Search Results

A student-run newspaper written by and for the students of Lahainaluna High School. Ka Lama Hawai'i regularly publishes student work on student life, education, and the community of Lahaina. I mua, Lunas! Ka Lama Hawai'i Burning the torch of excellence at both ends Arts and Entertainment December 3, 2025 at 7:45:00 PM Gift Giving Season What do Students and Staff want? Grayson Guzman Do Lahainaluna students care what they get for Christmas? Read More Education December 3, 2025 at 6:53:24 PM "Smart and Capable" Keyla Jimenez Some students feel like they are not being challenged. Read More History September 18, 2025 at 1:03:52 AM Ka Lama Hawaiʻi Then and Now Keyla Jimenez In 1834, only three years after the creation of Lahainaluna, its principal, Lorrin Andrews, started a student-run newspaper. Read More Student Life December 3, 2025 at 7:43:00 PM “Quite a Juggling Act” Brielle Em-E-Li Ramelb Work means skills, money, and maturity; it costs freedom, time, and teenage experiences. Worth it? Read More Talk Story News I wanna try out for football next year but I'm a girl I am a girl and I am worried that next year I will be criticized by the boys. Opinion: High Graduation, Low Excellence Lahainaluna believes in “excellence and equity in education,” but as our proficiency rates reach new lows, and the majority do not pass their AP exams, it’s time we turn this belief into something more. Students are being asked to strive for excellence, but can Lahainaluna provide it? As I previously reported in March of this year, “From the 2020-2021 to the 2023-2024 school years, Lahainaluna students' proficiency rates in math and reading dropped. Math declined from 14 pe Maui Prep Lawsuit Unfolds, Transferred Students Question School's Morality September 2nd 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Hawai’i filed a lawsuit against Maui Prep claiming that the school has engaged in unfair business practices and misrepresented its commitment to “Live Aloha,” while it excluded transgender students. Recently transferred Luna's from Maui Prep are questioning the school’s sustainability and morality. The ACLU of Hawaii Legal Director, Wookie Kim, states: “The school’s stance has no place here. Hawaiʻi has a long h Homecoming Week Competitiveness Creates Tension, Division Homecoming week began with the promise of friendly competition and shows of school spirit. It ended after a series of Social media posts, vandalism, and accusations. Student Life & Academics 12/3/25 Gift Giving Season What do Students and Staff want? Grayson Guzman Do Lahainaluna students care what they get for Christmas? Read More 12/3/25 54.1 Percent Say "No" Lahainaluna on the Santa Kristina Meguro Do you believe in a jolly old man that eats your cookies with a hearty ol’ laugh? Read More 12/3/25 “Quite a Juggling Act” Is a Paycheck Worth the Sacrifice Brielle Em-E-Li Ramelb Work means skills, money, and maturity; it costs freedom, time, and teenage experiences. Worth it? Read More 12/3/25 "Smart and Capable" Raising the Academic Bar at Lahainaluna Keyla Jimenez Some students feel like they are not being challenged. Read More 12/3/25 Are You on the Nice or Naughty List? On Karma, Consequences, and the Gray Zone of Morality Ashlee Hufalar “No one really wants coal” writes Ashlee Hufalar reporting on Lahainalunaʻs Naughty and Nice levels. Read More 11/7/25 Growing Up on Campus Maturity and the Road to Graduation Ashlee Hufalar To reach their goals, students need more than talent. They need a change in mindset, how they approach their goals, and the responsibilities that come with all of this. Read More More Student Life and Academics Articles We LHS Staff Sports The Back Page Social Media Updates Join our community on Instagram

< Back The Fair is Back Remembering the Past, Facing the Future Grayson Guzman Arts and Entertainment September 30, 2025 at 9:57:43 PM Lunas past and present are excited for the fair, echoing the sentiment of the Maui County Fair website: “it’s more than a fair—it’s where memories are made and community comes alive.” “When I first walk in, I just see, like, so much familiar faces, and then I see everyone smiling, and I just see a lot of kids having fun, and the community just enjoying themselves,” sophomore Kyrah Pagdilao reminisced, remembering Maui County Fair as an elementary student. Back in 2019, the Maui County Fair drew crowds of tens of thousands of people. Students and staff recalled nostalgic memories like racing down the giant, bright pink, green, and yellow illuminated slides on squishy blue mats, and eating fair foods like flying saucers, funnel cake, cotton candy, fried Oreo’s with ice cream, and popcorn. The wave swinger took them up over the whole fair ground. Sophomore Romie-Lynn Santos remembers riding the Zipper and “hearing, like, all the people screaming and having fun and that thing. And I remember the ride, like, dropping and moving around and all the lights that would flick around it.” “Carnival games and the lights, the lights, the flashy lights!” said senior Lation Pascual. “Screaming, laughter, the sound of games being won. A lot of laughter, a lot of fun.” The fair “was a core memory for me,” said Pascual. “I'm excited that it's back.” It has been six years since people in Maui have gotten to experience the sense of community the fair has brought. Now it is set to open this Thursday, from October 2-5th, 2025 at the War Memorial. “...a core memory…” For many alumni, Luna identity is tied to the fair and their participation in it. Rides, food, games, family and community connections, the parade and more have shaped our students' earliest memories. The fair had “a pretty big impact, honestly,” said senior Jean Alternado who has been in marching band since he was a freshman. Alternado claims that he originally joined because of the fair–after seeing the band in the opening day parade. “That kind of motivated me to join as a musician,” he said. The fair also meant maturity and independence for Alternado who feels like “it made me grow up to not be shy because my parents would usually let me go by myself. And then I would interact with people.” For Pagdilao, the fair embodies community. She remembers “a booth that we had, like one of our family friends, they had a booth and it was just like their whole family helping and like, yeah.” “The Fair has always been a happy place,” said former Student Activities Coordinator, Art Fillazar. It was “like our version of Disneyland but only for the weekend.” “It was the one time we actually had an amusement park,” said Stephanie Rubio Aguire who remembers going with her family in 2019 before its closure. “It wasn't really an amusement park, but it felt like it for me.” Sophomore Jade Cabanila thinks the fair was “a place where you actually got to experience a carnival, especially over here. Not a lot of big, amusement kind parks happen here. So the fair is kind of like a place where it's here and you don't have to spend as much money to go to, like these big amusement parks. It's like a home amusement park.” Kaizan Munemitsu, a freshman, remembers that “it was fun, you know. It made me happy, just, being able to play games, have fun with my family, all that stuff.” “‘We are Lahainaluna and we were proud of it!” This year will mark the 98th year the fair has run. The first ever Maui Fair took place on November 30th, 1916. Since then the fair has been interrupted three times by global events. The fair was paused and cancelled due to both World War I and World War II from 1917-1918 and 1942-1946 respectively. Along with the Covid-19 pandemic, it was not held until this year. In years past, the Lahainaluna community did not only attend the fair. They often participated in it. According to Fillazar, now the Executive Director of the Lahainaluna High School Foundation, staff and students were part of the parade (as Marching and Pep Band, Cheerleaders) and, “on several occasions” he said, submitted to various exhibits. Submissions included student artwork, AG displays, and other things. “FFA members may have also been volunteers with the livestock display,” Fillazar thought. “It was definitely the spirit competitions,” said Ms. Kristy Arakawa, the Early college coordinator about the importance of the fair to Lahainaluna staff and students. Running from 1986-1996, the School Spirit Competition was apparently dominated by our school. Lunas Win 10th Straight Spirit Championship “October 5, 1996 marked the 10th consecutive year that Lahainaluna High School captured the School Spirit Competition trophy” wrote Jana Baybado in Ka Leo Luna , our school’s third newspaper: From the LHS version of the ‘Macarena’ to the chant that is sung after touchdowns– THIS WAS THE YEAR FOR LAHAINALUNA TO SHINE! Some secret weapons used were: ‘Knock You Out’ and ‘1,2,3,4,!’, hand-held torches, and a large banner that popped up at the end featuring the school motto and the words ‘ IMUA LUNAS’ in big bold letters. All of the students who attended the competition wore either red or white tops represented the school’s colors. Those wearing red formed an ‘L’ that stood out in the crowd of white. Traditionally the Lunas waved ti leaves, red pom poms, and held numerous signs to show their spirit. With these spirit boosters plus all of the people who attended the competition, the Lunas were able to bring back the trophy that first made its home here nine years ago. Congratulations Lahainaluna High School–You are #1 in spirit!! Reflecting on this moment, Fillazar added that “LHS always had the true spirit and desire. “As students we took pride in our first-place wins,” said Ginny Yasutake, College and Career Counselor. “The massive crowds, matching shirts, and handmade signs weren't just about winning; they were a powerful declaration that “We are Lahainaluna and we were proud of it!” “The moment we won the School Spirit Competition my senior year of high school–” said Arakawa with meaning. “--no class wants to be the class that loses the School Spirit Competition for Lahainaluna so we literally left our voices in that tent–We were all hoarse after that, but it was worth it.” Jalen Baraoidan (Mr. B), the Lahainaluna Band and Choir Director, remembers the fair when he participated as a student. “For the parade, you know, the marchers would always participate and always behind the marchers would always be our cheerleaders. So I guess just having the representatives of our school representing in the county fair was always cool. It's just being able to represent the west side in the county fair, which is so, like Central Maui oriented. So I'm just getting to represent West Maui.” According to Kristina Meguro, a second year member in the marching band, says the marching band was supposed to participate in the parade. Yet, as it was “last minute and confusing, we (the marching band) did not have enough time to prepare. Especially since we have a complicated show to work with this year.” “...in the process of rebuilding…” For some students like Marc Ruiz, a freshman, this will be his first time going to the fair. “What I heard about it was that there's like, a lot of activities, there's a lot of food, a lot of people. There's a lot of rides. It's fun. Okay, sounds fun.” Ruiz says that he only knows the fair from Instagram and his friends' stories. Yet, there is a chance that newcomers to the fair do not get to share that experience that previous students did as families are now facing economic stress from many directions. Yasutake seems to worry a little about the newest generation of fairgoers when she thinks about its most recent instance. “The fair has become so expensive that you have to really think about your finances and if you can afford it,” she said. Our recent struggles, specifically, rising inflation made worse by fallout from the 2023 Lahaina Wildfire, give her even more cause for concern. “The rising cost to attend is a significant concern for many families, like mine, that are in the process of rebuilding their home.” “For its return after a six year absence and with the economy the way it is, I’m not sure how it will ‘fair’,” says Fillazar. “It has always been a challenge with the high expenses.” Junior Makayla-Yuen Barroga sees the fair’s arrival as a solution to tragedy, however. “It's bringing a community back together after the fire happened and letting people have, like, such a good time.” For Baraoidan, the legacy of the Maui County Fair is “something different that we have to offer. I think that still plays into it just because when people announce that the county fair is coming back, like a lot of people were really, really excited, really excited. And I don't know if the kids, like, people in high school now even got to experience a county fair. Maybe when they were younger.” For those who have and have not been, “The return [of the fair] will be different and it’s a fresh start.” Fillazar continues, “I see this is a new beginning.” Sources Bayado, Jana. “Ten Years of Tradition Continues.” Ka Leo Luna , 1996. Previous Article Next Article Copy link Grayson is the current 2028 student council Vice President and is running for a second term as sophomore Vice President.

