Island Youth

The keiki and `opio of Molokai

Warming up With Winter Sports Continued

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Boys and Girls Basketball

Farmer basketball is back for another season, taking the new year as a shot to improve from the last. At the starting tip off, boys and girls coaches said learning from mistakes, picking up the pace and keeping heads held high along with team focus and determination is key even after the final buzzer sounds. Hiring football muga sports surfaces will contribute to providing an optimal playing ground for the team to exhibit their skills and teamwork.

Boys Basketball
Carl Adolpho Jr. is beginning his first year as head coach for the boys side, however this isn’t his first time on the court.…

Help for Sexual Assault

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Child and Family Services News Release

Are you dealing with difficulties due to current or former sex assault or abuse? Help is here. The Molokai Sexual Assault Center provides information and referrals, supportive advocacy, clinical therapy, case management, support groups and other services for youth, survivors, kupuna and children.

Call Child and Family Services at 553-5529. Our office is located at 107 Ala Malama, Room A and B in Kaunakakai. Office walk-ins are welcome. Regular business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed on holidays. Our Sex Assault hotline is open 24 hours a day.

Our hotline offers confidential advocacy support and referrals.…

VEX Robotics Competed on Maui

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

VEX Robotics Competed on Maui

Community Contributed

By Edwin Mendija, VEX coach

At the beginning of last month, the Molokai High School VEX Robotics team competed in the Valley Isle VEX Tournament held in Iao Middle School on Maui. The tournament consisted of 23 teams from Kauai, Oahu, and Maui. Molokai teams 1037A and 1037B (“The Farmers”) placed 5th and 10th place respectively, ending up in the quarter finals.

VEX Robotics is a program designed to introduce the world of robots to children, teenagers and even adults. VEX provides a learning environment for people interested in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (known as STEM).…

Warming Up with Winter Athletics

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

The end of the year brings a new winter athletic season. Though most students are getting ready to take a holiday break, farmer athletes are fired up, training hard and ringing in the New Year with new coaches, new competition and new goals for state championships.

Boys and Girls Swimming
For MHS swimming, some athletes have been training all year through the Molokai Chapter of Maui Dolphins Swim Club (MDSC) — a swimming program for all ages that began in August — prepping for the season.

“Every year we’ve gotten a little bit better and our team has grown,” said fourth year coach Jessie Ford.…

Molokai Students Visit College

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

Molokai Students Visit College

Community Contributed

By Allison Place

On Nov. 15 and 16, 17 Molokai High School students participated in the 2013 Hawaii College and Career Fair at the Blaisdell Center on Oahu.  The students are participants in Ke Kukui Mohala o Molokai, a partnership between Queen Lili`uokalani Children’s Center, UH Maui College, Molokai/Gear Up Hawaii and the Education Opportunities Center (EOC).  Ke Kukui Mohala o Molokai provides parents and `opio with college information such as searching for the right college, SAT test, college applications, scholarships and financial aid information.  It is through these services that students will experience a smooth and enjoyable transition to college.…

Youth Tackle Invasives

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Youth Tackle Invasives

Students of Aka`ula School tackled some big environmental issues on Molokai, researching, surveying residents and presenting their findings at the school’s 17th annual PRISM Symposium last month. All focusing on public opinions and knowledge about control of invasive plants, mammals, fish and insects, students formed eight groups, which each surveyed more than 100 Molokai residents.

“When Dara [Lukonen] and I started this 18 years ago, someone said it was some of the most academic work on Molokai,” said one of Aka`ula’s founders and teachers, Vicki Newberry, of PRISM, which stands for Providing Resolutions with Integrity for a Sustainable Molokai.

Kaliloa Durant, Malu Duquette , Skylar Kuahuia and Kamaka Adams researched Hawaii’s invasive fish and whether they should be used to make fertilizer on Molokai.…

Fish in the Net

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

Fish in the Net

Community Contributed

By Royden Abafo

Editor’s Note: Royden, a middle school student at Aka`ula School, originally wrote this in the school’s Nov. 15 newsletter. It is reprinted in its entirety here.

Right there! Look at the ripples! Are you ready? Throw it! On yeah, fish in the net. Monday, Nov. 11 in the late afternoon, my brother and I were out on the reef throwing net. We caught a lot of small fish. Then, when the bucket was full, we dumped all the fish back in the water so they could grow bigger. We continued to catch more fish. The most fish I caught in the net at once was four.…

‘Tonbo’s Amazing Adventure’

Friday, November 29th, 2013

‘Tonbo’s Amazing Adventure’

News release by Yamashita Ohana

Grateful for, awed and encouraged by Molokai’s tremendous response to her first children’s picture book, Marie Yamashita has published a second children’s book, “Tonbo’s Amazing Adventure.”

Tonbo, the little airplane at the Honolulu International Airport, sees huge jets thunder and roar off to faraway places in the world and wishes that he, too, could be a big jet like them. He gets his wish and goes off in search of a place no one has seen or heard of.

Amazing adventures follow. He lands in a magical place and is befriended by “wishers” like himself. A time comes when he longs to return home.…

10th Annual Ku Ka Lau Lama

Monday, November 25th, 2013

10th Annual Ku Ka Lau Lama

Community Contributed

By Kalehiwa Dudoit, Aka`ula student

After all the wind and the rain, the skies cleared and the moon came out as Aka`ula School’s 10th Annual Ku Ka Lau Lama began.  For those who don’t know, Ku Ka Lau Lama is found in “Oleleo Noeau,” by Kawena Pukui and she translates it as, “Many Torches Stand.”  That means that there are many lighted bonfires, a signal of joy and victory.  The dinner event is one of the ways the school raises money to provide financial aid to students.

Led by chairperson Kaui Manera, Aka`ula families organized an incredible evening.  Walking onto the Hotel Molokai grounds, the smell of food coming from Aunty Marion Dudoit’s Hawaiian pupu buffet drew guests to the registration table where they were serenaded by nahenahe music from The Kupuna Serenaders while waiting to receive their bid numbers. …

Molokai Middle School Wizards of Bots

Sunday, November 17th, 2013

Molokai Middle School Wizards of Bots

The Molokai Middle School Wizards of Bots robotics team competed in the Maui Regional First Lego League tournament two weeks ago and were awarded first alternate team to the state competition. Team members are Kaitlin DeRouin, Lana Domingo,  Marianna Campos and Taye Mowat (pictured here), coached by Jennifer Whitted. The competition was held at Seabury Hall, and the district champion was Carden Academy Mindreapers, which will be one of four Maui County teams represented at the state championship. This year’s theme was “nature’s fury” or preparation and response to natural disasters, which guided teams’ projects and presentations. Photo by Arlene DeRouin.…