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< Back Do I Have Your Attention? Why students can't put down their phones. Keyla Jimenez Student Life September 5, 2024 at 3:39:11 AM A teacher is talking and the students are zoning out. Most of them are on their phones. Some might argue that as long as they are getting their work done, there’s really no problem with this scenario. You at least wouldn’t expect students to disagree with the idea. Yet, many of them do. Senior Zhi Clark admits that easy access to social media leads to procrastination. “I feel like once I get on my phone,” she said, “I could scroll for like hours.” Sophomore Jaelyn Galasinao also regrets the effect of phone use on her studies, saying that, without the distraction, “I could have done my homework this weekend…so much earlier.” Senior Kamaile Kulukulualani thinks that phones prevent kids from “getting a full education.” Confidence and Multi-tasking According to a 2022 survey, 41 percent of Lahainaluna students felt that they had no problem staying “quite focused,” despite sometimes being in situations with lots of distractions. Yet, 47 percent said that sometimes they were unable to “pay attention and resist distractions,” and 30 percent admitted to “frequently” or “always” “waiting until the last minute” to complete their assignments. Something is distracting LHS students from their work, though somehow they feel good about their ability to tune out those distractions. Danial Felisoni and Alexandra Godoi argue that students may be too confident about their ability to simultaneously scroll and stay on task as they “often overestimate their ability to multitask, which could eventually lead to academic underperformance.” As a result, when “cellphones are commonly used in class for purposes unrelated to the discipline, it is likely that students may be distracted during lectures or activities.” Addiction While students are generally aware of the problem, they nevertheless find it difficult to put their phones down. As Venice Gallegos describes it, “I think social media is just, like, a really easy way to get stimulated quickly, so when you’re not on it, you can kind of miss that…and have like, withdrawals.” Similarly, sophomore Ariana Lara Rodriguez stated, “When I’m in class, all I think about is watching Netflix and finishing my series or playing dress to impress.” Jack Pope, a new English Language Arts teacher at LHS, says that grabbing a student’s attention is “a problem that teachers have been dealing with since the beginning of time.” Part of what makes this problem difficult now, says Pope, is “the accessibility of having it (the distraction) right in your pocket.” “You do get a lot of that dopamine rush from getting on your phone,” Pope said. “The attachment is something that’s very difficult for kids, for teenagers, to pull themselves away from.” English Language Arts Teacher, Ryan Granillo, has taught at Lahainaluna for 22 years and says that he has noticed a change. “I would really say that once cell phones became prevalent in the classroom, it became really difficult for the students to manage both classroom instruction and discussions and like the desire to be on their phone,” he said. “How many TikTok videos can you go through in like, five minutes?” he added. “They might not think it’s a big deal because it’s only five minutes, but then they just, it’s that addictive quality that makes it really bad.” He added, “It doesn’t help that there’s no real policy, school-wide policy regarding use of phones in the classroom.” Granillo states, “Everywhere you go, adults, kids, everybody in between has them (phones) out all the time, and even to the point where students do their classwork on the cell phone. And so in that regard, you have to, kind of, as a teacher, you just kind of deal with it, but it’s never going to go away. Cell phones are part of our lives.” Annika Yucua thinks that social media can affect you somewhat but that it “is honestly not that bad of a problem.” Taking that idea further, Kimberly Hernandez says that social media is actually of help in a school environment and claims that “you can use social media for, like, many things. You make projects about posts and you just look at the post like to see, to give you an idea.” It’s Me, Hi, I’m the Problem Jack Pope notes that the problem doesn’t just lie with phones since “there are some students that are completely capable of pulling themselves away from that device and holding attention.” Zhi Clark also thinks that “It’s honestly like your own self-reflection on how well you can stay off your phone, how interested you are in what’s going on.” On the other hand, Pope again pointed out, “grabbing a student’s attention” is a teacher’s job. “I need to make this interesting enough to where they want to pay attention to what I have to say and the content that we’re learning, rather than, you know, going straight to their device.” Jaelyn Galasinao says it another way, “If they (teachers) don’t care, I don’t care.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link Keyla Jimenez is a staff writer for Ka Lama Hawai'i.

