PUHI — With February being celebrated as ‘Olelo Hawai‘i Month, and the emphasis on revitalizing the Hawaiian language following its ban in 1896 as a medium of instruction, the sole ‘Olelo Hawai‘i History Day project by Island School student Kolohaiaheahe Kuhaulua was the uncontested entry to the state History Day presented by Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities.
A total of 15 projects earned qualification to the state competition following the daylong Kaua‘i District History Day at Kaua‘i Community College Learning Resource Center on the Puhi campus on Saturday, with its “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas” theme.
“We haven’t had the Kaua‘i District event since 2018,” said Keyk Capati, the Waimea High School teacher/advisor for History Day. “One of our students, Mar Heinrich Ruiz, is a three-time national qualifier, but never got to go to nationals because of COVID-19 shutdowns.”
Ruiz, who combined with Waimea High School student Hope Newton, is co-creator of one of the 15 state qualifying projects from the Saturday competition, in the areas of exhibit, documentation and website.
The Island School teacher/coach for History Day brought eight of the 15 qualifying exhibits. He stopped to apologize to the panel of judges, but added that he wished all of the schools would participate in History Day, where students can connect what is going on today with history.
Capati said one of the key interactive events involved the community partner activity, where participating members could tell their story through ikebana with the help of Rie Ombrello, a grandmaster of the misho-ryu school of ikebana.
Devin Makizuru, who has ties to the Makizuru family of Up to Date Cleaners on Kaua‘i, served as the day’s host, where all participants earned a history day pin and complimentary ballpoint pen.
World History Day
state qualifiers
Junior Documentary: Father of the Modern Murder Mystery Genre: Edgar Allen Poe (student: Oliver Jordan, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen); A Frontier in Radiation, The Radium Girls (Bradyn Nakayama, Island School; teacher Jamie Fesinstine); The Anti-Rape Movement (Berkley Feutz, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen); The Rise of A Gaming Monarch (Luahn Luz and Tristen Godinez, Island School; teacher Jamie Fesinstine).
Junior Exhibit: Hokule‘a: Resurgence of Hawaiian Culture (Kaia Haugh and Mehana Dameron, Island School; teacher Jamie Fesinstine); The Frontier of Human Organ Transplantation (Sadie Stiglmeier, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen); Miranda v. Arizona: A Frontier in Law Enforcement (Ellen Conway, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen); The Partition of India: A Journey to Freedom (Max Fazio, Island School; teacher Jamie Fesinstine).
Junior Website: Rocketing Toward The Future (Sean Lottermoser, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen); Cleopatra (Callum Raine, Mohalapua Silverston and Tzuf Ruck, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen); The Digital Frontier (Phoenex Ma, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen).
Senior Documentary: Trench Warfare: How Our Treatment of Soldiers on the Frontiers of War Affected Our Expansion of Medical Frontier (Stanley Kimmel, Waimea High; etacher Keyk Capati).
Senior Exhibit: Hawai‘i’s Sugar Plantation Era: The Frontier of Integration Through Food and Language (Brynn Lee Hirata, Rhomsen Fermin, Rylen Koshi, Waimea High; teacher Keyk Capati).
Senior Website: Disney: A Dominant Dream to Innovation (Hope Newton and Mar Heinrich Ruiz, Waimea High; teacher Keyk Capati).
‘Olelo Hawai‘i: The “Plus 2” Crew of 1976 (Kolohaiaheahe Kuhaulua, Island School; teacher Patrick Gegen).
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
