian craft dating back to Kitty Hawk, NC through America’s & USSR’s early space program vehicles.

Mark says of Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose, “It was so very nice to finally find an aircraft spacious enough to comfortably accommodate me.”’

forward to the quiet life. KATHY GREEN ‘69 is calling it quits in the next year in Bellingham, WA, and moving somewhere north for a simpler life. PETER MORGAN ‘69 narrowly avoided a forest fire in the Twisp area near his home. Thanks to the forest service, and some serious fire retardant, the fires missed his house. He continues to be an active member of the Methow Valley Citizens Council, and continues to run the Methow Valley Inn, among his many other hobbies and ventures.

MIKE FAYE ‘69 is continuing to build the empire in Waimea Town. STEVE MUNI ‘69 writes that there will be no retirement for him, but rather a transition to another job – most likely teaching law on Medicare fraud and elder abuse cases which he handles for the State of California. For me, I would have to keep doing what I’m doing. Retirement just doesn’t seem that appealing to me. Maybe in the future when the Alzheimer’s kicks in. But, not till then. Some of our members have had some medical issues and that comes with the age that we are in, but, all have survived and are getting better, and all looking forward to continue to be living the dream.”

1970s BILL CASE ’76 visited his son BILLY CASE ‘06 on an aircraft carrier near Japan in August. Billy ’06 is a fighter jet pilot with the US Navy.

Mark and wife Margot, also serendipitously met up with fellow alum KIRA MCMANUS DEVITT ’03, while waiting to board the Napa Wine Train during their 36th anniversary celebration. Kira’s family owns and operates the train and kindly laid down the red carpet for the happy celebrants. Mark and Margot strongly recommend any of the HPA ‘Ohana to reserve a dining table in the private observation car when next in the Bay Area.

JIM MOODY ‘69 has retired after 38 years in the DODDS school system, most recently in northern Japan. He and his wife Suzanne now live in Redmond, central Oregon.

TOM SOFOS ’69 shares the following from his classmates: “News comes from Lew Ross ’69 that he sold his house and moved to McColl, Idaho. Lew was formally with the US Federal Courts mediation service, and is looking

DEBBIE (SMITH) SHANAHAN ’82 and husband Michael Shanahan’s business Low Knob Press, Northern California’s only woman owned Commercial Printer, was recently named to the Sonoma Green Business Program, becoming Cloverdale CA’s first certified GREEN Business. The Shanahans started working towards this goal 18 months ago when they became aware that another printing operation earned the designation.

The Green Business Program is offered at no charge through the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. The goal of the program is to “help businesses succeed at lowering their operating costs by reducing their environmental footprint,” according to the Shanahan’s program coordinator, Kevin Kumataka. Some of the upgrades that were made included replacing florescent lighting with energy saving fixtures, replacing printers with digital equipment, eliminating the need to dispose of ink, and utilizing a supplier of recycled paper, which is more costly than non-recycled paper.

Congratulations to KEVIN NAKAMARU ’86 for winning the Henry Chee Award as the top captain in the Hawai‘i International Billfish Tournament in August 2014.

1990s

1980s DEB LIUM ‘82 shares the following from her classmates: “In late September, JEFF HUNGERFORD ’82 and wife Suzie; ERIC BORDERS ‘82 and girlfriend Michele du Moulin, and I, visited THERESA ELLBOGEN ‘82 in Boulder to celebrate our collective 50th birthdays. Lots of reminiscing, laughing, hiking and a finishing with a Crosby, Still and Nash concert at Red Rocks. I can’t think of a better way (or group of people) to spend your 50th birthday with!”

ERIKA DAVIS ’99 shares: “I saw KEIKO (HIRAO) IWAI ‘99 and ASAKO KOJIMA ’98 in Tokyo in April. We enjoyed catching up and seeing how Keiko’s children, Manato and Rino, have grown. I am currently a criminal defense attorney at Wilson Law Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota.”