< Back Lahainaluna to Implement Strict Phone Usage Policy Students hate the idea Trinity Guiza Student Life April 1, 2025 at 10:46:20 PM Lahainaluna High School, known for its relatively lenient phone policy, is set to implement significant restrictions on student cell phone usage in a couple of days. Teachers will be required to collect phones at the start of each class period, during roll call, and return them only at the end. Jarrett Chapin, an English teacher at Lahainaluna, confirmed the upcoming policy, citing its potential to "benefit student learning." Chapin noted that his classroom's phone collection box has already "improved student participation" in his classes. The school's current phone policy, as stated on its website, emphasizes that: "Cell phones are considered personal property and shall be brought to school at the student's own risk. The use of cell phones that interfere with instruction or school activity is not allowed. Cell phones shall not be used to video or record any unauthorized activity... Misuse of a cell phone in the classroom shall be reported via the teacher to the office." The new announcement has gotten strong reactions from students. Mary Joy Velasquez questions the timing, stating, "Why now, when school is almost over? That’s ridiculous!" Sunny Galarita expressed disbelief, saying, "I didn’t believe it was true, but then one of my teachers announced it in class and told us to prepare." Owen Hegernes voiced his opposition, calling the policy "an absolute violation of our personal rights," and suggesting, "if teachers don't want us to use them, they should make their classes more interesting." Lahainaluna's move aligns with a growing trend in U.S. school districts, where cell phone bans are being implemented to minimize classroom distractions. Some schools are using Yondr pouches and requiring students to store phones in lockers or designated areas. When asked about the storage of phones, Principal Carosso stated, "Students' phones would not be kept far away from them. The main goal is to limit access." He did not provide specific details. While some students are resistant, others see potential benefits. Talaofa Sulunga believes the policy offers a "beneficial solution for both staff and students," as it encourages students to engage in class and allows teachers to "gain that attention they’ve been yearning for." Oliana Schur, who expressed a general dislike for phones, suggested a return to "telegrams like real people." "We need less screens and more good old fashioned morse code," she said. She also questioned the policy's effectiveness, arguing that "since our phones are in our pockets and not on the ground, then technically it’s never ON school grounds." *Principal Carosso was not interviewed for this article. Previous Article Next Article Copy link Trinity Guiza is a staff writer at Ka Lama Hawai'i.

< Back Homecoming After the Fire At Lahainaluna, It's All About Pride Sequoia Pelletier-Yamasaki Student Life May 31, 2024 at 9:32:39 PM The Lahaina Wildfire on August 8th, 2023 delayed the opening of our school for weeks, leaving students with a difficult decision: transfer schools or wait and hope that Lahainaluna would soon open again. Either option created a situation in which students, for at least a month, were forced to attend a school outside of Lahaina. "Going to Baldwin felt weird because Lahainaluna was like my second home, and the people in it helped me a lot," said junior Kefu Mendoza. Mendoza transferred to Baldwin after the fire where he felt like an outsider. "Baldwin made me feel like I didn’t belong because the students there weren’t my type of people” he said. “I didn’t know anybody." Many students who transferred to other schools felt more than socially excluded, however. They also spoke about a difference in rigor. Sophomore Fenuki Fakavai talked about his time at Baldwin and how their education was "way better than Lahainaluna." When he came back to Lahainaluna, "all the work seemed a lot easier." Indeed, according to education rankings released by US News and World Reports, Baldwin highschool scored over 20 points higher on a scale that includes the number of students taking and passing AP exams, proficiency in all core subjects, and graduation rate. Importantly, Baldwin students’ college readiness is 25.3/100, while Lahainaluna scores just 10.4/100. Similarly, Cora Gruber, a sophomore, attended King Kekaulike where they seemed to have a "more efficient way of teaching." "I definitely miss the teachers and my other friends from King K," she added. “They were super supportive and kind and it was super easy to make friends there.” Some students learned to appreciate their teachers’ presence more after coming back to Lahainluna. "At HTA, it’s a lot more self-directed learning, and it’s harder to get a hold of teachers to ask questions," said Lena Granillo, a sophomore who briefly attended Hawai’i Technology Academy (HTA) while waiting for Lahainaluna to reopen. HTA is a semi-online school where you only have to be on campus two days a week. While there, Granillo realized "how helpful it is to have teachers around me all the time, ready to answer my questions." While she “liked not having to go to school every day,” she also missed being at Lahainaluna. "I love how Lahainaluna’s campus is outside," she said. "At HTA, you are indoors with no air conditioning" Before Lahainaluna opened back up, Kūlanihākoʻi, a newly built school in Kihei, opened their doors to our students. Among those who attend Kūlanihākoʻi temporarily, sophomore, Lawakua Haia-Shim, said that "My favorite part about going to Kūlanihākoʻi was being able to see familiar faces and reuniting with a lot of my friends after our town burnt down." For many students, the first day of school at Kulanihakoi was the first time they saw their friends and peers since the fire. "It was really relieving to know that a lot of these people were still alive." "I don’t miss Kulanihakoi," said Gigi Grande, a sophomore. "But my favorite memory there was when all the Lahainaluna students and staff members stood in front of the Kulanihakoi students and staff members and we sang our alma mater to them." Lahainaluna’s alma mater is a very significant part of the school, as it was written by a Lahainaluna student in 1898. Haia-Shim had originally transferred to Maui High and rejoined Lahainaluna as soon as he could. He did so to see his friends. After he came back, however, he discovered that the experience also gave him a new appreciation for our school’s history and tradition. Lahainaluna is the oldest school west of the Rocky Mountains, giving it a lot of history and making it a very special place. Transferring back from Maui High and finally being back at LHS gave Haia-Shim a new perspective on how "special Lahainaluna is." Once he was back, he said, "The biggest difference between Lahainaluna and Maui High is that Lahainaluna has so much school pride." After coming back to Lahainaluna, Gruber also noticed our school pride. "At King K," Gruber said, "people were definitely school spirited but not nearly as much as Lahainaluna students, and that’s one of my favorite things about Lahainaluna." So many students have so many different perspectives on being at different schools, but they all have one thing in common- their love for Lahainaluna. Whether it's because of the history of the school or that Lahainaluna makes them feel at home, they are all so glad to be back. I asked Sydney Villegas, a 10th grade ELA teacher at Lahainaluna High School what makes Lahainaluna special. "It’s special because of its community" she said. "There is nothing like Lahainaluna." Previous Article Next Article Copy link Sequoia Pelletier-Yamasaki is a contributor to Ka Lama Hawai'i and was a junior at the time she wrote this.

