Education

Ilia Reyes, Record Breaker!

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Local boy out-swims competition in championship event.

On day 1, Reyes swam on the 400 M Freestyle Relay team.  Well-known for his quick starts, Reyes led off the relay and was followed by Brett Gomes, Mitchell Chong, and Kekoa Taparra.  The quartet finished within two seconds of breaking the state record.

The second day of competition for Reyes involved the trials of the 50 M Free and the 200 M Free events.  Reyes earned the top seed for the 50 Meter event and the fifth seed for the 200 Meter event in the morning prelims.  Although he placed fifth in the finals of the 200 M Free, Reyes and Gomes waged a tremendous battle in the 50 M Free and both swimmers were rewarded with a tie for the gold medal.

The day concluded with the 400 M Medley relay.  The Hawaiian record of 4:08.00 went crashing down after Chong, Kila Pickering, Gomes, and Reyes were done with their swims.  With Reyes swimming the anchor leg (freestyle) and splitting a :54.29, the foursome clocked an outstanding 4:05.29 to close the day's swims.

On Saturday, Reyes had only one individual event but it was his specialty, the 100 M Free.  Entering with a seed time of :55.74, Reyes swam a :54.45 in the prelims and earned the top seed for the finals.  In the finals, Reyes blazed to a :53.71 and another gold medal.

As they did the night before, the team of Chong, Pickering, Gomes, and Reyes closed the day's events by bringing down the 200 M Medley Relay Hawaiian record of 1:52.82, lowering the mark to 1:51.70, and adding another gold medal around their necks in the process.

Sunday's events brought the anticipation of the meet concluding with another record.  The final event was the 200 M Free Relay.  Again, Reyes led off and was followed by Pickering, Chong, and Gomes.  The record of 1:39.30 didn't stand up to the performance of the four swimmers as they established a new mark of 1:38.62.

For the meet, the Kamehameha Swim Club totaled 1,952 points and more than doubled the second place team.

Former age group coach Lloyd Yonemura teamed with Dain Kane behind the mics to call the action throughout the entire meet.  Both officials marveled at the performance of Yonemura's former swimmer.  "He's done very well since he left our pool and has faster swimming ahead of him.  Now that he's on the UH-Manoa swim team, he's training harder and longer.  You can see it in his performances and you can feel his confidence rising.  I'm so proud of his accomplishments over the years!"

Congratulations to Ilia and his teammates of the Kamehameha Swim Club!

Poetry Slam

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Kaunakakai students step up by bringing literary talents to the mic.

By Jennifer Smith

“You have nothing to fear from a poet, but the truth,” Mrs. Jenkins’ third grade class said, during last week Monday’s poetry slam at Kaunakakai School.

Second and third grade students from the school studied a wide range of poetry last semester with the help of kumu Alestra Menendez and `Anake Lauren Teriong from Kamehameha Schools and from their homeroom teachers Mrs. Arinoki, Mrs. Czajkowski, and Mrs. Jenkins.

The poetry slam night provided “a space where they can share what they have learned,” Menendez said. “We are always trying to push more - I was happy we had a chance to stop and watch the children enjoy their accomplishments.”

The students opened the evening with a lively Aloha song. The theme for this year’s workshops with kumu Alestra was Aloha, and each class began with a mele.

After the mele, the students took turns jumping in front of the microphone to share original poems with family and friends. From free verse poems telling where “I am from,” to beautiful Japanese haikus, most of the children memorized their poems, and several volunteered to perform additional pieces they wrote.

Parents, teachers, and community members also joined in on the open mic fun by sharing some of their favorite poems. One third grade mother, shared a poem with the audience and explained how special it was that the students were learning to do public speaking at such a young age.

“Poetry has been part of my life,” Principal Janice Espiritu said, after reading a poem from Shel Silverstein’s “A Light in the Attic.” “I love poetry.” The principal invited parents to borrow books from the school to share with their children.

As the evening concluded all of the keiki in the cafeteria were invited to join in on singing A Hui Ho.

“I’m really glad the kids enjoyed it so much,” Teriong said. “It gave them the opportunity to express who they are.”

“Anyone can do it - it just takes pen and paper,” Menendez said. “Poetry is one of the things you can use to let what is on the inside out.”

On Your Marks

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Keiki track and field games preliminaries for Maui competition.

Keiki Host Poetry Night

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

Kualapu`u School Poetry Club showcases skills.

By Maeva Cummings, Peni Tilini, John-Michael Mokiao-Duvauchelle, Naalii Lindsey-Argel, and Kilikea Hanchett (3rd grade students at Kualapu`u)

On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, at 5 p.m. Mrs. Labrador’s Poetry Club from Kualapu`u School read a variety of poems for their Poetry Night that took place in Mrs. Labrador’s classroom. The Poetry Club students were Maeva Cummings, Peni Tilini, Naalii Lindsey-Argel, John-Michael Mokiao-Duvauchelle, and Kilikea Hanchett-Lopez.

The students invited their families to the poetry night. Mrs. Labrador, Mrs. Lani, Mr. Labrador, Ms. Estes, and Ms. Seguritan also attended the poetry night.

All of the poems were by the famous poet Shel Silverstein. All students read the poem “Eight Balloons.” Each student also chose two poems of their choice to read for their families. Some of the poems read were “Homework Machine,” “Signals,” “Batty,” “Ations,” and “Hot Dog.”

To prepare for the Poetry Night, the students practiced for many months at home and at school. They were working on improving their reading fluency. It is important to improve reading fluency to be able to read accurately and smoothly. All five students made gains this year in reading fluency. They were awarded at poetry night for their achievements.

Lighting the Sky in Kaunakakai

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

`Ohana night offers a night of books and laughter.

Flying High at the Library

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Youth theatre presents Maui’s Kite.

Over 50 keiki attended the performance of “Maui’s Kite.” 

By Jennifer Smith

Keiki were invited to go on a journey with Maui and his kite last week Tuesday. The adventure took place at the Molokai Public Library during the Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s (HTY) performance of “Maui’s Kite.”  

“Winds, winds, come out and play,” HTY actor Junior Tesoro said, as he used rhymes to engage the young audience. Having created “a sting ray that flies in the sky,” Tesoro, or Maui as he is called in the play, searches for the perfect amount of wind to send his kite flying.

Tesoro began his performance by introducing hula movements and Hawaiian words that the keiki could use to participate in the presentation. “Hula is a great way of passing on stories,” he said.

HTY has traveled throughout Hawaii telling the story of how the Hawaiian Kite was invented. The performances end with a message from HTY sponsor the Department of Health (DOH), which emphasizes the importance of using sunscreen and mosquito repellant.

Despite a tight performance schedule Tesoro, fellow actor Cynthia See, and HTY Stage Manager Peggy Sullivan appear to thoroughly enjoy the production. “The best part is that we get to go into libraries, communities, and schools,” See said.

“They are talented and it is a quality program,” Molokai Public Library Branch Manager Sri TenCate said, adding that performances help to expose people to the resources at the library. “We have these stories and books” such as the legends of Maui.

TenCate hopes that support grows for an expansion of the public library so that they can comfortably continue to host performances. 
 
Mahalo to the librarians, custodial staff, Hawaii State Friends of the Library, HTY, and the DOH.