< Back The Boardersʻ Clock Chantei Dela Cruz Lahainaluna freshman boarder, Haro Akiyama, woke up to a loud commotion and someone asking “Eh, who get watch – what time now – I think we late.” He and other boarders ran down to the gym floor to look for a clock which read 6:10 before all of them rushed down the hill to clock in for work. They noticed no one else standing around the large time clock and assumed that everyone was at work already. Work usually started at 6AM. At 6 every day, the boarders would stand in line to put their narrow punch cards into the clock. As they were about to punch in, they read the time clock’s time: 2:30. They were not late and were relieved to relax an extra couple of hours. Akiyama was a freshman in 1944. He graduated in 1948 having been a boarder for four years. The time clock had only existed for three years when Akiyama had his scare. It's housing was constructed in 1941 by Mr. Herbert Wright, the school's carpentry teacher, and his students. The time clock is located near Hale Pa’i (house of printing) and is below the bus stop at Lahainaluna. In order to get there, take the side road that branches out from the main road and near the staircase, there will be a shed that contains the time clock along with a plaque. It became a way to keep track of the amount of hours worked by boarders on campus. In the early 20th century, boarders had to work for their room and board daily. The purpose was to teach them responsibility, self-discipline, and good work habits. Boarders would punch in at the clock every morning and every night until the clock broke in 1976. Life as Boarder Former boarder, Richard “Noosh” Nishihara, noted that boarders’ lives revolved around the time clock. According to previous Lahainaluna Boarders’ Handbooks, boarders had to punch in their assigned number slot at the time clock by 6AM and punch out at 7AM before school started on weekdays. After school, boarders had to punch in again after the 2PM bell indicated school was done. They had to work another two more hours until they could go back to their dormitories or attend athletic activities. Weekends were slightly less rigorous. Boarders were allowed to “sleep in” until 7:30 AM before punching in. Weekend morning shifts were three hours instead of two. Morning work earned them free time afterward. If an individual boarder was late to punch in, they had to work overtime. All hours of work done were recorded on the narrow timesheets or punch cards. “Chief” Earl Kukahiko who was the farm foreman at the time described the effect that time clock had on some boarders. The clock, he suggested, had the biggest effect on those who were late and had to work overtime. “The fear of the punishments (added work hours) for being late,” he said, “struck the fear of God into all of us.” In 1976, the time clock was deemed unserviceable. The only repairman who was familiar with the clock passed away sometime before 1976. At some point between 1976 and 2009, the Lahainaluna Classes of 1949 and 1950 began looking for ways to fund the clock's restoration. They would eventually find help from the Maui Carpenters Union and Maui International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 1186. The clock was restored and a large wooden shed housed it. The effort was headed by George Kawamoto (Class of 1952) and other Lahainaluna boarders. New Era, New System Nowadays, boarders just go to the time clock for headcount and don’t need to punch in. Senior Alana Hernandez, a current boarder at Lahainaluna, briefly explains the boarders’ daily schedules and how “We don’t use the time clock, we just go there.” As soon as the work is done, the boarders just return their tools to the shed and go back to the dorms. “We don't have to like ‘clock out’ or anything,” Hernandez said. Being an upperclassman gives boarders an advantage. Upperclassmen do “less labor intensive jobs or ‘opala truck,” said Nanea N. Sproat-Armitage who was interviewed by Doctor Ty Kawika Tengan and others for the Lahainaluna Native Hawaiian Boarding Students Oral History Project. In addition, Hernandez adds, “sometimes us uppers [juniors & seniors] give our tools to the unders [sophomores & freshmen] to take back.” Alumni boarders mentioned that a similar job an upperclassman boarder could have was working at the time clock or helping kids check in to work. Working at time clock was a simple job so most boarders wanted to have it. “I worked at time clock,” said former boarder Monica Kalikimaka Akamu who was also interviewed for the oral history project. “Working at time clock was super easy and all it meant was that I got to cruise in the truck with Coach Watson.” Former boarder Sherman Kealoha Maka was envied by his fellow boarders because he was given the job. “I had bad allergies. . . they had me in the orchard. So he [Kukahiko] took me out of orchard, and he put me in a time clock with him.” Symbol of Responsibility Using the time clock was an efficient way to keep track of over a hundred boarders’ work hours. During Eddie Espritiu’s time as a boarder, the clock was crowded each morning with over one hundred boarders. “—I mean. . . you can imagine 122 guys rushing back to their dorm, everybody going shower and get ready for school. . .,” said Espiritu. This sight is currently unimaginable. In 2025, about 30 students are boarding at Lahainaluna. “There used to be a lot more boarders back then, so using the time clock was an efficient system to keep track of who showed up to work,” said Hernandez. The size of the program has made it much easier to count and keep track of boarders who did not check in to work. The clock is now preserved as a historical structure and is no longer used by current boarding students. It holds a lot of meaning to boarders from classes of 1941-1976. The Lahainaluna time clock is a small structure, but was a big part of boarders’ daily routines. Their lives revolved around the clock. To many, the clock is now only a symbol of good time management, responsibility, and discipline. To others, like Eddie Espiritu, it was a symbol of “punctuality, responsibility, and respect for ourselves. . . it helped mold us and prepare us for our future.” Previous Next

