Lower and Middle School
September 29, 2011
Page 5
Frosh fun, but little sleep By David Pang
Dancing, video games, dodge ball, ghost stories, swimming, ping pong, and more accumulated into the Class of 2015 FROSH SLEEPOVER. Frosh, the biggest event for the freshmen all year occurred, on Sept. 3 and 4. It’s an event where almost all the freshmen come together and participate in a sleepover at the Lower Gym. It was a time of bonding and fun for everyone, with only ten ninth graders missing out of 200 plus students. Co-chairs Quincy Brown, Lindsey Combs, Erin Kushimaejo, Sunshine Saucedo, and Bailey Sylvester, along with the class officers, worked hard to make this event a success. “Everything was super fun!” Sherry Suehiro, a ninth grader said. “I stayed up all night and had to
take an eight hour nap when I got home.” Needless to say, they succeeded. After a dinner of mochiko chicken, spaghetti and meatsauce, salad and more, students could decide what things they wanted to do. I participated in dodgeball, an all out war in the wrestling room where students could dive for balls, leap from equipment, or nail someone on one side of the field from the other. Other students went swimming, a first for Frosh sleepover. They threw around water polo balls and overall had a good time. Another first was a dance in the dance room. There, people wearing glow in the dark necklaces danced to the rhythm of dozens of songs crossing over many genres. The dance ended at 11:30. After all the activities were
exhausted and the refreshments were consumed, the students headed to the gym to listen to ghost stories. The stories lasted well past 1 a.m., with lights out at 2:30. An early breakfast at 6:30 consisted of bakery goods such as blueberry muffins. After breakfast, students were free to head home, having spent 12 hrs at school. Everyone had a great time at Frosh Sleepover. When asked about what she thought of Frosh that year, ninth grade class advisor Mrs. Gail Schroers said, “A huge success. The co-chairs organized some great events and everyone seemed to have fun.” A big mahalo goes out to Mr. Kirk Uejio, Mr. Rob Duval, and Ms. Ernette Au, who along with Mrs. Schroers served as chaperones the entire sleepover.
7th grade holds elections By Korry Luke Anyone walking in the Castle Building staircase recently has noticed an obvious difference: several bright neon posters now adorn the walls of the staircase. It is time again for the annual seventh grade elections. Among the wave of new things happening this school year, one of the most familiar is the seventh grade elections. Candidates seeking the privilege of being elected for office must undergo several tasks in order to appear on the ballot. They compete for four offices: president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. First, they must obtain a petition from the Student Activities Office and return the petition signed with fifty of their fellow classmates signatures. Then, Mr. Kirk Uejio must approve the list of candidates through the Dean of Students, to ensure that none of them have been on academic probation within the last year. In addition to this, each candidate seeking election is required to give a speech to their entire class, stating why they should be elected, as well as (if they want to) putting up creative posters that advocate for them to their fellow classmates. The box at right lists all the students running for office, according to the SAO.
President: Carson Davis Alia Levi Thomas Morisada Amy Nakamura Emily Nomura Vice President: Kendall Holmstrom Kyung Mi Lee Lucy Park Secretary: Leila Anoina Seth Arakawa Halia Hogan Eliah Takushi Kei Tomozawa Treasurer: Erin Carson Alli Mercier Aloha Pula Jennifer Sato Zachary Yamada
Cy Ohta | Imua Iolani Above, new to upper school, seventh graders create fun masks on Discover Iolani Day.
A day to discover! By Ayumi Tachida
The Asian Invasion and the Little Caucasian, Fat Rainbow Pickles, Elite Banana Explosion, Uni-Squirrels, and the Super Sonic Sparkling Six along with the rest of the seventh grade working in teams of about six students each made their first real foray into Upper School on September 16, 2011, their Discover ‘Iolani Day. The class of 2017 started the morning with a set of activities planned by Mr. Chucky Nakoa and dubbed the R.O.P.E.S Games on the football field designed to strengthen their bonds as classmates and build creative problem solving skills. Seventh grader Shea Stevens says, “My best memory of Discover ‘Iolani Day is the R.O.P.E.S games where we had to carry someone across the mat as a cookie.” The concept seems to have been to imagine the student being carried to be something precious, like a cookie, and to work together, even with unfamiliar classmates, to achieve the goal of getting the person across the mat. The students also embarked on an elaborate scavenger hunt designed to familiarize them with the key people, places, and procedures of Upper School. They met Mr. Kirk Uejio in the Student Activities Office to grab a piece of the blue tape used for putting
up posters, found three Automated External Defibrillators around campus, and asked maintenance workers, guards, and snackbar staff how they as students could make their jobs easier, among other activities. Planning these activities began back in midsummer right when faculty schedules become available. For those of the current senior class who participated in Discover ‘Iolani Day, the experience is now not much more than a vague fog. The strongest memories in the seniors’ minds, however, are those of the classwide collaborative art project, which for the class of 2012 was a vivid painted mural of the underseas that decorated the hallways of the second floor of Castle building for a year. This year, the members of the class of 2017 helped each other make plaster models of their faces, which they have painted in their geography classes to represent their identities and will display on campus in the near future. Next year, Mrs. Holly Chung will head a painting activity, which may involve the creation of murals to adorn the barrier walls around construction. Much thanks go to Mrs. Hanlon and all the faculty and students who helped to make this event possible to induct the seventh graders into Upper School.
Twinvasion is Taking Over ‘Iolani!
Liana and Ava Schmidt say “We do EVERYTHING together!”
Reid Fujimoto excliams about his sister, “Rayna totally, I mean totally, doesn’t look like me!!”
Bradley and Vincent Lee said, “We play basketball together!” Ashley Mizuo | Imua Iolani