Waimea Canyon students battle litter in their latest beach-cleanup effort

WAIMEA — Friday marked the last day of the third quarter, and seventh- and eighth-grade students from Waimea Canyon School celebrated by cleaning the beaches from Lucy Wright Park to the Kikiaola Small Boat Harbor.

Eighth-grade students Tyson Panui, Robert Perreira, Kalen Kali-Abihai, and Makoto Fukino were several of the early students to reach their Kikiaola destination, and explained that the seventh graders had the shorter span, since they only went to the Lucy Wright Park and back.

“We walk from the school, and back to the school,” the boys said. “There were all kinds of stuff — bottles, cans, transmissions, and even an engine.”

While some of the students were without trash bags of litter, one of the boys said, “We gave it away so they can get the tickets.”

Mrs. Otoman, one of the teacher chaperones, explained that whenever the students are doing something that meets the behavioral standard, they receive a Westside Pride ticket, which is deposited in a hopper for a monthly drawing. The winners of the drawing get a “reward,” she said.

Meanwhile, students Amanda Kamakea and Chanelle Hashimoto observed that on this pickup, the classes’ second since the start of the school year, “There were a lot more of the Styrofoam bento boxes. There’re also a lot of plates, plastics, beer bottles, and there even were some shirts hanging on a tree. But, we didn’t touch them.

“There’re also a lot of cans, but we can’t recycle them (for the five-cent deposits) because they’re smashed,” the pair said.

“This is part of SAC (Student Activities Coordinator) Day,” they went on to explain. “It’s the end of the quarter, so after this, we go back to the campus, where there are activities for the school. There’ll be a water slide after lunch as well as a cheetah bouncer, and a bungie run.”

For the students who don’t want to do these things, there’ll be outdoor sports, and even a craft room where they can make things, the students noted with the help of Mrs. Otoman.

Jayne Pereira, the school’s Student Activities Coordinator, was returning on another route, as she and teacher Beth Cuizon brought up the rear of the seventh-grade class, which had made the sweep to Lucy Wright Park. “There’s less rubbish this time,” Pereira noted.

No fewer than three video crews were spread out through the crowd of approximately 200 students.

“These are for the morning announcements and year-book,” the team of Kepo‘o Nerpio, Nahoku Rabot, and Dominique Pascua explained, while keeping the video rolling as students poked through the sand looking for debris using pieces of driftwood they found along the shoreline.

The massive sweep spanned the high-water mark up through the vegetation at the end of the sand, and accompanying the group was a truck driven by a volunteer, facilitating the pick up of filled trash bags.

Noting the less rubbish on this cleanup, Pereira directed the seventh graders to pick up litter along the sidewalk in town on their return trip, a task the students turned into a fun project as only students can.

Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.