News Detail
The Big Moment is Just about Here!
Aloha Island School ‘Ohana,
The big moment is just about here…
Our Annual Gala - Voyage Under the Stars is just one week away! There are still a few seats left, so please consider joining us! And our silent auction will open up this weekend for bidding! Plan ahead for birthdays or graduations while also helping Island School. If you can’t be with us in person, the silent auction is the perfect way you can offer support to our program! Your participation in this online component of the event, in whatever capacity you can offer, is critical to our success. Mahalo for joining in on our shared effort that helps us raise funds for financial aid so that we can continue to be a school that truly represents the beautiful diversity of Kauaʻi that provides innovative programming for youth from across our island.
And in terms of this week together at school – for me this week was one of my favorites…
A week where students are out in the community doing their part to mālama ‘āina, mālama kai, learn about local communities and important history, prepare and cook using an imu, build a homemade speaker, hike Koke'e, marvel at the waters, peaks, and valleys of the Napali coast, challenge themselves to speak Spanish while making their way through Madrid, or push themselves to be an actor on stage…to make us believe that with fairy dust we can fly – I LOVE that our students get the chance to experience school this way. So many of our students were immersed in what it means to stretch themselves.
When we are doing our work well, we are inviting students to engage in something they didn’t know they could do or would want to even try. We are helping them see their way into a new way to experience the world around them, to be ok with not feeling comfortable, because it’s in that “stretch zone,” the chance to sit in discomfort, wondering if we’re good enough, that we learn to believe in our ability to grow. For it is in that feeling of discomfort and then moving through it that allows us to build the confidence to face new and unexpected experiences - in the classroom or out. And it is the unexpected, the discomfort, that often takes us to new places of understanding about ourselves, others, and the world around us.
When we are doing our work well, we are inviting students to engage in something they didn’t know they could do or would want to even try. We are helping them see their way into a new way to experience the world around them, to be ok with not feeling comfortable, because it’s in that “stretch zone,” the chance to sit in discomfort, wondering if we’re good enough, that we learn to believe in our ability to grow. For it is in that feeling of discomfort and then moving through it that allows us to build the confidence to face new and unexpected experiences - in the classroom or out. And it is the unexpected, the discomfort, that often takes us to new places of understanding about ourselves, others, and the world around us.
So, let’s keep looking for ways that we ask ourselves to stretch - students and adults alike. Our world needs us now more than ever to be able to engage with what might be new for us…a different way of thinking, a different way of being…with the goal to listen to understand. To me, that’s the only way we can make our world into a more compassionate place where we all can thrive.
Mahalo nui loa to all of our faculty, staff, and community volunteers who enabled all the immersive learning experiences this week. I have so much gratitude for all the planning and effort to make these experiences possible!
Mahalo nui loa to all of our faculty, staff, and community volunteers who enabled all the immersive learning experiences this week. I have so much gratitude for all the planning and effort to make these experiences possible!
Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t forget to start that bidding in our silent auction!
Together,
Nancy Nagramada P’29
Head of School