< Back In the end, we’re on the same island Spirit, Silence, and Conflict Ashlee Hufalar Politics September 30, 2025 at 11:22:22 PM Last year, the 2024 dance fever ended in an explosion of confetti, candy wrappers, and shoes. During the event, a group of seniors danced up to the freshman section holding up a poster with the year “2028” written on it. Pausing for a second in front of the bleachers, they tore it up and continued on with excitement. It was done as a little playful rivalry directed at the freshman. Previous senior classes had similarly jabbed at the new class. Yet, suddenly, as if it were an act of war, shoes began to fly from the freshman section. Shortly after followed a pair of pants. No one was hit, though people felt disrespected. A few freshmen were identified and disciplined for their actions. “There's the average, like, oh, they're younger, you know, let's be mean to the freshman,” explained senior Coleman Riddell when asked about grade level conflicts. He mentioned that this was the main rivalry he had witnessed between grade levels, though students point out recent events that have stirred more drama. Skip forward to the 2025 dance fever. What was once a minor clash between the freshman and seniors escalated into a burst of accusations and hostility among grades. Competitive rivalries turned into something more personal, and students were putting up social media content and graffiti that put down other classes. People felt immense frustration, and rather than a fun competition, it felt like a battle with students putting pride before everything and showing disrespect for one another. “The competition was blown out of proportion,” says junior Mia Lee. “There were people tearing down things, and it's just like, what happened to the friendly competition?” To many students, school spirit has come to represent more than simple rivalry–it shows a broader issue of how students handle conflicts. Others have noticed that, oftentimes, disagreements escalate into trying to tear others down instead of working to actually navigate through differences. “...They Just Take it Out With Drama” Freshman Harana Peralta observes that “typically, most students handle disagreements with drama, silent anger, or even talking behind their backs.” Mariah Kauvaka, also a freshman, agrees. “They just take it out with drama or some of them add more to it,” she observes, “by feeding into it on their social media.” Some students say they haven’t seen conflicts as direct and out in the open. Junior Oliana Schur describes how people mostly “stay quiet or talk trash with their friends and people they think will agree with them.” Sophomore Leabelle Catuday has seen more aggressive displays of school spirit. She describes a classroom incident where “there were people who were having an argument, and they went straight up to calling them the N word … being very rude to each other.” She’s also seen a lot of students resort to physically fighting: “Straight fighting, like hands on, punch, punch. That's how they fix it.” Seeing how these conflicts unfold, Peralta doesn’t think that students at our school are “civil” to each other. The problem isn’t that students are having disagreements, but that some are choosing to approach them with aggression. There is a lack of civility behind their actions and behavior. “...Put Up with People That You Don’t Like” Teresa Bejan, a political theorist and author, spoke on how “civility makes our disagreements tolerable so that we can share a life together even if we don't share a faith -- religious, political or otherwise.” If this virtue is a foundation that allows us to stay together as a society, she says, then it’s important for people to understand what civility is and how to embody it. A some students are concerned about how to fix it. “Probably treating people with, like, respect and not like bullying them,” said one freshman. Similarly, an anonymous sophomore said "um, not being rude.” Another student added “treating others with kindness no matter whoever the person is.” Most people see civility as simply being respectful and polite to others, and while this is the basis, it goes far deeper than that. Daniel Schultz, Ceramics teacher, explained that civility is learning how to “put up with people that you don't like.” People will “have different thoughts, different interests, different opinions,” he says, “but you still need to be able to get along and not kill, hurt, or abuse other people because they have differences in opinions.” Lee echoes this, acknowledging disagreements are natural: “you believe that I believe this.” But it shouldn't interfere with how we live amongst each other, she said, “That should not affect our working relationship, our, like, school relationship, or just our friendship in general.” For Michelle Brummel, civility is how students, even if they don’t see eye to eye, are “able to get along and work together, being collaborative in an effort to reach a common goal.” “It's the idea of realizing that we're all in it together,” mentions Riddell. “…Shut Me Up to Try and Prove Their Point” So why do some students have trouble being civil towards each other? People usually have disagreements on what they’re most passionate about. When another person sees things differently, Schultz explains, “they get upset about something and they feel like the other person doesn't see it their way.” “They're not rooting for the same teams,” he continues, “and then they handle it negatively, like, ‘you don't see it my way, then I'm gonna. I'm gonna handle you.’” It’s hard to remain civil with people when they’re “really passionate about their belief,” says Catuday. This can come to the point where, she says, they “don't really care about what the others have to say.” In a situation like this, “it can get really heated.” Peralta describes talking to people that have different beliefs from her. Many would rather “talk over me or shut me up to try and prove their point. Honestly, it’s frustrating when they don’t wanna see my point of view.” When it comes to disagreements, Lee mentions “there's, like, that half of kids at our school who can have that civil conversation,” and then “there's that half that will take things out of proportion and, like, get offended or just, like, throw it out.” Is Silence Civility? Mr. Schultz mentions that “I don't know how often people are encouraged to share their opinions and how often people are understanding that there are differences of opinions while they're at school.” It can be difficult to engage with someone who has different perspectives you disagree with. Because of this, Catuday find it "more tolerable to be around them” if they don’t speak about their perspective. Senior Ricardo Solano is one of the "tolerable" people who avoid conflict by not speaking his opinion at all. He says that even if he disagrees with someone, “I just go with whatever they say, so, like, nothing happens, you know.” It seems that avoiding conflict, rather than communicating through disagreements, is a solution that keeps things civil. But is this silence a real solution, or a temporary way of avoiding the issues at hand? Riddell puts into perspective that “Weirdly, I think by not saying anything, everyone's kind of just comfortable with it.” Or, by staying silent, students don’t have to face uncomfortable conversations, disagreement, or larger conflicts, which helps to maintain a surface level sense of peace. However, students in this situation also lose their voices. “...We All Aren’t Meant to Have the Same Opinions” “I think we do need to start speaking up more when we feel differently on something, but we have to be accountable and have the courage to do that, and encourage others to do that as well,” says Schur. Mr. Schultz uses critiques as an example. In his class, when reviewing each other's ceramics, he encourages students to “disagree with each other and share their opinions.” But they must not do it in a problematic way. Instead, he encourages them to “have thoughts, articulate them and share them with other people, and then hear other people's opinions.” He mentions that “I think our school could benefit from doing that on a larger scale.” “We all aren’t meant to have the same opinions and way of thinking about stuff,” says sophomore Christopher Apilado. If he disagrees with another person, he doesn’t try to change their way of thinking or opinion” but rather he just wants “to make what I think clear, and make what they think clear.” “I think people have strategies of, like, ignoring the people or stonewalling them or, you know, just like, completely shutting them off, right?” says Mr. Schultz. Instead of doing this, says Lawrence Abut, a junior, “I would listen to their point of argument, their ideas, and then let them finish up what they're saying.” Such a strategy could have larger effects on us, says senior, Jowy Langaman. Being open to hear what others say, even through disagreement, “could change my own perspective.” Practicing Civility by Being Open to Differences “Our school can be a little bit cliquey,” says Brummel. She explains that students tend to cling to their groups all the way through, and while it’s natural to want to be around friends, it’s important for students to “learn how to talk and hang out with other people” who are different from them. Liana M Horovitz, history professor for the early college program, suggests that students should “build a diverse network of friends.” “Make it a practice not to use inflammatory or offensive language, sarcasm, or raised voices,” she recommends. “Withhold judgment” and “have a true curiosity about others.” Horovitz encourages students to engage more openly with each other: and to “Ask questions! Make it a practice to ask, ‘Tell me more.’ And then really listen.” “...we're so small.” Civility is what allows us to be able to disagree without seeking to hurt or destroy one another in any way. It's what makes it possible to tolerate differences we have and continue to live and work together as a community. It’s how we can approach homecoming competitions with good spirits, and not having it turn into something personal, which creates division and hostility. Digital media teacher Mr. Shigaki mentions that without having civility, “it's going to actually impact a lot of hatred to each other and that's what causes war.” He says that we shouldn’t put people down, because “in the end, we're on the same island. We going to have to talk to each other later.” For many students, community is something they take pride in. “Lahaina town…we’re really a close community,” says Abut. “You would just see somebody just down the store or on front street and be like, oh, yeah, that's my classmate or their mom.” “I don't think we should be fighting with each other, especially after everything that we lost,” says Kauvaka. Langaman added that because we’re such a close community, “school should be a safe place for all people. It also could help you build new connections in the future.” “So the idea that focusing on hurting another person–especially, again, when we're so small,” said Riddell. “What are you getting out of that? … like, there's no reason to.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link Ashlee Hufalar is a sophomore and a staff writer for Ka Lama Hawai'i.

