5/10/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 9, 2020

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/teacher-appreciation?e=5bd58d6793 1/13

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Dear Mid-Pacific ‘Ohana:

Perhaps one of the benefits of this whole COVID-19 stay-at-home/work-from-homeprotocol has been the opportunity to, away from the hustle and bustle of “normal” life,reflect a bit on those things most important to us. If you are like me, those are people.  

I find myself increasingly and incredibly grateful for the amazing teachers we have at Mid-Pacific. Staying at home and watching my children attend virtual classes, I am impressedby how much effort has been put in by teachers to adapt lessons, work with our kids inclass and on asynchronous days, and to simply allow the show to go on. It is hard tobelieve this wasn’t planned - that this was something our teachers had to figure out andmake happen on the fly. Educating is not just a job to them, it is a calling. We are trulyfortunate to have teachers that have accepted that calling, who love what they do, and whoauthentically and intensely care about each of our children.  

Please allow me, on behalf of all of our parents (and students as well), to say to our Mid-Pacific teachers: Thank you! You are appreciated always, and now more than ever.

E Kūlia Kākou,Let’s strive and aspire together

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5/10/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 9, 2020

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As Teacher Appreciation Week comes to a close, we extend a heartfelt thank you to Mid-Pacific’s faculty and staff whose innovation, creativity, and care for our students continuesduring this time of campus closure and online learning. In virtual classrooms frompreschool through high school, our teachers are helping students hone important skills andhabits for the future, while processing their thoughts and emotions in the present. At thesame time, students are providing daily sparks of inspiration and joy for their teachersthrough their resilience, honesty, and love of learning. Surely, years from now, many of uswill look back at this challenging and unprecedented time and remember not only how ourlives were changed, but how we grew as people and as a community. For students,teachers and families alike, COVID-19 has brought us all many teachable moments.

Preschoolers have been continuing their project work together virtually through wholeclass meetings, small group meetings, and play sessions online. While they are patientlywaiting to return to our school, the children wrote messages to Mid-Pacific. Theirmessages remind us how much we all miss the joy of learning at Mid-Pacific together.Mahalo, Preschool, for this precious look at the work of our youngest owls.

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First andsecond graders in Ms. Kelly Tokuhama’smulti-age class participatedin Kids for Peace pledgesand actions as part of theirinquiry question of the year,“How does ‘place’ changeover time?” The key ideawas to raise studentawareness about some ofthe effects that Covid-19has had on people andplaces everywhere. Readmore about this lesson inMs. Tokuhama’s blog.

Says Ms. Tokuhama about virtual teaching during this pandemic, “Doing these Kids forPeace pledges and actions was such a highlight in this experience. Shifting ourperspective to see how we can give back to the community, help at home, and showappreciation in a world of chaos right now was probably the most meaningful thing wecould do together as a learning community. I am so proud of everything the students haveaccomplished throughout this virtual experience, especially in building self-discipline,resilience, and teamwork.”

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Students in 1st through 5th grade have been studying photography with Art andCharacter Education Teacher, Ms. Abbey Day. Students took photographs showing theirunderstanding of scale and narrative by using toys they already have, figures they createdout of homemade clay, or themselves. Says Ms. Day, “Each evening, on my couch, I look through the artwork the children sharewith me and often find myself smiling and showing off their work to my family. My familyoften exclaims in response, ‘Are you sure elementary students did that?’ I look forward tomy daily meets and find that my cheeks hurt by the end of the day because I've beensmiling so much.”

The feeling is mutual, Ms. Day! Your students think you are terrific as well. According to herfirst and second grade students, “She makes the best drawings I have ever seen in mylife,” and, “She is patient and she always smiles.”

See more student photos here.

Using the viral poem, “And the people stayed home” by Kitty O’Meara, as inspiration, Ms.Carly Ibara’s 8th grade Language Arts students crafted their own poems to chronicletheir experiences, emotions, and outlooks during this time of quarantine. Ms. Ibara thenplotted their work on a map of Oahu in locations that matched the content or students. Maythe creativity of these middle school owls (and their teacher) inspire and uplift you!

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5/10/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 9, 2020

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Ms. Kalei McDonnell’s Digital Storytelling Class recently completed their first projectdone in a virtual learning format called "Letters from Our Stuff." In a truly creative andthoughtful assignment, students were asked to reflect the thoughts and wishes of commonobjects that are either neglected and no longer used, or now used way too much duringthis time of quarantine. Insightful, humorous and sometimes a little sad, this projectprovides a window into the minds of our kids, how they are passing the time and what theyare missing most.  READ "LETTERS FROM OUR STUFF"

Ms. Gale Ikeda’s Visual Arts Workshop class completed color paintings using traditionalpaints or digital format. The assignment was to learn about the artist Georgia O'Keeffewhose paintings took a look at the world through a magnifying glass. Students zoomed in

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on a photo they took and then captured a part of the photo to create a somewhat abstractimage. Beautiful!

“I really miss being with my students. Imiss their smiles, the funny things theysay, and laughing with them. During thistime of Virtual Learning, I have learnedthat they miss me too! Well, maybe that'snot the entire truth! (This time ofseparation) has confirmed that studentsneed social interaction. They need to seeeach other and physically connect witheach other. Being social is just asimportant as any subject area they take inschool.” Mr. Todd Jinbo, 6th Grade Team Leaderand Science Teacher

While learning from home, Mr. Jinbo’s sixth grade science class completed their RecycleProjects in which they came up with a plan on how to collect common household materialsand transform them into useful and beautiful products.

