KALAHEO — Roger Fernandez of Pacific Blue Construction whisked his trowel across the newly-poured sidewalk, the backdrop being the new, temporary classrooms at Kalaheo School. “Can we put shells in there?” a teacher stopped to ask. “Yeah. Bring ‘em down,”
KALAHEO — Roger Fernandez of Pacific Blue Construction whisked his trowel across the newly-poured sidewalk, the backdrop being the new, temporary classrooms at Kalaheo School.
“Can we put shells in there?” a teacher stopped to ask. “Yeah. Bring ‘em down,” was the reply.
But the shells never came, and as Fernandez troweled the final steps to the new sidewalk, he looked up and said, “This is fast-curing stuff. It’ll be ready when the kids come back tomorrow.”
The sights and sounds at Kalaheo School yesterday, Wednesday, Aug. 24, were similar to campuses around the island, as school officials prepared to open the campus for students starting this morning, Thursday, Aug. 25.
Wheels squeaked from the heavy loads being transported from storage to classrooms. The beeping of delivery trucks’ reverse alarms signaled one final drop before the bell sounds. Teachers bustled between halls and buildings, stopping occasionally to catch up on the latest school news.
Temporary classrooms were shipped to the Kalaheo campus during the summer recess, and construction crews worked relentlessly to ready the buildings in time for school opening.
“It’s amazing that only three months and two weeks ago, this place was smoldering,” Erik Burkman, Kalaheo School principal, said while touring the new buildings.
“They did a good job. The quality is topnotch,” he said, complimenting the work of the construction crews whose members configured the new buildings in the same manner of the building that was destroyed by an early-morning fire three months ago.
“The greenery is beginning to bounce back, too,” he said. A quick glance around campus revealed little evidence of the fire that roused the community to respond quickly to the needs of the school.
“The teachers could move in starting Monday, and they have all been working hard to be ready for school opening Thursday,” Burkman said while pausing from his tour to field an inquiry from one of the teachers who needed an extra desk. “Don’t worry, we’ll find one,” he assured her, returning to watch as Rose Fune and Pacita Ned pushed a cartoned television set into one of the new classrooms.
Darren Curammeng, the school’s computer-lab instructor, was checking over systems in the new rooms, while Roy Borja of Hawaii Modular Systems applied final coats of paint to conduits and door frames.
Burkman explained that the priority was to get the classrooms ready in time for the first day of school. The administrative portion of the new building, including an office he will occupy, will be worked on after Thursday, Burkman estimating that it will be “a couple of weeks” before they start relocating staff and furnishings of his office into their new quarters.
Currently, the school office is one of the teachers’ lounges in the building directly behind the new, temporary classrooms.
When the bell rings in the new school year this morning, Burkman said their student population will be about the same as last year, noting that “in the last two weeks, we’ve picked up between 30 to 40 students.”
Joel Kawate, one of the teachers whose classroom was destroyed by the fire, was conferring with student Kawena Warren about where to place a school poster in one of the new classrooms.
While others are thankful for the resumption of the cooling trade-winds, Kawate is basking in a new, air-conditioned classroom, knowing that his situation is temporary. “I could get used to this,” he smiled, nodding his head all the while.
In addition to the quiet air conditioning, each of the new classrooms is insulated against outside noise.
Warren, whose mother is on the staff at the school, was just one of several students who were out and about on campus, pitching in wherever they were needed.
“They are the key,” Burkman said proudly of the student helpers. Following the devastating fire, the same student helpers were seen around campus, doing whatever they could to help in the cleanup process, he said.
Burkman noted that it is this student interaction that is part of the strength of Kalaheo School, the principal welcoming the efforts of the students.
Rennon O’Neal was peering through one of the screened windows in the new wing. His mother, Daymee Diehl, explained that O’Neal was a student in the classroom he was checking out when the fire displaced him.
On Wednesday, the eve of his return as a fifth-grader, Diehl said, “He just wanted to look at all the new stuff.”
In another classroom, text-books were neatly arranged on each student’s desk in preparation for the opening bell, Burkman noting that the teacher was still not satisfied with how her setup was. When school resumes this morning, Burkman predicts that same, frenzied pace that will be shared by students, faculty, staff and administrators at schools around the island. He plans a “welcome-back” assembly on Monday morning, noting that “it’s a nice way to start a new week. That leaves Thursday and Friday to work out the bugs.”
Laine Griffith was one of the teachers whose room was used as storage for the incoming replacement equipment, and he joined in to help staff members move furniture and equipment to prepare his own room for the school opening.
“This is an exciting time of the year,” he remarked as he helped Mary Shimogawa and Fune load a TV set for one of the new rooms.
“We’re ready!” Burkman said.