< Back Artificial Intelligence The Future is Here? Trinity Guiza Science & Technology February 7, 2025 at 5:36:28 PM “It makes my job easier,” Judd Levy, a science teacher at Lahainaluna, said about using AI to assist his teaching work. “When I'm developing lessons, I can't think of everything, but the AI knows everything.” Even so, Levy objects to students using AI as a replacement for their own work and thinks that the problem is that “we haven't taught students how to use it ethically,” and that students more often are using AI as a “cheating tool.” Coming across AI-created assignments is “frustrating,” he shared, “because I don't want to give an assignment and have to read what AI wrote, you know, from twenty different students.” Jenifer Ariemma, an English teacher, repeats this frustration. “I stand firm with my students,” she says, telling them that “I would rather them write the worst paper that was ever written as long as it was theirs.” The majority of students and staff at Lahainaluna are familiar with artificial intelligence. They all have some notion as to what they think it has done for us and for our future. Yet, many disagree on or are unsure about what that future looks like. “There is a lot of uncertainty” Vice Principal Christopher Webber thinks about AI a lot. He connects confusion over AI to the fact that “we are right at the beginning of what it might become.” “Because of this,” he continued, “there is a lot of uncertainty at school, not just our school but all schools, about how to utilize it, or if we should utilize it.” Levy says that the use of AI in schools is “a slippery slope, because the technology is changing so fast.” Despite the lack of an official policy, Ariemma says that she and others in the English Department give students a chance to redo the assignment or take a zero on the assignment. She adds that “we have a gentleman from the DOE who comes every couple of weeks telling us how important AI is and how we should have all of our students using it.” Webber claims that he isn’t sure about how AI is being used in school. “What they are using it for and how they are using it, I don't actually know. [...] It seems to be shrouded in this kind of secrecy.” But students are using it. Freshman Amaziah Irrobis noted that other students “use it a lot to help with exams and answers, but they also use it a lot to cheat.” An anonymous senior admitted that “I've used it before, mainly used it for like procrastination. I write down something fast and it writes something for me.” Many teachers assume that this is the case. Ariemma offered an example: “Right now my classes, they’re doing an assignment that's due on Tuesday,” she said as she was interviewed just outside her classroom door. “I guarantee you if I walked in there, none of them will be doing it. They’ll wait, they’ll wait until Monday night and then they go 'uh oh,' so they run it through AI. I think it’s borderline laziness.” Talaofa Sulunga, a junior, agrees, and thinks AI “is just a lazy way out for many people.” The Artificial Intelligence Race Webber has concerns that are bigger than the school. Specifically, he worries that AI is the future and that if students are not able to use it, the school is “leaving our students behind in terms of what their lives and their world’s gonna be.” While he is concerned about whether our students will need AI, he of course sees that it might be affecting our “academic rigor.” He has seen an increasing number of AI plagiarism cases, the majority coming from English classes as well as “the school’s credit recovery program, EdGenuity, where students are using AI to plagiarize their essays.” Aurora Webb, a senior at Lahainaluna, said, “I think it's awful. I think if you need to use AI to pass a class, then you should not be in that class.” Freshman Irrobis (above) has a similar opinion: “AI could help us in many different ways, but it can also harm us.” Webb mentioned that “I do think education around AI as a subject should be something people receive. We have already seen that without that sort of understanding, AI can be handled improperly.” She believes “that education should be about AI as a topic and not as a tool for other topics.” Webb agrees that AI has potential, but currently doubts students can be trusted to use it responsibly. “I think it’s really useful and 100% has a place in today's society,” she said. “But it's being used the wrong way.” “I think it would be great for analytical things,” she added. “It would be awesome if AI could do our taxes.” Given the dangers, however, Webb thinks “it should be completely banned,” or “out of the hands of the general public.” Similarly, Freshman Edger Ortiz thinks that “AI can be used to study, not used for plagiarism. You shouldn’t get a grade for something you didn’t do.” The best use for AI, Ortiz thinks, is as a tutor or a tool that will “simplify” complex ideas “to help students better understand.” Mikayla Vergara, a junior, disagrees and thinks that AI “overcomplicates the questions that it is asked. In my experience in using AI, I’ve often had to tell it to simplify the given answer in order to understand what it is trying to say.” There are other problems associated with AI. For instance, in the worst case, AI “could harm our education because sometimes it could use fake information which overall isn’t good.” Ortiz refers to a phenomenon called hallucination or artificial hallucination in which a response generated by AI contains false or misleading information presented as fact. Though many seem to share Webber’s concerns about AI’s role in the future, few know how we should be using it or doubt it is being used properly. Ariemma thinks that “at this stage of the world, where we are right now, it’s really important that we start developing critical thinking skills.” She added, “Critical thinking and AI do not go together.” Levy sees the issue differently. For him, knowing about AI is unavoidable and important. To be relevant, “Students need to know how to use it because it's going to be a part of everything they do in the future. It's gonna be everywhere.” He paints a picture for the future with the past: “There was once a time where students had to do all their math calculations by hand,” he said. “When the calculator was first invented, it was really frowned upon in school, and students were told not to use a calculator. Now it’s an essential tool that students use in school, and I think AI will be the same way, as soon as we discover how to use it efficiently and ethically.” Planning Ahead Webber is in the process of creating a new policy on AI that will be different from the DOE's current policy . “I will tell you I used AI to write the policy,” he said earnestly, “which is kinda where I am right now.” Because of how new the issue is, Webber admitted to having a hard time finding examples. “Many DOE schools that I researched simply disallow the use of AI.” The thinking behind them, he assumes, is “that students are gonna plagiarize or use it irresponsibly.” Webber said that his draft policy “seeks to be ethical” since “we want to make sure that people are not disenfranchised, that they have access to AI, but all the time keeping in mind the need to have ethical classroom experiences.” Despite these concerns, there are still hardline clauses in Webber’s policy that say you can’t use it to “take the place of original students' thought and effort.” Ariemma has other concerns. “I said in the meeting,” she said, referring to one of the meetings with the DOE gentleman (above), “that I want all of my students to write by hand, and the feedback in the meeting was that there will come a time when you won’t need to be writing anything, with your hand.” “My heart sank,” she said. “I pray that that never happens. I really do. I don't ever want to lose handwriting because that’s so unique to each of us. I may be the last man standing with all this, but I'm gonna hold on to it as long as I can until I'm told otherwise.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link Trinity Guiza is a staff writer at Ka Lama Hawai'i.

< Back School Lunch: Cutting Waste, Cutting Taste Students speak out about school lunch. Bryson Aquino Student Life September 25, 2024 at 1:56:33 AM A student looks down at a bright yellow blob of mac and cheese running into a chunky scoop of rice. A damp side of frozen vegetables sits in a nearby indent of the plate. The milk sitting nearby expires the next day. “The cheese looks faker than McDonalds cheese,” says senior Jackson Hussey, gesturing at his lunch. According to nutritional facts on the county menu page , this dish (see image) provides 710 calories, assuming there was also a side of fruit. This would need to sustain students for 6 to 8 hours on campus each day. And some students often stay later for extracurricular activities. According to credible estimates , the average teen may burn over 115 calories an hour doing less than moderate activity. A person who is thinking hard may spend 100 more calories a day . Free and Unwanted This year the Hawai’i DOE has expanded a USDA program that provides free “nutritious school meals” to all students regardless of household income. Earlier this year, the school released a letter stating that they would be participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program in which all students are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch, even if some of them do not qualify. According to the Hawai’i DOE , any qualifying school has “a minimum of 40 percent or more of its students eligible for free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program.” However, many of these lunches are going uneaten. According to a 2023 survey conducted by the Food Research and Action Center, students in Hawai’i are now 17 percent less likely to eat school lunch. KHON2 investigated this in February and found that students around the state saw school meals as unhealthy, unappetizing, and small. Kids interviewed claimed that “they’d take all of what was offered if it just looked and tasted consistently more edible, more local and fresh.” “I don't want to serve this,” says John Alexander, our Cafeteria Manager, who orders food for the Lahainaluna cafeteria. “I don’t get much say in the food we get,” he explains. “The food portion is held by a national standard.” Also, the DOE, he said, “is the one sending out the menu.” According to Alexander, portions are determined on a USDA portion method called Offer Versus Serve (OVS), which is meant to cut back on waste and allow students to choose the foods they want to eat. It is meant to give students “all five food components in at least the minimum required quantities” according to a USDA OVS memo . LHS students are “actually receiving a half cup more than the minimum requirement,” Alexander added. Nevertheless, students like Vi Nguyen, a senior, think that “the school’s lunch portions aren’t enough for growing teens especially since we are nearly adults.” She added that “the school should put more quality into the food they provide as students may be able to perform better and have a more energized attitude throughout the day.” “Prison food” Student Alexa Torres Perez, thinks that some school lunch items are enjoyable such as the kimchi cucumber or Korean chicken. Yet, some items are “almost inedible or taste artificial.” “School lunch isn’t consistently bad,” said Perez, “the meals that are higher quality are so much better and make me feel better, but when certain items are obviously frozen or low quality they make me feel gross.” Differently, senior James Queja thinks that school lunch “looks like prison food half of the time.” Band student Dhennico Cabading said that while “the food at school is proportionate to last me through a normal school day as a small meal,” he thinks that it is “hard to finish because I genuinely think that the food is not appetizing.” He added that he thinks “the DOE should give us more food with better quality.” “I’ll eat it if I’m hungry,” says senior Dylan Paul Lat, “but I’d prefer something else.” Taking the loss Athletes on campus are particularly concerned with the size and quality of school lunch. Or, as senior Jackson Hussey said, “If I were to only eat the school lunch I would probably be malnourished.” Hussey stays after school almost every day for football practice so his calorie needs are much higher than the average student. According to a fact sheet hosted by NBC Sports , “energy needs” for student athletes can be “as high as 3,000 to 5,000 calories per day.” This is 3 times more than what school lunch offers. “This stuff is bad, it's dry,” said senior students Micheal Rayray and Kawika Kaili when discussing school lunches they’ve eaten. Micheal and Kawika are both football players that spend as much as 12 hours in school because of afterschool practice. When asked if they think the school lunch is enough to sustain them throughout the day, they said “No, we need more.” To questions about improving the quality of school lunches, they just said “automatic.” What we can do Mr. Alexander felt for the students, but explained that fixing the problem was out of his power. He encouraged students to take their complaints a step further. A poll asking what food options students want would be helpful, he said, “I can make as many suggestions to the DOE about what the kids want to eat but it's more likely they will listen to students rather than me.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link Bryson Aquino is a senior at Lahainaluna. He’s a student reporter interested in shedding light on and writing about problematic issues on campus. He likes to interact with school institutions. A movie that he really resonates with him is called Not Without My Daughter because its main idea is how one person will go so far just for someone they love. A funny fact about him is that high blood pressure is hereditary in his family, so don’t make him mad!