< Back LHS History and Traditions: Coming Soon! The Lahainaluna History and Tradition section was imagind by students to be an ongoing repository of oral histories and research work about the history of Lahainaluna High School. As such, this section will host short papers about campus curiosities, ancient rumors, and distiguished graduates from the "oldest high school west of the Rockies." Previous Next

< Back "A shame I had to deactivate her..." Ari Abut Comics The Work This is the first of several comic strips. Enjoy. About the Creator Communication is not my strong suit. I would like to interact with you, but I must admit that first meetings are almost guaranteed to be awkward. I enjoy philosophical and psychological discussions and finding out more about how people work. I also enjoy analyzing media such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Madoka Magica . If you’re interested in either of these masterpieces, contact me immediately. I look forward to hearing your insights. Previous Next Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Send Email

< All Candidates Lucia Mejia Treasurer ⭐ PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES: Do you have ideas regarding how to provide development opportunities to students (i.e. college fairs, scholarships, and campus policies to promote clubs and student involvement)? If so, explain: I believe that providing development opportunities for students is vital for not only their academic growth, but also their personal growth. Students need to be further informed on college and career opportunities. I feel that hosting college fairs on our campus will inspire more student initiative because it will be an easily accessible opportunity for them to learn about colleges and what they offer. Currently (that I know of) there is only one college fair offered to all grade levels by our school and it is not during school hours at Kamehameha Schools Maui which is at least an hour away from Lahaina. Another opportunity that may provide more college and career readiness is mentorship programs for all grade levels. If we can establish opportunities for internship or job shadowing students will have firsthand experience which may help them prepare for their future. Thirdly, providing more literacy to financial support, scholarships, etc. is so important to students wanting to apply to college. We need to ensure that financial barriers do not hinder students involvement and ability to attend college. Lastly, promoting clubs and student involvement is so important for our students and campus overall. Implementing campus policies that require or strongly advise in joining a club will encourage involvement. Promoting clubs through events open to anyone whether in the specified club or not may allow for students to get a feel for how the club works and whether they would be interested in joining or not. Leadership workshops also foster skills for students wanting to lead clubs or for students in student council. These are just a couple ideas regarding these subjects on our campus. EVENTS PLANNING: If you were elected to student council what school events do you deem important and why? I believe we need more school events involving our campus life and our community. Lahainaluna has so much pride and I believe we need to strengthen that by providing events that tie our community (whom many are past alumni) and our students together. Looking at schools across the island and on other islands I have garnered ideas that we may possibly want to look into in the upcoming year. For example, King Kekaulike is hosting a Spring Pa’ina in late March. I believe something similar to this would be an excellent event for our campus and community. It could also be a creative fundraising opportunity. I am running for treasurer for our junior class which means I will have the role of our finances for our junior prom. Keeping receipts and records for our purchases and creating fundraiser opportunities are very important steps to ensure a successful junior prom. Not only do I find importance in having a victorious junior prom I also believe it is equally important to create fundraiser opportunities to help finance this event. These are the three main things I deem most important for next year.I would like to make parking more organized and fair to students. Although there is a policy in place to reserve permits for the parking many students do not have a permit. Whether this be because of the cost, not wanting to sign up for one, or not having their license. By regulating that people have parking permits we can ensure safety when parking and driving through our parking lot. PARKING: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make on the parking and car policy? I would like to make parking more organized and fair to students. Although there is a policy in place to reserve permits for the parking many students do not have a permit. Whether this be because of the cost, not wanting to sign up for one, or not having their license. By regulating that people have parking permits we can ensure safety when parking and driving through our parking lot. ENVIRONMENT: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make to the appearance, cleanliness, or safety on campus? I am