Island Youth

The keiki and `opio of Molokai

‘Money Time’ Wins Naming Contest

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

‘Money Time’ Wins Naming Contest

Sust`ainable Molokai News Release

The Molokai Middle School and Sust`ainable Molokai is excited to announce seventh grader Keren Poole as the winner of the “Name Your Program” contest. Close to 50 contest submission forms were received. All submissions were tremendously creative and fun, which made it difficult for the contest committee to choose just one program name. Nevertheless, Keren’s Money Time entry for the Middle School financial literacy program was a fantastic fit.

Mahalo to all the students that participated in the contest and a big congratulations to Keren. As the winner, Keren will receive a $50 savings account provided by the Molokai Community Federal Credit Union.…

MHS Students Receive a Community Supported Scholarship Award

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

MHS Students Receive a Community Supported Scholarship Award

The MOM Hui News Release

Congratulations to this year’s 2014-2015 Ho`ola Hou Community-Based Scholarship recipients at Molokai High School (MHS): Paul Parker, Bernadette Aragon, Xrystina Bicoy, Lahela Tamanaha, William Casil-Dudoit, Kiloaulani Ka`awa-Gonzales and Rizpah Torres-Umi.  Each student will receive an annual scholarship of $1,215 and will be awarded at the Second Annual Grassroots Benefit Concert on Saturday, July 5.

The MOM Hui established this scholarship fund to support MHS senior students who demonstrate a commitment to furthering their education and earn a college degree that focuses on protecting and restoring the health of the environment and human life.  We are very excited that several of the students will be entering the medical field including nursing, midwifery and pediatric neurosurgeon and majoring in agriculture and natural resources and ecosystem science and sustainability.…

Summer Reading and Gardening

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Interval House Molokai News Release

Celebrate Summer Reading and Gardening with Interval House Molokai and the Molokai Public Library!  Join us on Saturday morning, May 31,on the public library grounds from 9:00 a.m. through noon, to launch into fun and enriching summer activities.

Our Molokai High School AmeriCorps members have grown thousands of papaya and veggie seedlings to give away to our community to start home gardens.  Stop by and select from an assortment of papaya, green bean, mustard cabbage, parsley, lettuce, cherry tomato and mint starters, along with flowers to enhance your gardens.  We will be distributing children’s gardening books that highlight where food comes from, the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, and how to start gardens in your own backyards.…

Molokai High Celebrates 75 Years of Memories

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Molokai High Celebrates 75 Years of Memories

Richard Otsuji clenched a black-and-white photo of 24 Molokai High School (MHS) seniors, the entire graduating class of 1942, in his hands early last Saturday morning. After waiting 25 years to uproot the time capsule buried during MHS’ 50th anniversary in 1989, Otsuji and many alumni found digging up the past brought a rush of emotion.

“I can remember every detail that happened here. I even shock myself sometimes,” said Otsuji, a former South Pacific WWII war crime investigator, with a wholehearted laugh while pointing his class photo. “I can name you every person in [this picture], their first name and where they live.”…

Molokai Grads Bonded by Friendship

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Molokai Grads Bonded by Friendship

The challenging classes have finished. Studying late into the night for tests has ended. Senior projects have all been presented and graded. And nothing, not even the intermittent rain showers, could stop 77 Molokai High School (MHS) seniors from turning their graduation tassels from the right side to the left and taking home their hard-earned diplomas last Friday.

“I encourage you, as someone said before me, to ‘dream on and dream big’ and follow your dream,” said MHS alumnus and commencement address speaker James “Jimmy” Duvauchelle.  “Never settle for second best. Be the best you can be because that’s who you are.”…

Gabbard Talks Story with Middle School Students

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Gabbard Talks Story with Middle School Students

When Rep. Tulsi Gabbard visited Molokai two weeks ago, she talked story with an assembly of Molokai Middle School students and answered their questions, both probing and fun. The congresswoman told students that she works in Washington, D.C. about three weeks every month, and comes home to Hawaii to travel around her districts for about a week. Here are some of the questions students from the Middle School seventh and eighth grade Social Studies classes prepared.

Question: How has being in the military influenced the decisions you made?

Answer: The time I served in the Middle East on two deployments really changed me a lot and informed some of my policy positions.…

Learning Life Lessons Through Basketball

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Learning Life Lessons Through Basketball

The Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Team brought its positive message of pursuing an education, staying drug free and of course, basketball, to the Barn last Monday night for a spectacle of slam dunks and laughs.

Taking to the court in a charity game, the Harlem Ambassadors played the Molokai All-Stars, a team of volunteers from the fire department, police department and Friendly Market, in a game full of music, dancing and fun.

“Please stay in school, stay focused, be obedient, listen to your parents or guardians, the leadership that is before you,” said Lade Majic, coach of the Harlem Ambassadors. “Everyone can make it.…

Transition to Middle School

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

Community Contributed

By Alison Place, School Renewal Specialist

Ho`olauna defined is to “give an introduction to; to be friendly.”  This year’s sixth grade Ho`olauna was held on Monday, May 12 at the Duke Maliu Regional Park. The purpose of the annual Ho`olauna is to transition the outgoing sixth graders to middle school.  One hundred fifteen sixth graders from Kilohana, Kaunakakai, Kualapu`u and Maunaloa joined together to get to know one another and to learn more about what it means to be a Molokai Middle School (MMS) student.

Referred to as the Class of 2020, these students were told they are the visionaries who have 20-20 vision to create the world of the future while remembering the past.…

2014 May Day Highlights

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

2014 May Day Highlights

Each year, schools around the island celebrate May Day, known as Lei Day in Hawaii. Students at each school are selected for the royal court to represent every island, and perform songs and dances for family and friends. Here, we represent each celebration that’s taken place over the past three weeks.…

From Passion to Power

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

From Passion to Power

Slam poetry has emerged in Molokai schools among students and teachers bringing literary talents to the microphone to spit poems from the depths of their souls.

“When you write slam poetry, it’s an emphasis on your passions,” said MHS Hawaiian Language Immersion senior, `Apelila Ritte-Camara-Tangonan. “My passion and fire burns with my [Hawaiian] culture. I know a lot of people share the same fire and…for me self-expression through music, art or slam poetry rekindles my fire.”

Ritte-Camara-Tangonan was one of 13 rising slam poets who threw down, going word for word in the MHS Library last Tuesday night in the first ever Hana Hou Poetry Slam Competition.…