< Back The Fine Line Between Support and Pressure Parental Roles in Student Success Oliana Schur Student Life March 14, 2025 at 7:59:21 PM “They’re really involved in my academic life, and I probably wouldn’t be taking all these classes if it wasn’t for my mom,” said one sophomore student, who we’ll refer to as “Flax.” Like many students on campus, Flax admits that he owes some of his academic success to parental influence. However, this raises the question: can parental pressure sometimes have the opposite effect? The expectations of parents can give students more stress than the homework they receive from teachers. Yet, according to a 2010 study by David R. Topor, children are more likely to succeed if they have an important role model like a parent in their life. However, the study also mentions that once students establish a good relationship with their teachers, they become less dependent on parental involvement for their academic success. Because they feared repercussions from speaking out about their parents, some students in the article, like Flax above, will be given different names. “…makes me try harder” The connection between academic success and parental involvement varies from person to person. Some students feel like their parents offer them the right amount of support, while others think of their parents as controlling stressors. Junior Victoria Valdez lives in a larger family, where everyone needs to pitch in. She sees her parents as a helpful influence. “They are active with my schoolwork,” she said. “It helps out sometimes because I have younger siblings. They [her parents] help out whenever they can.” Sophomore Dahlia was unclear, saying only that her parents “heavily impact my mental well-being as well as the way I act and behave.” She appeared positive about their involvement, adding that “They reinforce my academic life.” Students like freshman Hoku could go either way on the issue. “I don’t think it would affect me too much,” they said. “At most, I would fall a little behind on English.” Sophomore Sunny Galarita, for instance, thinks parental expectations and involvement need to be balanced. She says that her mother’s influence “makes me try harder,” but if her mother was more involved, “I’d be stressed out,” she admitted. College career counselor Virginia “Ginny” Yasutake helps college-bound students succeed in high school. She spoke as a parent who has two children enrolled at Lahainaluna. “In my experience,” she said, “many students do not share their achievements or academic life with their parents. I think it is always nice when you hear about your child’s accomplishments.” Yasutake thinks that parents can improve their support by communicating better with their children: “I believe families should try to communicate better with their students as well. I am definitely guilty of not telling my children on a regular basis how proud I am of them. I think students need to hear from us too!” “…I lie to them about certain things…” While some students think parental guidance can be helpful in doses, others are less upbeat, pitting their mental health against academic striving. Senior Petunia thinks that parental involvement is “helpful in some ways,” but it comes at a price: “it also makes me feel very pressured and tends to just cause more stress.” Sophomore Lily said that if she “were to be truthful about my academic life,” getting her parents more involved “would have a negative effect on my mental health.” She described feeling strained and burdened: it would “put strain on me to push myself to my limits and die,” she said. Lily added that she fears their disapproval and their “being disappointed in me, so I lie to them about certain things in my academic career.” “As long as I don’t fail, they usually leave me alone,” said Jade, a junior. “I think it’s because they learned that I shut down when there’s extra pressure put on me. I feel like if they were any more involved than they are, I would feel a larger sense of responsibility in my work but also begin to burn out under the pressure.” Agriculture teacher Nathan Pallett emphasizes the student’s role in all of this. He explains that overbearing parents can be both helpful and harmful: “It depends on the student, though. So like if the student isn’t trying to meet their maximum potential, sometimes having a parent that’s a bit overbearing can push them to do better.” Who Is Responsible? Pallett continues, pointing to the fact that, despite student opinions, it often falls on the teacher to get parents more involved. “We could probably do a better job communicating with the parents […] but that just takes so much time. We could probably have more positive parent involvement if we put in more time to engage with them. But that’s just time, and time is hard to come by.” It all comes down to the attitude and motivation of students themselves, said Galarita. “Parents definitely help, but the student makes the choice to do homework or classwork. There are some parents that don’t really care about how their kids do in school, but that’s why it’s important for kids to be more invested in school. There’s definitely a lot of work, and it’s pretty hard sometimes, but how you approach it definitely helps you get through it easier.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link Oliana Schur is a sophomore at LHS. She enjoys surfing and environmentalism.

< Back “Quite a Juggling Act” Is a Paycheck Worth the Sacrifice Brielle Em-E-Li Ramelb Student Life December 3, 2025 at 7:58:09 PM As students get older, they find themselves debating if they should start working a job. Whether they work to help their family, save for future education, or just want some money to spend, they all have to ask themselves the question: is a paycheck worth the sacrifice of precious time? “I usually work only 12 hours, but having a job can get in the way of some things,” says freshman Chloe DeVere, who works after school and on weekends at Sea House Restaurant. Though DeVere works less than most students, she admits to having trouble keeping up in school. To stay on top of things, she will try to “cram some work in at school and as soons as I get home to move it out of the way so I don’t have to stress after work.” According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Chloe belongs to the 22.5% of high school students in the U.S. who are employed in paying jobs. However, Chloe is 15 years old, so according to Hawaii’s Child Labor Laws, she cannot work before 7:00 am or after 7:00 pm on a school day. As a minor between the ages of 14-15, Chloe also can’t work more than 3 hours per day on a school day or 8 hours on a non-school day. In a couple of years, Chloe will be old enough to work anytime she isn’t required to attend school. However, the choice of how many more hours to take will depend on her future schedule and her age. The struggle for balance between life as a student and an employee can be difficult, but, as some say, worth it. “...whatever I can, whenever I can…” While child labor laws are designed to ensure that students aren’t overwhelmed with work and school, some students pile on extracurriculars and sports on top of everything. Senior Dania Oleiwan is a band officer and can be found in the band room after school about 3 days a week. Yet, that is only when she is not at Teazentea where she works as a bobarista 18 hours a week. Despite her busy schedule, Oleiwan claims that her grades “aren't really affected.” “I'm able to balance it out” she claimed, “doing whatever I can, whenever I can.” Jaylee Vierra is able to maintain an A-B average, all while serving as a StuCo member and working evenings at Leilani’s as a hostess 8-10 hours a week. Despite her great GPA, she complained that she struggles to find the time for studying and homework. “I usually have to crunch everything in a certain day,” or later in the evening when she gets home from her shift, she said. As part of the leadership team for the class of 2027, Vierra also tries to find the time for her duties and sometimes has to work out scheduling. But her priorities are her job. “I let my work know ahead of time if I have events,” she said, “and if I can’t get off, I need to cancel.” DeVere also tries to keep up with her school work when she has sports. “Sometimes I come home late and am too tired to finish things,” she said. As a JV player for Lahainaluna’s women's soccer team, this is especially draining as she constantly gets home late from practice even when she doesn’t have work. Senior, Jean Alternado currently works as a server at Island Cream Co and works about 12- 20 hours per week. “It was a little hard to find my flow around things, I was struggling to keep my grades up, but the more I got used to it, it managed to become easier with maintaining my grades.” Finding a balance between a job, extracurriculars, and academics, Alternado said, takes time and experience. "I need to learn to interact with others..." Despite the challenges involved, student workers like Vierra see the job as valuable in the long term. Specifically, Vierra thinks that her job provides her with valuable knowledge for her future career. “I want to be a clinical psychologist,” she said, “which means I need to learn to interact with others along with being professional.” Becoming a psychologist requires many soft skills, and hospitality work, she thinks, will prepare her for a career that is based on communication. Hostessing also offers Vierra experience in a “fast paced environment,” she added, “along with being professional to the people I seat.” All this experience, she says, will help her with managing clients and keeping a work-life balance in her future career. Alternado aims to become a business owner and says that working a job could “give me some insights on what an employee feels like to be a better employer.” He thinks that this experience can help him create a thriving business environment in the future by, for one, helping him see how a business works so he can keep his future customers and employers satisfied. “Honestly my job taught me