NUKOLI‘I — Students in middle and high school earning national and international honors were recognized Friday during a luncheon at Kaua‘i Beach Resort. Kaua‘i Area Complex Superintendent William “Bill” Arakaki was pleased with this year’s results because the students represented
NUKOLI‘I — Students in middle and high school earning national and international honors were recognized Friday during a luncheon at Kaua‘i Beach Resort.
Kaua‘i Area Complex Superintendent William “Bill” Arakaki was pleased with this year’s results because the students represented all three areas of the Kaua‘i complex.
“It’s good to see that schools in all of the areas are achieving good results,” Arakaki said. “These are students who earned national, and international, honors and recognition. If this was an event for state award winners, the room would be overflowing.”
Tiffany Frias, coordinator of the annual recognition luncheon, said more than 60 students registered, and with their parents and teachers, nearly 100 people showed up for the recognition ceremony where students were presented certificates of achievement and a symbolic star.
“For some of these students, they come back year after year,” Farias said. “They have a whole collection of stars by the time they graduate high school.”
Students at the Waimea High School were recognized for their achievements in the International Science and Engineering Fair as well as earning rights to advance to the JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl.
Students at the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School were recognized for honors earned during the Student Television Network, and the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School chorus and ‘ukulele band was feted for their double gold performance and Maestro Award achievement at the Heritage Music Festival.
Joining Arakaki, Kaua‘i Board of Education member Nancy Budd, state Sen. Ronald Kouchi, Michael Dahilig and state Rep. Derek Kawakami did the honors with the help of Sean Doi, producer of the “Shining Stars” monthly video piece for the Kaua‘i Area Complex Department of Education.
Kouchi said after attending the 14th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Poem Awards Monday, he realized that when he was the age of the honorees, he didn’t know how to write poetry.
“It was not ‘cool’ to know about poetry,” Kouchi said. “I was not courageous enough to be a risk taker.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
