Life at Aka’ula School

Community Contributed

By Aka’ula School Students

Editor’s note: These stories are written by students and published in Aka’ula School’s newsletter, reprinted with permission.

Rugby in the Water
By Crystal Hoffman, Freshman

Akaʻula School and their swim program has incorporated water polo, considered by some the most ruthless and competitive water related sport ever. Water polo is a full contact sport. Swimming, wrestling, shooting, passing and dribbling are all aspects of this sport. On top of that, players are treading water the entire time to keep afloat for long periods. To participate, students should have swimming experience for a safer game; meaning, endurance, speed, and agility. Having a long reach and a steady aim are invaluable for a skilled water polo player.

Water polo is often compared to a multitude of sports such as basketball and soccer. Students must tread water and pass to their teammates without getting the ball stolen by the other team. If done successfully, one player must try to make a goal in the net without the goalie blocking their throw. These are the same concepts as in soccer and basketball but accomplished in water in a more violent matter. Referees can’t see under the water so scratches, bruises, broken bones, near drownings are all incorporated at some point in the game. For the safety of the players, caps to protect the player’s ears are required during the duration of the game. Swimmers must also take off their goggles to avoid being injured when hit in the face with the ball. Traditionally, the game is played with two teams of seven and in the deep end of the pool to prevent players from touching the bottom. Violent and bellicose aspects aside, the determination required to undergo this strenuous sport is truly the significance of playing water polo at Akaʻula School.

Reactor Hands
By Hope Waldron, sixth grade

Chemistry has taken us to a new level here at Akaʻula. In chemistry, we started off doing experiments. We were split into groups of two to four. We did experiments such as sugar snake, igniting iron, and fire foam. For these experiments, we would get kits containing everything we needed such as the chemicals, the flasks, and directions. We then switched from experiments to lab reports. We could choose a partner or work alone. We chose an experiment we had previously done. We wrote about the procedures, the equipment, and why we did this experiment. After we finished the paper, we moved on to the periodic table. We started off with a paper asking questions like, “These three elements are sequential and named after a series of planets.” We answered with the element, atomic number, and the element symbol. Now in chemistry, we are doing a project. We selected an element and will have to make a poster about it. The poster will have facts and a hand drawn picture of the element. I’d tell you a chemistry pun, but I couldn’t zinc of one.

The Cats That Roam the Garden
By Nazaria Kahinu, sixth grade

The cats in the Cat Garden roam and play all day. They get visitors day by day. Wait for them and follow the rules. Don’t chase after them or they will run away. There are some awesome chubby cats, and they love to cuddle with people. The little chubby cats are absolutely adorable! Some of the chubby cats don’t come by us because they’re mostly sleeping or relaxing. Although, some of the chubby cats have a different eye color? Some have blue eyes, green eyes, or even different colored eyes. Some were injured, or blinded, or deaf, and some have scars. It’s kind of sad to see cats or kittens with scars on them. I wonder, “What happened to them?” 

On the left there’s a room full of kittens. Those little kittens need some socializing. They don’t really get along, so some of the kids at the school have to help the kits to socialize. I got two kittens to socialize one time. They were playing, and it was so awesome. A black kitten and a white kitten played together, chasing and tackling each other. There were about three or four black kittens and one white kitten. The white kitten has grey prints on it and one of the black kittens is blind. The cats that roam the garden are unique in their own ways.