how to be patient and helped me talk to more people, which I believe will be helpful in hopefully, my future in healthcare” says Oleiwan who hopes one day to be a medical doctor. Oleiwan feels that working has given her head start on learning soft skills that are vital in her future career. “...miss out on experiences…” As much as a job can help students gain valuable skills and experiences, other students think that having a job would give them less time to explore the enjoyment of being a teenager. Freshman, Shantelle Semillano used to work at Da Best Pho as a cashier 8 hours a week, from her experience she says “Working feels like you aren’t allowing yourself to be a child.” Showing that working a job makes you more mature from all the skills you gain and forces you to have less leisure time to spend to your amusement. In addition, sophomore Grayson Guzman thinks that if he worked a job “I would have less time and possibly miss out on experiences with my family and friends,” fearing that his time would be wasted on working too hard while having no time to have fun. “Working a job can make teens worry about being left out in after school activities with their friends, or family.” says an anonymous junior. Since many jobs occupy a ton of time in a student’s daily life, working shifts can cause them to envy their peers for having more free time. “...quite a juggling act…” “Every job has ups and downs and there is no overlooking that.” Says DeVere. And though there are many downsides such as stress, time management, and schedule conflicts. Most employed students enjoy their job, and do it for their own pleasure and future. CTE teacher, Marc Watasaki admires the work ethic of employed students and acknowledges that working a job as a student can be “quite a juggling act, it takes a lot of maturity to be able to focus on what your priorities are and take care of what you need to.” “I really do enjoy my job! Most of my colleagues are Lahainaluna alumni and some current students as well. It really is worth my time, considering my pay. Working with great people is a bonus.” Says Alternado. “My job really is worth my time,” said Oleiwan. “I don't regret being employed.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link

< Back Under a Cloud at Lahainaluna Vaping on Campus Trinity Guiza Student Life May 29, 2024 at 10:33:32 PM “I don’t feel pressured at all, I’m a good person, not a delinquent like them,” said a Lahainaluna sophomore when asked whether they felt pressured to vape by others. To the same question, a senior offered an anecdote: “I would get asked if I wanted to hit it but when I said no they weirdly congratulated me and said how good of a student I was while they still went on to continue vaping their flavored air.” The vaping situation on our campus has been on everyone’s minds. But students who do and don't vape have opinions on the issue that you aren't likely to find on a poster. Most students are concerned, but they aren't sure how concerned to be or whether school leaders care. NOTE: given the sensitivity of the subject, many of the students interviewed preferred to remain anonymous. I refer to students by their favorite colors rather than their given names. Lahainaluna has rules against vaping on campus. These rules are based on Hawaii’s administrative rules found in Chapter 19 of the Hawai’i Department of Education Administrative Rules Manual. Rules from Chapter 19 have been included in every LHS student planner and on the school website. Under “Chapter 19,” vapes and e-cigarettes fall under the class C offense sections of contraband and controlled substance use in this chapter. It reads that students may receive penalties such as suspension for 92 days for possession or being under the influence of controlled substances. See the whole text here . Perspectives Students who don’t vape also don't seem to care too much about vaping since, as one sophomore student, Baby Blue, said, “it’s just a normal occurrence now.” Another student, a sophomore I’ll call Rose Gold, added that they “really don’t like how it’s normalized, we even have presentations or lessons against vaping, I mean you're even writing an article on it too.” A significant portion of students shared this weariness about the prevalence of the issue. Things started looking different when students were asked how they felt personally about vaping. A sophomore named Emerald stated, “I care but not really–not enough to report anything.” They added not a minute later, however, that “it doesn’t give the school a nice environment.” Other students like Crimson, a sophomore, reported feeling “threatened” by vaping students. Simply something upon groups of students hanging out in the bathrooms seemed to be the primary cause of “awkward situations” as Rose Gold said, “so I try to run out of there as fast as possible, I don't like their flavored air.” Asked if a younger sibling or family member were to start vaping like him, Gray, a junior, replied a bit defensively, insisting that “that wouldn’t happen, they are too young for that.” “You know what, never mind, I don’t care, I’m done” they finally said before walking away. When asked why they vaped and why specifically on campus, sophomore Yellow said, “I just feel good, it’s not that complicated” and “I do it anywhere so why not.” “Most people think vaping helps with the stress,” said Purple, a sophomore. “But the reason why they vape in school is because they have a feeling, the need to do it, feening.” Yellow and Purple said that people vape in the bathrooms for the obvious reason that “teachers are in class, so they aren’t in the bathrooms, and there are no cameras either. It's the one place you have the privacy to do what you want,” Purple said. Forest Green, a senior, said that in their opinion, vaping happens more often during breaks. Who Cares? Many students are sure that there is no solution to the problem. They complained that staff don’t care or that they don’t even know what’s going on. Purple claims that she vapes, but knows “it’s a problem.” But, she continued, “they,” that is, the administration, “just simply don’t care.” Dubious stories about students getting away with vaping circulate among students, but few of them seem credible. Black, a freshman, is sure that admin doesn’t care simply because of how many students he sees vaping—8 in the bathroom daily. Nicole Heinlein, the freshman vice principal at Lahainaluna, confirmed that it is a problem they are working on. “We often get reports of students vaping in the bathrooms and students saying they don’t feel comfortable going into the bathroom because they are worried about being around people who are vaping,” she said. “I think this is affecting how other students feel about being on campus. And that’s a problem.” Sophomore vice principal, Debralyn Arellano added that she thinks “there should be no vaping on campus, if there’s even one student vaping then that’s a problem.” “It makes me wonder if they are fully informed about what they are doing,” Ms. Arellano continued, “because from what I know nobody knows the long-term effects of vaping.” “It makes me nervous,” said Ms. Heinlein, because students shouldn’t be “doing unhealthy and illegal things on campus.” “If students are breaking the law now as teenagers,” she said, “it makes me worry that they may continue to break the law later in life.” Every Cloud… On the topic of solutions, Ms. Heinlein reported that the administration had made informative posters “that we are gonna be putting up around campus and in bathrooms this summer, to educate students about vaping and options for quitting vaping. Ultimately, we are hoping that educating students on the dangers of vaping will cause them to think twice about it.” She said that vape smoke detectors had been “discussed,” but other vice principals from other schools doubted their effectiveness as well as their high cost: “if they don’t work well then it doesn’t seem like a good solution.” Solutions volunteered by students revealed a wide variation in perspectives. A sophomore student, Pink, proposed a “scared straight program” but instead of prisoners “we do a face-to-face confrontation with people who have suffered from vaping.” Their friend Emerald questioned the idea, suggesting that “helping someone who doesn’t want help is just cruel.” To this, Baby Blue said “we could just smack’em in the head.” Purple suggested taking away their phones and vapes, so they sit in class with nothing, the torture of boredom.” She also suggested “more officers or have the staff be more strict.” Multiple students suggested sensitive smoke detectors in the bathrooms, but one student was opposed to this idea. Green mentioned that “in my old school there were smoke detectors in the bathrooms but all that did was set an alarm off every week and drove students to find another way.” Another student suggested a compromise solution: a “green room” so that they can do what they want while also staying out of other people’s business. Presented with Pink’s scared straight program, Arellano and Heinlein were on board. “Educating students and empowering them to make informed decisions is the most impactful thing we can do,” said Heinlein. “It would be wonderful to welcome guest speakers from the community to come in and have some sort of public service announcement.” Both reacted predictably to the “green room” proposal. Heinlein laughed and said “no way, nope. Plus, you have to be 21 years old to legally vape and no one on campus is 21 so absolutely not, nice try.” Nobody knows when vaping on campus became a problem. Most speculate that it simply just transitioned from smoking to vaping when vapes became available. Arellano said “I started working at Lahainaluna in 2019, that’s when I learned what a vape was.” One thing is for certain, be it a student or an admin, everyone has opinions and everyone feels a responsibility to promote and maintain a safe and secure educational environment here at Lahainaluna High school. Previous Article Next Article Copy link Trinity Guiza is a staff writer at Ka Lama Hawai'i.