very interested in the beautification of our campus. I believe we do have a littering a problem and I aim for that to change. I am not entirely sure on the details but I did sign up to be informed on the creation of the surfriders club (excuse me if I am wrong about the name) which I believe is an environmental club focused on cleaning our community and campus. This club could be amazing for service projects focused on the beautification of our campus and I would love if student council could partner with this club to bring attention to this issue and the importance of it. I don't believe our safety is an issue that should be worried about on our campus considering we have a fairly safe environment. We have an extremely beautiful campus and the way we treat and respect it should be a priority. PHONE POLICY: If you were elected to the position you are running for, how would you change our phone policy? If elected, I would work towards a balance phone policy that acknowledges benefits and distractions accompanied by phone use in class. While I do understand the value of having access to phones for educational purpose and emergencies, I also recognize that they can be a major distraction, including for myself. However, simply enforcing a stricter policy may not be the best solution, as students may not follow the rules (especially if it is such a sudden jump from no phone policy to a strict one). I feel the best approach is classroom based. Therefore teachers have the flexibility of managing phone use according to their teaching style, student behavior, or lesson plan. SCHOOL LUNCH: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what would you do to improve the quality of student lunches? Our school lunch is a vital issue that I have closely looked at with another fellow student council member, our grade level president, Brianne Lagazo. This is in response to Bryson Aquino's earlier article in Kalama Hawai'i that discussed our school lunches and what can be done to improve them. Sophomore president Brianne Lagazo and I created a petition (that garnered student council signatures) to ask for more nutritious, bigger portioned, and more appetizing lunch. I hope to delve deeper into this issue this year or in the next year to ensure our students are provided a good lunch! Previous Next

< All Candidates Lagazo, Brianne President ⭐ PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES: Do you have ideas regarding how to provide development opportunities to students (i.e. college fairs, scholarships, and campus policies to promote clubs and student involvement)? If so, explain: Some development opportunities I would like to provide are college fairs open to all grade levels. Most college fairs where Lahainaluna offers to take and monitor students, the only students that are allowed to go are typically upperclassmen (juniors and seniors). Opening this opportunity to all grade levels would contribute to a students academic rigor, as well as guide Lahainaluna students towards a college they wish to attend or a program they wish to pursue after high school. Other events could include volunteer opportunities, such as campus beautification projects, beach clean-ups, volunteering at shelters, tutoring, and more. Allowing students to engage in volunteer opportunities will allow them to build their college resumes/work resumes, gain leadership experience, learn work ethic, and collaborate with students and adults outside of school. EVENTS PLANNING: If you were elected to student council what school events do you deem important and why? Some events that I deem important are club fairs, which allow students to explore and learn about clubs they may want to pursue throughout their high school years. It's important for students to explore different clubs to collaborate with students, teachers, and understand what contributions they can make to highlight what they are interested in--which may be appealing to colleges they wish to attend. Other school events I deem important are school/grade level assemblies, spirit weeks, and homecoming. I believe that having fun and allowing students to enjoy school is equally as important as caring for grades and focusing on classes. Providing students with fun events to unwind shows students that we care for them and wish for them to enjoy themselves during school. It also invokes a sense of pride and belonging to see students dress up and have fun with their fellow classmates. PARKING: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make on the parking and car policy? If elected for my desired position, I would want to increase faculty in the student parking lot. Many accidents have occurred, many students do not feel safe, some students are too fast getting out of the parking lot, and some parents wait too long and hold up the line. Many students who do not possess a parking pass continue to park in student parking. I believe this is incredibly unfair to those who have paid previously to get a spot, and are sometimes robbed of being able to park in student parking. Increasing faculty in the student parking lot would allow students to be and feel more safe, while faculty can keep an eye out for students who are parking where they are not supposed to. ENVIRONMENT: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make to the appearance, cleanliness, or safety on campus? If elected for my desired position, some changes I would like to make are campus clean-up activities open to students. Many jump at the opportunities to get community service hours in. Planning activities like these would also increase student participation and teach students how to cooperate well with others. Increasing trash cans in areas around campus may also prompt