About Island School
E Komo Mai – Head of School Welcome
Taking the "Show on the Road"
Aloha Island School ‘Ohana,
I hope it was a meaningful day for those who were able to come to campus and meet with teachers for conferences. Thank you to all the families who are carving out time to meet with teachers in our partnership with you and your child’s education. We look forward to seeing others on campus next week for conferences Mon - Wednesday afternoons. And while a regular school day is always full and packed with lots of lessons to learn, lately, we’ve been taking our “show on the road!” I thought it would be fun to share about some of the experiences our students have recently had over in Oʻahu.
Our 5th Grade culminating trip was a few weeks ago. The children, along with their fearless teachers, Caitlin Kaʻaihue, Hilary Viohl, and Saebre Kaleiohi and parent chaperones had a such a meaningful time at our state capitol.
The weekend of March 28 through April 2, led by STEM teacher Laura Lee, we had two high school students compete in the Science Fair at the state level (featured in the Garden Island) as well as a BIG TEAM of MS students compete in Science Olympiad.
Then, last weekend, Middle School social studies teachers, Pat Gegen and Jamie Nause, led 7th and 8th Graders to the National History Day state competition, where 6 of our teams received Honorable Mentions, nearly making it to the finals to compete at the national level! Along with presenting their projects, they got to be introduced in the House Chamber by our own Representative Luke Evslin!
That SAME weekend, 13 dedicated choral singers from the elementary Keiki choir program had the opportunity to participate in E Mele Kākou, the Elementary Choral Festival, which is cosponsored by Hawai‘i ACDA and the Hawai‘i Youth Opera Chorus. Led by choral teacher, Ben Nause, the students to experience a large-group sing as well as listen to many wonderful performances.
And if that wasn’t enough…ALSO that SAME weekend
High School history teacher supported our Model UN team to compete against their peers and this time in her role as track coach, Kanānāikahaku Kuhaulua, led the girls 4x100 relay as they competed at Kamehameha Schools against top runners from across the state.
It’s moments like these where I marvel at our small but mighty school. When our students do something, they commit! We show up, and we give our best work. Traveling to Oʻahu is not a simple “field trip,” and I appreciate this communityʻs commitment to honoring our studentsʻ learning experiences by investing in the expense and time to travel to have such meaningful experiences.
Thank you, as always, for choosing to partner with Island School for these critical years of your children’s lives. Have a wonderful weekend even through the cloudy skies.
Together,
Nancy Nagramada P’29
Head of School