< Back From the Classroom to the Polls On the Issues, Misinformation, and Parental Influence Keyla Jimenez Lucia Mejia Politics November 2, 2024 at 7:02:04 AM Most students do not meet the age requirement to vote, but this election still greatly affects us. It still “affects the whole United States,” says senior “Mary,” and “as long as you're a citizen of the United States, no matter what, you're affected by who's president.” Students will be impacted greatly in various ways depending on who wins this election. It's important for us to understand what’s going on with the people who have our future in their hands. Everyone has the right to their own opinion. The following statements from students are their own opinions that they freely offered. That’s the whole point of this article, and frankly of Ka Lama Hawai’i . Giving a voice to those who typically don’t have one is important. It gives us and others a different perspective on the topic. In the following, we were sure to respect students’ privacy by asking them if they preferred to speak anonymously or whether they wanted to be publicly associated with their opinions. Instead of using their real names, students were given names inspired by famous Americans, including US presidents. “...what are we doing at this point people?” “I love Kamala and I hate Trump,” states one anonymous freshman. We can call him “Jefferson.” “Literally, just watch the debate,” he said. “He's like a convicted felon on multiple accounts, like, how is he allowed to be our president?” “What the heck? Like, what are we doing at this point people?” For Jefferson, Supreme Court appointments are crucial. The Supreme Court, is “a lifetime position, so since Donald Trump, he appointed a bunch of Republican Supreme Court judges, they're gonna be there for a lifetime and determine the outcome for the next 50 years.“ “Donald Trump is too egotistical and a felon,” said another anonymous student, “Tyler,” who added that Trump has been “proven to be a sexual abuser and made many racial remarks against minorities. He’s just a bad person.” Tyler suspects that Trump’s policies favor the rich and, like many democratic voters, sees abortion as a crucial issue. “A bunch of old men shouldn’t have the right to control what women do with their bodies.” “If you include abortion with all that, with healthcare, it's really restrictive and only certain people can get it. I feel like everyone should be able to,” said “Martha,” a sophomore. While Martha wants Kamala to win, she thinks that “both of them have some qualities that can benefit us, but in different areas.” “Ida,” a sophomore, also thinks Harris and Trump “have their strengths and weaknesses, but because of what Kamala’s offering then I would vote for her.” The deciding issue for Ida was climate change. Describing the importance of the environment, Ida was emphatic. “Moral of the story is that we're not gonna have immigration, we're not gonna have violent crime, not gonna have anyone on this earth if we're not taking care of it.” The “OG” “Warren” also thinks that “climate change is the biggest factoring issue in today's world because of how much it affects our world right now.” Yet, when asked about his candidate, he stated, “They both suck genuinely as people,” but “Donald Trump would be the lesser evil. I feel like Kamala isn't really fit to be president.” “Donald Trump is the OG. Donald Trump is the best!” said one freshman who was “against abortion.” “That’s like killing the baby,” he said. “It’s messed up.” “I want Trump to win,” said “Caroline.” “I think he just has his facts straight. And I don't think he's trying to pretend for anyone.” “I think Kamala is just a likable idiot,” said “George,” a sophomore. “People aren’t voting for her, they're voting against Trump.” “The way the Biden and Kamala administration runs the border is very poor as thousands of people illegally come into the country every day. America has legal ways to enter the US.” While George agrees that “Immigrants don’t harm the economy,” he still thinks that “they shouldn’t be able to just walk into the country.” While George admits that Kamala and Trump are “both idiots honestly,” he nevertheless favors Trump. “We have seen Trump run already and he honestly did not do that horrible of a job.” In his opinion “Kamala just doesn’t seem to really know what she is doing and she fumbles more and more every day and it is depressing to watch.” Unlike the other students interviewed, Mary is less certain. However, she did say she was concerned about violent crime. “Everyone deserves the right to go outside safely, knowing that they're gonna come home.” Neither candidate seemed to be right for her concern and she thinks that Trump and Kamala are “both good candidates. They both have their issues. They both deserve the equal amount of respect.” Overall, she added, “This election is a very tough one.” Misinformation A freshman, “Madison,” stated “I wish there would have been, like, a little bit more [media coverage] so that more people can, like, understand what's going on, because otherwise they don't really know who to vote for, and or they just won't vote at all.” Madison added, “We should know what is going on with our country.” “As far as students are concerned, whoever has the loudest voice on social media may be able to affect the thinking process of the student,” says Math teacher, William Tatro. Like many voters, Tatro has noticed the increased importance of social media in elections. Yet, this information is not always trustworthy. Science teacher, Kevin Tennison said that “If students choose to be informed, there's plenty of information, and they can access that." Yet, he also thinks that “they're [students] more so influenced by social media.” “Politics is so extremely complicated,” says Social Studies teacher, John Borge. “If I do not spend hours and hours researching the things that I see on Instagram or TikTok or the things that I hear my community saying, then the misinformation has won.” Mike Landes teaches AP Government at LHS and says that “most people, not just students, but most people in general, are not highly informed.” Tackling this lack of information, he continued, is “part of why we have classes to teach it in school, because they know that educating people about it makes people more likely to be informed voters. We tend to get most of our information from social media and from ads, and neither of those is a good source of information or reliable.” Tennison agrees, “Schools should inform students, teach students both sides” so that they are able “to make up their own minds.” Landes argues that civic education is important because “How are we supposed to continue to have a functioning democracy if we don't know how it works?” He continued, “It's been shown statistically that the number one thing determining what your political beliefs will be is your parents’ political groups.” Rather, as Tennison notes, students mostly learn from their parents about politics when they (politics) are “discussed at the dinner table.” Sophomore George thinks that “kids honestly just believe what they see on social media” and that “kids probably age 1-10 who can’t formulate an original opinion will just agree with what their parents agree with. But as we grow we generally distance ourselves from our parents and what they agree with.” “This is the most important election of our time” “People think that their vote doesn't matter, but if everyone thinks that then we're gonna have no one to vote,” states Caroline. “A lot of impacts will eventually affect our rights when we're older.” To secure our future, she said, “It's important for everyone to know what's going on in the election.” Warren thinks that “this is the most important election of our time” because it “would affect the many generations of today and even the ones ahead of us. It could set off a really big change in the country.” “It's just good to know as a citizen, to be well informed about these topics,” says Madison, since being informed “will make your life easier.” Ida warns that “if you were to ask someone our age or 18, they wouldn't have, let's say, enough knowledge to be able to make a good decision.” “One of the greatest failures of politics is that it does not bring in that group, that 18 to 25,” says Borge. “If you do not vote, you are allowing someone else to care for you, and those people that are making those decisions are expecting you to sit down, shut up and do what you're told.” Previous Article Next Article Copy link Keyla Jimenez is a former staff writer for Ka Lama Hawai'i. She is ajunior and currently the president of the Lahainaluna Newswriting Club. Lucia Mejia is currently a junior and Treasurer of the class of 2027.

