WAILUA — St. Theresa School third-grader Keiki Nizo showed off the sticky note from her teacher Thursday morning at the Lydgate Park main pavilion.
“Eat lunch with a student from the other school,” the note read, as Nizo and Hanalei Burkhart settled for lunch with St. Catherine School fifth-grade students Isla Anderson, Naia Gordon-Medeiros and Alicia Sa.
They were part of the several hundred students from the two Catholic schools on Kauai coming together for a day of outdoor sports, activities and fun as part of the Catholic Schools Week observance.
“This is competitive,” said David Adams, the St. Catherine School principal. “It is also ‘Love Your Neighbor’ day. We come together because we’re on the same island, and St. Theresa is our sister school. We all have oars, and we’re in the same boat.”
Students participated in team sports like soccer and volleyball before adjourning for lunch in the shade of the main pavilion.
“They are grumpy,” Adams said, adjourning his soccer group for a halftime break for lunch. “They really wanted to play football. But one student got it — soccer is futbal in Europe. We’re playing futball.”
Wendy Castillo, principal of St. Theresa School in Kekaha, chuckled while keeping a watchful eye on a young student ready to bolt from the confines of the main pavilion.
“We hired David as a substitute teacher when he got here,” Castillo said. “He lives just several houses down from the school. But St. Catherine got him shortly after he started. I think we came out ahead because I like working with him as a collaborator instead of as a teacher.”
The collaboration makes for good teamwork, as the principals discussed “what happens to our students after the eighth grade” as a possibility of establishing a high-school program as part of the school’s curriculum, and expansion.
“It is possible,” Adams said during the earlier launch of Catholic Schools Week. “But we need to look at everything with not just one eye, but many eyes. And yes, Wendy was my first boss when we got to Kaua‘i.”
The day wrapped up Catholic Schools Week for St. Catherine School, which had no school Friday for students, and instead had a collaboration day for teachers and staff.
“We still have school,” Castillo said. “Friday is our last day after a week of activities. Now, we start looking at the St. Theresa School Carnival that is one of our major sources of income.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