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 37

2000s CHELSEA MORRIS ’05 shares: “I have found my way back to the Big Island after 2 years on Oahu. I am currently tutoring at HPA, teaching yoga classes, and selling Ayurvedic spices. I am also doing an online program for health coaching. I am enjoying be back on the island and seeing familiar faces daily.”

Shakas for Mexico 2014: A Life-Changing Experience for Isaiah Adams ‘11 ISAIAH ADAMS ‘11 had an important message to share with Upper School students when he returned to campus on November 12.

“Go out and serve. Learn to live the life of a servant because the more you give, the more you get.”

CHRISTINA BATH ’07 is currently working for Progressive insurance in Portland, Oregon and attending graduate school for her MBA in Public Health. She purchased a home in 2013 and has a happy cat and dog!

LAUREN EMERSON ’08 shares: “I just started my second year of law school and am currently working for the San Francisco Giants! We won the World Series this year! I have attached a photo of my brother and I at the World Series this year before we participated in the World Series Parade! It was a blast.”

2010s Members of the Class of 2012 got together at the Mauna Lani this August and had a great time catching up with college life and jobs before heading back for the 2014-2015 school year. From L-R: MEIMEI NAKAHARA, STACIE DOI, NICK CHOCK, TORIN KUBO, DELANEY ROSS, ALEX DISNEY, JUSTIN SANDULLI.

Congratulations to KATIE CASE ’12 for being named to Division I 2014 Academic AllDistrict Women’s Soccer Team! Honorees are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, and are recognized for their excellent achievements academically and athletically.

Congratulations to JUSTIN SANDULLI ‘12 for being the first student coordinator of the 2014 Duke Art Festival! Read more about his role in the festival and his love for art history here: http://today.duke.edu/2014/11/sandulli.

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Adams recently spent two weeks in Mexico working at orphanages in the “red light” district of Tijuana. During a seminar at Davies Chapel, Adams shared highlights from his trip and thanked HPA students and employees for donating 12 boxes of clothing, toys, school and medical supplies, which he distributed at the orphanages.

In introducing Adams, Upper School guidance counselor Crystal Sebastian described Adams as a gifted athlete, who was a humble, hardworking, and compassionate student at HPA. “I was focused on being a leader at HPA, and not as focused on serving,” said Adams.

His trip to Mexico made him aware of a different world that is just “minutes from San Diego.”

“This was the first time in my life I was 100 percent committed to giving without expecting anything in return,” he said. “It’s such a great feeling to know you’re changing lives. I encourage all of you to serve.” ■

Please Save The Dates May 27 - May 31, 2015

2015 HPA Alumni Reunion Special Reunion Years ending in ‘0 and ‘5 Celebrating the 50th Reunion HPA Class of 1965 If you haven’t received our alumni e-newsletter Ka Makani, please e-mail us at alumni@hpa.edu

FROM P.35

_ component of the Ma lama Honua – to care for mother Earth - theme of the global voyage, which has Hawaiian Airlines as a major sponsor.

Crossing the equator halfway through the 16-day voyage found the crew in the doldrums, where the wind can be fickle or non-existent.

“We had wind,” Yarawamai said. “But it kept pushing us too far south.”

To get back on track, the canoe had to be sailed against a high swell that pounded the crew and vessel.

“It was a really fine balance for some four days,” she said. “The heavy waves really start to wear on the canoe, so we wanted to take it easy, but then we’d get headed too far south.”

On the one day the wind did die, Yarawamai found they were “just floating. The wind can make everything really difficult and really loud.

It was kind of nice to have it die down and relax a bit.”