students to feel Safety wise, I would increase faculty in certain areas around campus during certain times. This includes the student parking lot, the cafeteria during lunch, and patrolling campus during class time to ensure students are not skipping/cutting class. Some fun activities would also include campus repainting (murals/revamps) and restoring greenery around campus, like planting native plants/flowers and yard work on areas like Boarders Field. PHONE POLICY: If you were elected to the position you are running for, how would you change our phone policy? If elected as president, if i had the opportunity to change the phone policy, I would continue to leave that decision to teachers whether or not cell phones are allowed to be used in their classroom. As I have stated, it is their classroom and I believe it should be up to teachers to decide that cell phones will assist their lesson and how they teach or if allowing students to use them is harmful to the work environment. However, I strongly believe that cell phone usage in classes can disrupt learning if students are using them ineffectively. While some students may use it for learning and personal reasons, some may use it as their personal excuse to pay no attention to teachers and what they are supposed to be learning or doing with their class time. SCHOOL LUNCH: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what would you do to improve the quality of student lunches? To improve the quality of school lunches, I believe that quantity is a big issue. Our students, many of which are athletes, require food that is substantial enough to keep them going throughout the day and throughout their after school practices. It is important that we maintain health regulations, while also increasing the proportions of the food. Many students also complain about the temperature, stating that food is often too cold and that it makes school lunches unappealing. I feel it is also important to implement local school lunches and local food dishes, as well as working with local farms and businesses. Changes like these would make school lunches more appealing to students. Previous Next

< All Candidates Lake Tavernese President ⭐ PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES: Do you have ideas regarding how to provide development opportunities to students (i.e. college fairs, scholarships, and campus policies to promote clubs and student involvement)? If so, explain: My main idea to promote student led activities would be to start a volunteer program where students can use their time during lunch and/or after school to assist in a campus cleanup to make our campus cleaner and safer. EVENTS PLANNING: If you were elected to student council what school events do you deem important and why? If I was elected into the student council the main school events I would deem most important would be graduation, senior ball, and senior luau. These are the most impactful events the senior stuco hosts almost every year and I find it very important to plan these events to make our final year of high school as memorable as possible. PARKING: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make on the parking and car policy? I do believe that the parking situation is very out of hand, my plan would be to talk to admin about regularly enforcing the parking pass policy in which the punishment for parking in the main student lot would be a detention hour. Students pay for the parking pass and they should be secure in the fact that if they arrive at school on time, there will be a spot for them to park. ENVIRONMENT: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make to the appearance, cleanliness, or safety on campus? If I was elected as class president I would start organizing student led clean-up crews during lunch periods or after school. If possible, I could also communicate with admin and see if these campus clean-ups can also be used to get rid of detention hours as a way to incentivise students. PHONE POLICY: If you were elected to the position you are running for, how would you change our phone policy? I wouldn't change the policy much, I believe that if the student is being productive or has all work done they should be allowed to have downtime on their phone; as many teachers allow. SCHOOL LUNCH: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what would you do to improve the quality of student lunches? For school lunches I would improve them by seeing if we could lead a school wide fundraiser to allow for more funding towards school lunches specifically. If our school had a large budget set aside with the sole intention being to improve the food quality the produce and meat used could go up in quality and encourage more students to eat lunch daily. Previous Next

< Back How We Believe The World Sees Us Samantha Monnett Painting The Work In today's society with the growth of social media also comes higher beauty standards. For this sustained investigation, I wanted to show how I could use art to interpret how I think the world perceives me as a person through hallucinations that we all make up in our minds, how we tend to feel all these eyes on us from people judging our looks and every physical change that we make. With all of the artworks, I am investigating how we all tend to be self-critical and create illusions to match what we think others are thinking of their experience of us. During the beginning of the sustained investigation, I wanted to focus on the idea of reflecting our self-perceptions as seen in mirrors, highlighting how we are often our harshest critics. However, while experimenting with various paints and materials to depict these reflections, my investigation shifted towards portraying hallucinations of distorted images that reflect how we believe the world sees us. As I came towards the end of my sustained investigation, the hyper-realism didn't really matter within the projects but rather the message that was portrayed behind it that everyone experiences. About the Creator Samantha Monnett graduated from Lahainaluna in 2024. Previous Next Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Send Email

