‘Floppy fish’ swim toward future Dennis Fujimoto The Garden Island WAIMEA — Friday night, 130 Waimea High School seniors swam toward the future. Robyn Ijima and Caylee Yamamoto, the class valedictorians, said the Class of 2013 came together as “flopping
‘Floppy fish’ swim toward future
Dennis Fujimoto
The Garden Island
WAIMEA — Friday night, 130 Waimea High School seniors swam toward the future.
Robyn Ijima and Caylee Yamamoto, the class valedictorians, said the Class of 2013 came together as “flopping fish” four years ago, alluding to the koi that serves as the class mascot.
Following challenges during their four-year Waimea High School experience, Friday night’s graduation now sees the students “swimming toward the future.”
Nely Caberto, Waimea’s principal, said a student survey ahead of graduation revealed 23 percent of the 130 graduating students will be heading to a four-year college or university, 66 percent will be attending a two-year institution, five percent enrolling in the military, four percent entering the workforce, and two percent being undecided.
Shelby Tangalin and her sister Jessica are heading to KCC — thanks to the Wai‘ale‘ale Project, said Kaua‘i Police Department officer Darla Abbatiello, who served as Shelby’s advisor as a KPD Explorer.
Shelby was one of the first Explorers in the program when it started and Abbatiello said she fought for the age requirement to be waived to get Shelby eligible for the program.
Glenda Miyazaki, a Waimea alumnus and current principal for the Waimea Canyon Middle School, offered the graduating seniors congratulations as the keynote speaker, thanking those she met while a principal at ‘Ele‘ele Elementary School and Waimea Canyon Middle School.
She offered the graduates two words to live by as they head to the future: “perseverance,” alluded to by Ijima and Yamamoto in the class’s selection of the koi as its mascot, and “resilience.”
Those words joined the helpful suggestions offered to the students by Class President Leeza Tamashiro and Student Body President Bryson Cayaban.
Ijima, Yamamoto and Cayaban topped the students graduating Summa Cum Laude, or those students who meet the Board of Education requirements for Honor Diplomas and maintaining a GPA of 3.8 or better.
Daniel Sagucio, one of the class song leaders, Kaycee San Agustin-Nordmeier, Ember Teter and Wendi Tokuuke rounded out the top BOE Honor Diploma graduates.
Other honors included 11 students recognized for the National Honor Society, 19 students honored by Julie Kellogg for Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, seven cum laude students and 11 magna cum laude students.
Shayla Dela Cruz Labanon served as the senior graduation chairperson, joined by Alexys Bermudez, the junior graduation chairperson.
‘Be the light. Set the example.’
Chris D’Angelo
The Garden Island
LIHU‘E — A massive crowd and the overpowering smell of flower leis filled Vindinha Stadium in Lihu‘e Friday for the Kaua‘i High School Class of 2013 graduation ceremony.
Air horns blew. Caps and balloons flew. One graduate, after receiving his diploma, even showed off his break dance moves.
Senior Class President Victoria Davis told her classmates that soon after the ceremony — much like on the day of freshman orientation — they would all return to being “clueless and awkward.”
But that was okay, she said. It is their time to go out into the world, on their own and shine.
“Now we’re leaving the school,” she said. “Some of us may be leaving this island, maybe the state or even this country. But no matter where our lives take us we’ll have memories that will keep us all connected to each other forever.”
A total of 276 students graduated from Kaua‘i High School this year. Of those, 83 received scholarships, amounting to more than $1.9 million.
KHS Vice Principal Penny Vess honored the class’ seven valedictorians, who each maintained a GPA of 4.0 or better. Those students included Lucas Gushikuma (University of Portland, nursing), Micah Young (Biola University, Christian ministries), Cascade Mayer (University of Dallas, physical therapy), Kylee Iseri (University of Hawai‘i, biology), Tia Morishige (University of Colorado – Denver, biology), Kainani Otsuji (University of California, Los Angeles, business economics) and Angela Dunsmoor-Connor (University of Notre Dame, engineering).
“This is the time to fall on our faces while facing our dreams, because we all know the only way to succeed is to actually race the race,” Gushikuma said.
After leading the crowd through a “cool slow clap” and describing how most graduation speeches are “repetitive and generic,” Young reminded his classmates that the only thing ending was high school, and that the rest of their lives were just beginning.
“Don’t waste another day living for yourself, but live a life of love and service to others,” he told them. “Be the light. Set the example. Help the helpless. Reach the unreachable. And do something meaningful for humanity. Let’s not become lukewarm and sit by idle as we watch the world around us spiral down toward selfishness, violence, greed and corruption … but instead, dig down deep and change this world from the inside out.”
The guest speaker for the evening was Kaua‘i musician and actor Kepa Kruse. He urged the graduates to “choose a passion with reckless abandonment,” go experience new places and gather the “seeds” of skill and knowledge.
When finished, he encouraged them all to “return to Kaua‘i as industrious men and women and plant that here.”
Kruse’s gift to the students was bringing along his good friend and Hawaiian musician Kimie Miner, who performed a trio of songs prior to the presentation of diplomas.
Principal Debbie Lindsey reminded her students not to limit themselves and to make their families proud.
“Shoot for the road,” she said. “Go for it. Get out there, make mistakes and find your way. You will succeed, no matter what you set your mind to.”
‘As a class, we stand tall and strong’
Darin Moriki
The Garden Island
KAPA‘A — brightly colored banners, leis and balloons filled Kapa‘a New Town Park on Friday as Kapa‘a High School’s 219 seniors gathered as an entire class before their families, friends and teachers for one last time.
By the time the night was over and their newly-certified diplomas were awarded, those same students became the school’s newest alumni members.
“As a class, we stand tall and strong with the potential to change the world,” Student Body President Anuhea Panui said in a graduation address to her class. “What makes our class unlike any other is the way that we redefine stereotypes — some of our star athletes are valedictorians, some of the quietest people in class are shining stars on the stage and some of the greatest artists I’ve ever seen haven’t even been discovered yet.”
Senior Class President Tori Pezario said the past four years has been marked by a number of accomplishments, including the recent state Division II Championship win by the school’s varsity boys soccer team and the varsity baseball team’s first Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title win since 2002.
She said these achievements, however, were not just confined to athletics and pointed out that senior Tanner Henry was recently selected as a Gates Millennium Scholarship recipient, becoming the first Kaua‘i student from a public school to receive the distinction.
“But maybe it doesn’t matter how high our GPAs are, how many awards we have won, or how well planned our futures are,” Pezario said in her graduation address as she fought back tears. “Maybe what matters the most are the bonds we’ve made, the friends we will keep forever and the memories that will never fade.”
In all, Kapa’a High School Principal Daniel Hamada said a total of 161 graduates were enrolled or planning to enroll in a two- or four-year college and received about $2 million in scholarships and grants.
Another 47 graduates, he said, were planning to enter the workforce while another six more were planning to enlist in the military.
“These numbers that I have shared with you are very, very outstanding, so it validates that you guys are truly ready for college, your careers and citizenship,” Hamada said in his closing remarks to the graduates. “Should anyone here in Kapa‘a or anywhere in the island or in the state (ask), ‘How do you know they’re ready for citizenship?’ I can tell them straight out with a lot of pride and confidence that many of these students volunteered many community hours and gave back to our community.”