As the crew neared landfall at Rangiroa, a navigational bullseye after 2,500 miles of wayfinding, Yarawamai experienced again the powerful realization that had struck her _ _ eight years earlier as the Hokule‘a approached her ancestral home in Yap. “It was an amazing thing to get back to your roots,” she said. “It’s one thing to fly and meet your family. But to do it in a way your ancestors did, that’s something special.” ■ Editor’s Note: Freelance writer and editor Andrew Perala ‘72 lives in Waimea with his family. He is a co-winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

ALUMNI EVENT CALENDAR Alumni vs. Boys Varsity Soccer Team Sunday, December 27 Young Alumni Assembly Thursday, January 8 HPA ‘Ohana Gathering in Seattle, WA Wednesday, January 28 HPA ‘Ohana Gathering in Honolulu, HI Thursday, February 12 2015 Alumni Reunion May 27-31

As a nephew of the legendary Eddie Aikau, it’s only natural that Kane Aikau Boni loves the water. He’s surfed all his life and likes longboarding best; he taught longboarding at Waikiki Beach for 10 years, while working nights in the food service industry, before returning “home” to the Big Island in 2007.

Aikau Boni enjoys cooking and six years ago, he found his way to Sodexo at HPA through a friend. He cooks breakfast, handles the lunch grill station, and prepares all the fruits and vegetables for the salad bar.

“Working at HPA is great. Everyone here is so polite…and we don’t have to bring home lunch!” said Aikau Boni with a smile.

Growing up, “we all took turns cooking,” he said.

His family still carries on this tradition and when it is his turn, Aikau Boni enjoys making beef tomato, guava chicken, tonkatsu, and curries.

He kindly shares one of his curry recipes below.

Aikau Boni still keeps up with the _ _ Hokule‘a’s voyages and works with the Eddie Aikau Foundation, where his father, Solomon, serves as president. His uncle, Clyde, plans to _ _ do a leg on the Hokule‘a’s Worldwide Voyage, “to finish the voyage for Uncle Eddie.” ■

[on campus] Lower School

chicken, bite size

1 box

8.4 oz. SB Curry Mix

2

round onions, medium dice

2

carrots, bite size

4

potatoes, bite size

1

bunch celery, medium dice

6 c.

water

Boil onions, carrots, celery. Add potatoes and strain. Boil chicken and strain when done. Boil six cups water. Add SB curry blocks. Make sure blocks are totally dissolved. After all blocks have dissolved, add vegetables and chicken to curry base. Bring to a boil and serve with rice or noodles.

Serves 8-10.

Upper School Boarders return

‘Ohana Association Meeting, 6-8 p.m., VC Art Room January 7

Classes resume

February 3

‘Ohana Association Meeting, 6-8 p.m., VC Art Room

February 6

Gr. K/1 Production, 2:15 p.m., Gates Performing Arts Center

February 13

Theme Week Holiday

February 26-28

US Production

March 3

‘Ohana Association Meeting, 6-8 p.m., VC Art Room

March 7

‘Ukulele Festival, 7-8 p.m., Gates Performing Arts Center

March 10

Student Led Conferences (no classes)

Student Led Conferences (no classes)

March 11

Student Led Conferences (no classes) Spring Break begins

Student Led Conferences (no classes) Spring Break begins

March 29 Classes resume

April 7

‘Ohana Association Meeting, 6-8 p.m., VC Art Room

April 10 April 17

MS Talent Show, 2 p.m.

Art Show, 6-8 p.m.

Art Show, 6-8 p.m.

US Spring Production

April 23-24 May 1

May 5

May Day, 9:30-11 a.m., Gates Performing Arts Center ‘Ohana Association Meeting, 6-8 p.m., VC Art Room Grade 7 Performing Arts Showcase, 7 p.m., Gates Performing Arts Center

May 9

US Performing Arts Showcase

May 10 May 20

Spring Break begins, end of day

Boarders return

March 30

Kane Aikau Boni’s Chicken Curry 3 lbs.

Middle School

January 6

Summer begins, 3 p.m.

Summer begins, 3:10 p.m.

Eighth Grade Transition Ceremony, 6-8 p.m., Gates Performing Arts Center Commencement, 10 a.m., Castle Gym

May 22 May 28-31 June 23-July 18

Alumni Weekend Summer Session

Summer Session

Copy deadline for the July 2015 issue of Ma Ke Kula is June 1, 2015 All dates are subject to change without notice.

For the most current calendar, please visit our website (www.hpa.edu).

MA KE KULA DECEMBER 2014 39

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