< All Candidates Ayden Elaydo Vice President ⭐ PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES: Do you have ideas regarding how to provide development opportunities to students (i.e. college fairs, scholarships, and campus policies to promote clubs and student involvement)? If so, explain: I do have ideas. Looking back this year, i don't see people paying attention to morning broadcasts, whenever people are promoting something on campus, and mainly checking emails. What i see now, is that everyone is stuck on social media. So it'll be helpful to post stuff online to let everyone see. It'll also help because everyone can share posts to share the word even faster. EVENTS PLANNING: If you were elected to student council what school events do you deem important and why? I feel like mostly homecoming events. I believe the Alma Mater contest is the main one. I think we would work on that because learning the Lahainaluna's Alma Mater is a huge staple to this school. It's what brings us all together and which we call ourselves Lahainaluna "Lunas". So it's best if we have grade level assemblys to remember the words as we make our way up to graduation. We can also win the contest during homecoming! PARKING: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make on the parking and car policy? As someone who will start driving to campus next school year, i believe there should be no change. But my main and only concern is TO WATCH WHERE YOU'RE PARKING! We've had some accidents. Also having to repaint the lines for the student's to see better. It would also be fun if we were assigned parking and having to paint our parking spots! ENVIRONMENT: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make to the appearance, cleanliness, or safety on campus? I would like to change some of the main concerns from the students which is the bathroom. Some of the bathroom's had to be closed due to the profanity and destruction from students. Which makes students travel to different bathrooms far away from their class. I believe that was really unnecessary for people having to use the restroom. I believe to let the bathrooms be more clean and more constructed so we don't have a problem like that again. PHONE POLICY: If you were elected to the position you are running for, how would you change our phone policy? I believe the school policy now is okay, but everyone is just on their phones too much. So i'm thinking is to have our phone put somewhere for at least the first 20-30 minutes of class we can understand the lesson a bit. Then getting out of the phone after. So it won't be a distraction for at least the first bit of class. SCHOOL LUNCH: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what would you do to improve the quality of student lunches? I believe that instead of brown rice, it's good to have white since it's a better option and more flavor. I also think it's best to have our students to vote on what lunch they would like to have to our school. That's because it's best to hear people's voices and opinions. Also would like a new change to the school menu. Previous Next

< All Candidates Mina Nagasako Secretrary ⭐ PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES: Do you have ideas regarding how to provide development opportunities to students (i.e. college fairs, scholarships, and campus policies to promote clubs and student involvement)? If so, explain: I think some opportunities to develop the students could be more promotion of clubs. I know we have one club fair but I think there should be more involvement in advertising them. I think it would help with student engagement. When kids feel like they belong somewhere, they gain confidence and I think by promoting our clubs we can increase that. We could do it by informing pookela teachers to tell the students in pookela. Some teachers don't watch the announcements and some kids don't take the time to read flyers so I think it would be effective for either pookela teachers to announce it or maybe even have club leaders go to pookelas. Or, maybe even have a club assembly where they can demonstrate what they do in the club. EVENTS PLANNING: If you were elected to student council what school events do you deem important and why? Some school events I would deem important if I was elected into council would be grade assemblies. I think they help with grade bonding and it's a good way to recognize students. I think we could take it even farther to work as a grade to plan things together, not just with the council. We could ask for ideas then make plans as a grade. This could help with academic aspects, environmental aspects, and social aspects. PARKING: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make on the parking and car policy? A change I would want to make on the car policy is the way that students are dropped off. I dont think students should be dropped off while people are simultaneously trying to get in and out of their spot. Maybe the students could get dropped off on the tree loop right under student parking. ENVIRONMENT: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make to the appearance, cleanliness, or safety on campus? I want to make our campus being clean a more positive thing. Most people are too lazy to throw their trash away. Especially during lunch time. I was thinking