Education

Hawaiian Language Lives On

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Hawaiian Language Lives On

`Olelo Hawaii filled the Molokai High School Hawaiian Immersion graduation ceremony, and dozens of lei rose to the noses of the graduates last Friday evening.

The ceremony was the culmination of five students’ knowledge of Hawaiian language and culture: Kekukuimawaenaokamokumaikekuahiwiakalaniikekai  Kaiama-Lenwai, Kealakai Alcon, Keakaokalani Kaiama, Ka`imiola Sagario and Kailana Eheu`ula Ritte-Camara.

Each graduate spoke in Hawaiian for about 10 minutes in front of an audience of 100 people at their garden at Molokai High School. The students also recited their “Oli Mo Okuahuhau,” or genealogical recitation.

language and culture thriving on Molokai,” he said.

Summer Reading

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Beginning May 31 through July 1, readers of all ages are invited to participate in the 2011 state library Summer Reading Program. The free five-week programs at public libraries will feature outstanding, family-friendly storytelling performances by noted storytellers and artists. This year’s theme at Molokai Public Library (MPL) is “One World, Many Stories.”

Featured will be a children’s, teens and adult program, and MPL will also be hosting a few events open to the public.

•    June 14 – Native American flute playing with Connie Fleenor, 10 a.m.
•    June 21 – Pet Tales featuring Lyndon and DeeDee and Chyna, stories by Ehulani, 10 a.m.

Club Wrestling Battles at Home

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Club Wrestling Battles at Home

Eight wrestling clubs from around the state gathered last weekend at The Barn for a showdown of strength and agility. The Molokai Wrestling Club was represented at its only home tournament of the season by 70 of its 80-some athletes. With the state club wrestling tournament coming up next weekend, the stakes were high and a roaring crowd cheered on the battling keiki.

“The kids are showing a lot of heart and respect,” said coach Benny Venenciano. “We’re in a good position for states,” he said, adding that at the first tournament of the season two weeks ago, Molokai came home with 10 gold medals, 11 silver medals, and quite a few bronze.

Coach Randy Manley agreed. “We’re doing well,” he said. “We lost states last year by two points, and this year, we’re hoping to come out on top.”

Kilohana Bazaar Enriches Keiki

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Community contributed by Alestra Menendez, Kilohana School Community Organization Co-Chair

Spring showers and folks from all around Molokai were in attendance at the annual Kilohana School Bazaar last Saturday.  The Kilohana School Community Organization of families and community members puts on the bazaar each year to raise funds for the school. Being a small school, Kilohana Elementary faces the challenge of a student weighted formula for state funding. 

Planting Health and Wealth

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Planting Health and Wealth

With Molokai’s reputation as a strong farming community, one island nonprofit thought the time was ripe to start a community garden, to educate residents on the best gardening practices.

Rosie Davis, executive director of Huli Au Ola Area Health Education Center, received a grant from the Department of Health in November 2010 to begin a health-through-gardening project, called Community Putting Prevention to Work.

“Everybody wants to eat healthy, but it’s so expensive,” Davis said. Her family started their own large garden four years ago and is currently building their second greenhouse.. She said they save around $500 a month on their grocery bill by growing their own vegetables as well as fishing.

The first community garden site, a half-acre in Kalamaula, will be cleaned and the soil tilled this week by volunteers. Davis’ program runs on community volunteers, who reap the benefits at the end of harvest.

“[Molokai] dirt is really healthy, we just have to know how to mix it to make things [grow],” Davis said.

faces, taking ownership of what they’re planting,” Kalani said.

Davis said they intend to add more community garden sites, and are on the lookout for more volunteers who would like to grow their own fresh vegetables. Contact Huli Au Ola at 553-3623.

Royalty Returns

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Royalty Returns

Royalty returns to Molokai! Hundreds of keiki and their families participated and enjoyed this year's May (Lei) Day events, scattered around the island. Below are pictures from Molokai's six schools' celebrations.

Molokai High Sports Finish for the Year

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Molokai High Sports Finish for the Year

Molokai High School spring sports have hit their final ball and run their final lap – and many made great strides in their sports.

Adolpho Jumps Highest at Track
Molokai High’s top athlete, Kalei Adolpho, has another gold medal. She jumped into the number one spot at last weekend’s state track and field championship, clearing 5’2.”

“I feel really happy,” Adolpho said. “I really wanted to [win]; I wouldn’t say I expected it, but I definitely tried for it.”

Coach Jessie Ford said Adolpho was “very calm and composed” during her jumps, and only faltered once.

“It was very exciting for a senior state meet, I felt like she earned [the gold],” Ford said.

Adolpho qualified for states in track and field for the past four years, coming in fifth as a freshman, and third the last two years, according to the Maui News.

get the feel of a state game,” Augustiro said. “It was a great season.”

Volleyball Ends at MILs

The Molokai High boys’ volleyball team lost in their first game of the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) championship, against Hana.

The boys played three tough sets, 20-25, 20-25, 19-25.

Farmers Win One, Lose One

Friday, May 6th, 2011

The Molokai High boys’ volleyball headed to Hana this past weekend for their last regular season games, where they won Friday’s sets but lost on Saturday. Friday night’s game ended with a sweeping score of 25-23, 29-27, 28-26.

“Friday night’s game was really close, but nobody lost control. They didn’t panic like they did in earlier matches,” said coach Bill Dudoit.

Paka Adolpho had 11 kills, two blocks and two aces on the evening, and Nainoa Langer had three kills, one block, two aces, and 45 assists.

“Friday night, we just came out firing,” Langer said. “And Saturday they just came back very hard. We were making most of the mistakes on our own.”

He believes the team has made strides since the start of the season.

Baseball Heads to States

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Coach Mike McCutcheon has led the Molokai High baseball team to the Hawaii State Championships for the first time since 2008. Despite only playing six regular season games, he said that the team has made an incredible improvement since the preseason began. 

 “It’s been a long journey since pre-season when we committed 15 errors, and in our last game we only committed one,” McCutcheon said.

The fifth-seeded Farmers (5-3) will fly to Oahu to play against the fourth-seeded Radford Rams (10-3) at 1:30 p.m. this Thursday at Hans L’Orange Field. If they win, they will play on Friday at 7 p.m.  If they lose, they will play at 10 a.m. on Friday morning. Championship games will be played Saturday.

Go Green, Win Green

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Berry Company News Release

Students around the state are looking to raise the bar on last year’s recycled telephone directories. The Berry Company LLC, publisher of the Hawaiian Telcom Yellow Pages, announced the launch of its annual telephone directory recycling program, Think Yellow, Go Green.

Schools on the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Lanai, Maui and Molokai will compete to recycle the most telephone directories with the goal of surpassing last year’s recycling totals and winning cash prizes.

“Last year, our schools helped collect 64 tons of telephone directories across the neighbor islands,” said Scott Szczekocki, client services regional director for Berry. “The community response has been tremendous, and I look forward to another strong campaign this year.”