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Kaunakakai, HI
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Sat, 2010-07-31 21:54
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This Week's Cover
Island Youth
The keiki and `opio of Molokai
Two Molokai Schools Make the Grade
Federal assessment results show some progress.
Even in the face of furloughs, two Molokai schools – Maunaloa and Kualapu`u Elementary – met adequate yearly progress (AYP) benchmarks in math and reading scores this year. Kaunakakai Elementary landed on the cusp, missing its goal by only 1 percent.“All the schools worked really hard,” said Complex Area Superintendent Lindsay Ball. “It was nice to see some improvements made.”Every year, public schools across the country are given assessments mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act to measure reading and math proficiency, graduation rates and other criteria. Schools must meet a higher standard each year to show they are making progress toward the goal of having 100 percent proficiency in reading and math by 2014.
Add your commentBatter Up
Little league gets boost from community.
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Ask any Molokai Little Leaguer what brought them out to play baseball Saturday morning and they’d tell you it’s for the love of the game. “I love to hit homeruns!” exclaimed 10-year-old Royden Abafo. “I’m so happy we got to play.”But it took a little more than love for baseball to make the Grandma and Grandpa Little League Tournament at Kaunakakai Ball Park possible – it took the love of the community.Getting a late start due to the loss of its charter, the 9 and 10 year old Little League teams did not have the opportunity to play a full season this year – which was unacceptable to Molokai resident and grandparent Wayde Lee.
Summer Scholars
Kaunakakai students graduate summer school.
While some keiki wile away summer vacation sleeping in or playing video games, Kaunakakai Elementary School students put their time off to good use, brushing up on their math and reading skills between lessons in ukulele and violin, bookmaking and even Zumba.After four weeks in 21st Century Summer School, the students put on a show for about 100 parents, teachers and friends at a ho`ike last Thursday. Students wowed the crowd with choreographed dances, a puppet show and songs on ukulele.
All Dolled Up
Workshop teaches girls beauty is not skin deep.
Sometimes all it takes is a bit of eye shadow and lip gloss for a girl to feel her best. Just ask the young women who attended Manawahine’s “Happy to Be Me” workshop last Friday at Lanikeha Community Center.“I feel like a princess,” said Tatiana McGuire, 12, after getting spruced up at the makeup and hair booths.Dozens of Molokai girls, ages 13 to 18, gathered at the workshop to celebrate a day of beauty while learning about makeup application, skincare, women’s health and safety. They also received massages, and hair and nail makeovers.Tatiana McGuire flashes a smile as she gets her locks curled at last week’s “Happy to Be Me.”
Ready, Set, Hike!
Football returns to Molokai after 50 years.
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Get your cleats ready, Molokai, because the streak is over. After a 50 year hiatus, Molokai High School football is back in the lineup and will take to the field this fall.The 1960-61 Farmers were the last high school football team on Molokai.“It’s going to be big,” said Mike Kahale, a social studies teacher at Molokai Middle School. “Our kids have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.”Kahale, head coach of the team, said he and his wife had been developing a strategic plan to bring back high school-level football for the past two years, and is finally becoming a reality.“There is already a lot of talk about it,” he added. “We have about 44 kids signed up.”
Maui News Honors Molokai Star Athlete
Molokai’s Kalei Adolpho was named The Maui News Maui Interscholastic League Girl Athlete of the Year last week, making her the first Molokai girl to earn the honor. Adolpho was the league’s Division II volleyball Player of the Year and helped the Farmers finish third in the state tournament. Adolpho was also an All-Star basketball player for the state runners-up and the state’s third-place finisher in the high jump, according to The News. “I feel really honored and I guess I am surprised, but definitely honored,” Adolpho told The News. Adolpho’s brother Manu was named Boy Athlete of the Year in 2006-07, making them the first brother-sister pair to earn the awards.
Making Waves
Molokai surfer takes on the pros.
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Big waves don’t scare Molokai’s Taoa Pou. Neither, apparently, does big competition.The envy of many young surfers, 13-year-old Taoa was granted wildcard entry into last week’s Sponsor Me Hawaii pro surf competition at Ala Moana Bowls on Oahu.Taoa Pou at Sponsor Me Hawaii last week. Photo courtesy of Teva Pou.Competing alongside some of the state’s top surfers, Taoa held nothing back, even attempting the coveted reverse air-360. “There was no pressure on me -- I had nothing to lose,” he said. “There was more pressure on the professionals ‘cause they didn’t want to lose to a 13-year-old kid.”
Adolpho Third in State High Jump
Softball ends season at states.
Molokai’s Kalei Adolpho went into last weekend’s Track and Field State Tournament with only one jump under her belt this season, and came out with a bronze medal in high jump out of 23 girls.Adolpho, a junior at Molokai High School, earned her third place title by clearing the pole at 5 ’2”. None of the top four girls, including Adolpho, cleared 5’4”, which is the next height up. Ties are decided upon by how many attempts each athlete took to get over previous heights, leading up to the last height cleared, said Coach Jesse Ford.
A Class of Her Own
Ho`omana Hou honors student’s success.
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Like most things at Ho`omana Hou High School, Friday’s graduation was a bit untraditional. Far from the pomp and circumstance of Molokai High’s ceremony, family, friends and teachers gathered to celebrate the achievement of the school’s sole graduate, Makana Puailihau Gomes. The scene at Kalaniana`ole Hall -- the same hall in which Gomes’ great-great grandmother’s funeral was held in 1992 -- felt more like a birthday party than a graduation ceremony. One by one, Gomes’ mother, father, grandmother and grandfather took the stage and held back tears as they described how proud they were of Makana.
Love to Learn
21st Century grant extends education beyond the classroom.
The joy of learning was in the air as both keiki and adults showcased the talents they developed over the past semester. The 21st Century Ho`ike, or exhibit, filled the Kaunakakai School campus inside and out two weeks ago. Programs ranged from robotics to martial arts to quilt making. Joshua Adachi, Molokai Activities Coordinator for the 21st Century grant program, said the program is flourishing. “[It’s] a really huge success,” he said. “Not just in the number of people, but I look into recipients’ eyes – they’re happy.”