maybe occasionally we could do lunch time competitions and students for each grade would have all of lunch to fill up a trash can and the grade who cleaned up the most would be the winners for the day. It would be difficult to have a reward system but its just an idea in the process. By making things a competition, I feel like it gets people motivated to take action. PHONE POLICY: If you were elected to the position you are running for, how would you change our phone policy? I think our phone policy is good but I think teachers need to make more of an effort to say something if it does bother them. I like the fact that teachers usually hold their students accountable and if they weren't paying attention, then that's their fault. SCHOOL LUNCH: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what would you do to improve the quality of student lunches? I am not sure how I would do this but I would definitely allow for student feedback and probably working with the lunch staff or whoever controls our school lunches to see what improvements could be made. I think that the proportions of our lunch are uneven sometimes, I'm a pretty small person and even I think there isn't enough food all the time. So I would try to make an effort to hear new ideas as well as take action to working with staff to fixing the problems students may have. Previous Next

< All Candidates Lake Tavernese President ⭐ PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES: Do you have ideas regarding how to provide development opportunities to students (i.e. college fairs, scholarships, and campus policies to promote clubs and student involvement)? If so, explain: My main idea to promote student led activities would be to start a volunteer program where students can use their time during lunch and/or after school to assist in a campus cleanup to make our campus cleaner and safer. EVENTS PLANNING: If you were elected to student council what school events do you deem important and why? If I was elected into the student council the main school events I would deem most important would be graduation, senior ball, and senior luau. These are the most impactful events the senior stuco hosts almost every year and I find it very important to plan these events to make our final year of high school as memorable as possible. PARKING: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make on the parking and car policy? I do believe that the parking situation is very out of hand, my plan would be to talk to admin about regularly enforcing the parking pass policy in which the punishment for parking in the main student lot would be a detention hour. Students pay for the parking pass and they should be secure in the fact that if they arrive at school on time, there will be a spot for them to park. ENVIRONMENT: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what changes would you want to make to the appearance, cleanliness, or safety on campus? If I was elected as class president I would start organizing student led clean-up crews during lunch periods or after school. If possible, I could also communicate with admin and see if these campus clean-ups can also be used to get rid of detention hours as a way to incentivise students. PHONE POLICY: If you were elected to the position you are running for, how would you change our phone policy? I wouldn't change the policy much, I believe that if the student is being productive or has all work done they should be allowed to have downtime on their phone; as many teachers allow. SCHOOL LUNCH: If you were elected to the position you are running for, what would you do to improve the quality of student lunches? For school lunches I would improve them by seeing if we could lead a school wide fundraiser to allow for more funding towards school lunches specifically. If our school had a large budget set aside with the sole intention being to improve the food quality the produce and meat used could go up in quality and encourage more students to eat lunch daily. Previous Next

< Back Monique Blando Custodian For Monique “Mo” Blando, a custodian at Lahainaluna High School, her job is more than a way to earn a living—it's a way to connect with her roots. A proud graduate who was born and raised in Lahaina, Blando followed in the footsteps of her mother, who was also a Lahainaluna alumna, and her uncle, who previously held a custodial position. "I'm proud to be from here," she says. "I look forward to making him proud." Her passion for family is clear. The seventh of many siblings, Blando has embraced her role as a doting aunt. “I have all older brothers and sisters, and I don't have any kids, thank goodness, so I just take care of theirs,” she shares with a laugh. Her day begins with a clear routine: “take the doggy for a walk, make sure my mom's got her meds and eats a little bit,” and then it's off to work. Once on campus, her goal is to “make sure that everything’s around is clean, looks good and safe for you guys.” This sense of responsibility extends beyond her official duties, as she also tries to “make sure the students are in the right areas.” While she likes her job, she finds that “communication between the generations is probably the most difficult.” She's learning that kids on campus today are different from when she was in school. "We got to learn how to talk to you guys differently," she says thoughtfully, "because you guys don’t always respond the way we were taught to.” Blando's deep community ties are meaningful, but there are some drawbacks to being so connected. A self-described "big talker," she says she's always trying to "make sure I don't embarrass any of my nieces and nephews while I'm working.” Jersea Borneman is a staff writer for Ka Lama Hawai'i.