< Back Students are Feeling a Chill What Lunas think about the possibility of immigration officers on campus. Trinity Guiza Politics April 30, 2025 at 10:58:07 PM On February 4th around third period, an Instagram post created by a student at Lahaina Intermediate spread through our school: “ICE immigration is at lis today and are supposed to come up here to lhs tomorrow. don't get deported” (sic). The caption appeared on top of an unrelated image: a glass cylinder sliding away from a student’s hand across a counter in a science class. The message was quickly dismissed by some as entirely fabricated. Yet, many were concerned and still are. “I heard a rumor about ICE going to lis but I don’t know if it was actually tea or not” said a sophomore who chose to remain anonymous. They will be referred to Anna below. “The scary thing,” Anna said, “is that it’s easy to believe something like that can actually happen because it is something that is happening on the mainland. I think we’re lucky to live in Hawaii where we aren’t as affected but I definitely worry about my friends and family on the mainland.” Recent events suggest that these worries might come closer to home than Anna and others may think. In March, an elementary student was removed from Konawaena Elementary in an immigration operation. The boy's father was detained due to immigration violations. With no one to pick him up, officers delivered him to his father. To concerns in the community, Lucia Cabral-DeArmas was sure to mention that “the two were never separated, other than during school hours.” Principal Richard Carosso sent an email around this time containing state guidelines for responding to ICE on campus: politely inform them that they are not allowed access to any information or room and call and wait for an administrator to handle the situation. What is ICE? According to the US Immigration and Customs Website (ICE), the agency’s mission is “To Protect America through criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety.” Students and teachers shared different impressions, however. History teacher Ruth Mathis described ICE simply, as “an immigration system that gets people without their own proper documentation, and they send them back home.” “It’s a federal agency that investigates people if they are here in the country illegally,” said Junior Aleksandr Lucas. “Search their background and identify them. Eventually arrest them, interview and most likely deport them.” “It’s a government group coming and taking illegal American citizens of this country,” said Koryn Moury. “Their job is to find some illegal immigrants,” offered Science teacher Jacquelyn Ellis. ICE will “detain them or find out any more information about them and then they help with the deportation part of it as well.” A bit different, math teacher William Tatro thinks ICE’s primary focus is on “people who are convicted or charged with severe criminal activities.” “It's a private space” Talk about immigration on campus comes after Donald Trump’s recent executive order allowing immigration officers to conduct enforcement actions in or near sensitive areas such as medical facilities, places of worship, and schools. Following these announcements, Maui teachers looked for guidance on what should be done if ICE agents come to campus. The Hawai’i Teachers Association (HSTA) coordinated an information session with the Maui immigrant advocacy group, Roots Reborn, at Kulanihako’i High School in February. Leading the session was Aparna Patrie, an immigration attorney on Maui who works closely with the organization. “These are folks who are really important and essential to the fabric of our community,” said Patrie, who understands that a large percentage of Maui is foreign born. “They are terrified, and we've seen folks be afraid to get health care, afraid to go to school, afraid to go to church, afraid to go to the store and it's really unfortunate.” Ellis was one of several teachers who attended the information session. Afterward, she said that it was “useful” and that “it just helps you know what your rights are, because even immigrants who are here, not legally, have rights through our constitution and that's an important part of our nation.” Reflecting on what she had learned, Ellis described what she would do it ICE came to her classroom. “I would tell them that it's a private space. They cannot come in here and they need to go to the front office with any of their questions. I would never tell them a single thing about a single student in my classroom” Carol Holland, a History teacher at Maui High, also attended the info session. According to Holland, she would go to extreme measures to protect her students such as locking them in the bathroom to protect them. “The bathroom is a private space,” said Holland. “They cannot get into it without permission, so I will squeeze them all in there in my personal teacher bathroom, lock the door, slide the key under the door so it's inside the bathroom, so there's no way they can get in there.” “I would just wanna see their papers [warrants] and examine it,” said History teacher Ruth Mathis at the session. “People need to be educated in here, and you can’t come to my room. You can't take a child out of this room.” On the possibility of ICE agents on campus, Tatro, who was not present at the info session, “would have to ask them ‘did you go to the administration first?” However, he added that there are situations in which you might want ICE agents in your room. Tatro painted a scene in which there is somebody “holding somebody hostage or somebody’s in here with a gun, threatening us. I’d want them to come in.” Yet, he circled back, noting that “if somebody comes in and it's not that threatening a situation, I would say ‘did you go to the administration first?’” He insisted that, minus the hostage scenario, he would “be a little bit uncomfortable with that particular circumstance.” “I Know My Rights” In a hypothetical situation if ICE were to arrive on campus, Principal Carosso said, he would “not give full and unfettered access to our campus.” Instead, in accordance with state policy, he would hold them at the admin building and “call our superiors, our complex superintendent.” It is likely that the majority of students on campus, like Moury, “wouldn't know what to do.” Junior Angel Sana says that she has “only heard of ICE through online. I have never seen them in real life, which I would be afraid to.” “I wouldn't say anything,” said junior Val Medina-Tellez. “As somebody whose parents immigrated here, there would be no point in saying anything. They would automatically assume you are illegal, [and say] ‘I'm gonna detain you.’ They wouldn’t actually care.” Some students were more assertive. “I know my rights, I would only say what is needed to say and stay silent,” said junior Aleksandr Lucas. “I would never help an agency that does horrible stuff to innocent individuals that only try to make their own lives and their children's lives better.” “For some reason citizenship doesn't mean anything to them.” said freshman Mele Faleta. “There are many requirements that have to go with living in the US” yet “people still don’t think that it's enough for people to stay here, then i think maybe just get something else to worry about.” Dezmond Jace “Dezzy” Longgay, a senior, said “I'd actually lowkey be afraid.” The reason he’s afraid is “because of the fact that even though I am a United States born citizen, because of my race, I will be deported back to the Philippines.” Longgay believes the possibilities of ICE coming to camps are high because “Hawai’i is one of the well-known diverse states in the U.S., other than like California.” Since we're all isolated on one small island Longgay thinks “they might see it as an advantage to find people.” “They're clearly not looking for criminals” Tatro believes that there are people who come to “destroy” the country he loves. He mentioned how in the last four years crime rates and violence have risen because of illegal immigrants. “I'm talking about the violent illegal immigrants,” he said. “I’m talking about the ones that have a history of crime.” Offering an example, he encouraged me to imagine “a group of individuals from a country that is in conflict with us, and you see single men 26 years old with their backpack and their jeans and their sneakers, their $200 sneakers. You wonder what they're coming here for–especially when you see many who look like this, no family, just themselves. Charged with various heinous crimes, you know what they're coming for?” He answered his own question: “they're coming here to bring destruction and chaos to our country.” “ICE in the past, or at least the last administration was supposed to be just targeting the top people with any criminal records, right?” said Ellis. “If Donald Trump is letting them come to schools, they're clearly not looking for criminals. They're looking for any and everyone.” Holland (who said that she would lock her students in the bathroom), agrees. I sat with her in a nearly empty Kulanihako’i cafeteria as teachers had begun to leave, most of their questions answered and some of their anxiety eased. Soft spoken, yet bold and confident with her words, Holland talked about this common connection between crime and immigration. “Less than one percent of the crime in this country is committed by immigrants” she insisted. “So the statistics and the facts don't back up that.” referring to others opinions on immigrant crime rates. According to a 2024 report on crime rates in Texas, a border state, the National Institute of Justice found that immigrants did in fact have a lower crime rate than citizens. Using FBI data, the American Immigration Council also notes that the idea that immigrants bring crime to America is a myth. The results from the population data in relation to crime rates showed “no statistically significant correlation between the immigrant share of the population and the total crime rate in any state.” They conclude that: “higher immigrant population shares are not associated with higher crime rates” Sana sees some of this and thinks that ICE is “sending people home where they are from because of their colors or race.” Yet, she still thinks that “some immigrants did come here without papers and still yet committed crimes, including rape, murder, theft, and other crimes. I would be very much happy if they sent those people who committed crimes.” Sana added, however, that, “for others who came here with papers and have the right of residency, and yet still getting sent home is far too much.” “I think that it is being used to push certain agendas and deporting people like Kilmar Garcia who have little to no criminal record,” said Anna. “To me it shows that the government doesn’t need a reason to take someone you love who might not be a white person and send them to a federal prison in a whole other country.” Lucas thinks ICE “has really turned into a whole racist organization,“adding that it’s “despicable and shameful to the country.” Ellis thinks that ICE “should never be a worry for these kids who are at school to learn. It should be a safe space.” “I feel like ICE shouldn't even exist,” said Holland. “The whole principle of the country of America is built by immigrants, so the fact that a bunch of xenophobic old men are trying to hold onto their privilege by implementing immigration policies is an affront to everything this country stands for.” Mathis offered similar sentiments. “It's always been discriminatory from the beginning,” she noted. “[N]ow the situation has changed in the country where the minority groups–they come together to become the majority, and the people who are the majority now they become the minority. It's the fear, the fear that all these people would come together and maybe they will take over.” Angel Sana is a junior who thinks the situation is “messed up.” For Angel, ICE is just a group trying “to take advantage of humans that are not Americans.” They “do whatever they want,” Sana continued, “but they do it in their own way. They don’t follow the rules.” “Honestly because they put a bunch of racist, bigoted people in charge and we’re just seeing the effects of our country’s ignorance,” said Anna. “It’s important to understand the impact that they have on our communities and the actual threat that they pose,” she said. “I have friends and even family members who are immigrants who are worried about this kind of thing and it’s horrible to see.” “I think everybody wants it good for the country” “I think everybody wants it good for the country, so nobody is gonna take over, so let it be cool on immigration and encourage ingenuity of the immigrants," said Mathis, who offered a history of immigration in America that “dates back to the coming of the settlers. Everyone that came from Europe, especially the United Kingdom, were immigrants.” “Immigration is very important. We have to support it and not discourage it. Because that's how we got all these brains that we have, all the inventions, everything. It's immigrants' knowledge that built this country and you can't do away with immigration.” Mathis went on: “These children, one of these children, they could help you tomorrow. That's the blessing of immigration. We all have different skills. So no ICE person can come to my door and take anybody.” Holland hoped that our generation “would live in a world where you didn't have to fight these struggles anymore.” She said “you guys are gonna have to stand up. You're gonna have to resist, you're gonna have to push back against tyranny, against authoritarianism. Against the rise of fascism again.” “It's time for people to stop being ignorant about important issues like these,” said Lucas. If you are feeling distressed about current events, the Ka Lama staff recommends you seek out your grade level counselor. Previous Article Next Article Copy link Trinity Guiza is a staff writer at Ka Lama Hawai'i.