Former students of Ms. Linda Johnsonwill be happy to know that, even in avirtual environment, she continues tocommand her classroom with the samecompassion and constructive criticism thathas helped three decades of Mid-Pacificalumni move on to professional careers inthe performing arts. Enjoy this peek intoMama J’s Acting 2 class, where talentedyoung actors perform their original seriousmonologue about their feelings, thoughts,

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fears and hope for the future during thistime of the coronavirus pandemic.

•  Ms. Johnson starts class with expectations for the day  •  Student 1 performs monologue  •  Student 2 performs monologue  

To those wondering about the real life relevance of higher math, Ms. Monica Floresexplains, “Coaches and directors often need to find substitutions for their players or actors.They will try the best they can to replace the injured player or actor with someone of thesame skill set. In doing so, they use the same thinking and problem solving skills that weare practicing.” It is this practicality, along with a “motherly approach,” that Ms. Flores’ students connect to.Her class recently put their problem-solving skills to work in designing their owntrigonometric proofs, complete with solutions, and videos to explain them. Here is one ofsuch videos, created by Kaylee G. ’21.  WATCH

READ MORE about Ms. Flores in the Spring issue of Mid-Pacific today.

“I miss the noise in the classroom, thepeer-to-peer interaction, and everythingelse that makes up the face-to-facehuman experience. I'm reminded now ofthe amazing synergy that occurs duringlive music ensemble performances that

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can't be duplicated virtually. The silverlining though for virtual music education isthat this forces the students to developother important types of music skills likerecording themselves to a metronome,online audio collaboration, and rigorousself-assessment.” Mr. Jeremy Lawi, MPSA Music ProgramHead and Band Teacher

Teachers like Mr. Lawi have not onlyadjusted to the virtual environment, theyare applying newly learned technology tobridge the physical distance andshowcase student work. Enjoy thiscompleted performance by Mid-Pacific’sSymphonic Wind Ensemble of “Takarajima(Treasure Island)” arranged by ToshioMashima.  WATCH AND LISTEN

 

“My art students are incrediblyimaginative. They are some of the mostinventive young people I’ve had thepleasure to work with in my entire careeras an arts educator. I was very surprisedto see that my art students put the samelevel of effort and attention to detail totheir artwork while working at home asthey do when they’re working in ArtCottage N.”

Mr. Alex Donis, Visual Arts Teacher

See more student pieces here.

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5/10/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 9, 2020

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/teacher-appreciation?e=5bd58d6793 9/13

From the Owl’s Nest  

Isiah Kiner-Falefa ’13, infielder for the Texas Rangers,is back in Hawaii staying safe and healthy at home whilehe awaits news on the Major League Baseball season.Enjoy his message to our Owl community.

Isiah was also among a group of localprofessional athletes who partnered withYoung's Fish Market to match and deliverany order placed for Hawaii's healthcareworkers or first responders. Here’s a linkto the KITV News story. Thank you, Isiah,for making us proud on and off the field!

We’re so happy to catch up with Mid-Pacific faculty icons Ms. Linda Cook and Ms.Allyson Reed who shared special messages for our Owl community.

“I remember how the last quarter of theschool year is supposed to go. Thereshould be excitement and sadness, stressand relief, anticipation and even somefear. But this isn't a normal fourth quarter.The seniors obviously have lost so muchwith the end of their high school activitiesbut all grade levels are experiencing asense of loss, separated from friends andteachers and the overall community ofMid-Pacific. I remember when I was walking aroundthe campus for the first time and mydepartment chair, Terry Meyer, told methat I would enjoy working there with the

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beautiful view and the friendly people. Hewas right. I always felt at home there. Iretired fifteen years ago and every year, Ireturn to the campus and still feel thatsense of belonging. Despite the unusualend to this school year, all students willfeel that same sense of homecomingwhen they return to Mid-Pacific. I’ll leaveyou with one of my favorite inspirationalquotes by T.S. Eliot, Every moment is afresh beginning.”

Former Language Arts teacher, AllysonReed has been keeping busy during thisquarantine time. “I have been eating take-out a lot, watching lots of Korean dramas.Chewy, Gizmo, and I have been moreactive with Pup Scout Troop,” saysAllyson. WATCH CHEWY & GIZMO

 She sends this special message to ourOwl community.

Former Mid-Pacific dance teacher, YukieShiroma and her husband MichaelHarada, who is also a former Visual ArtsHistory teacher at Mid-Pacific are keepingeach other busy during this quarantineperiod. They have been dancing, drawing,riding their bikes, and cooking. Michael Harada and Yukie Shiromadonning their masks at home.

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Answering the CallIn this time of crisis, Owls have stepped up in support of their communities. Here are just afew examples of how they are contributing their time, talent and resources. 

In April, Mukeun “David” Chang ’19generously donated a healthy supply ofadult- & children-sized face masks, handsanitizers, and gloves to Mid-Pacific. Hesaid, “One of the biggest problems duringthis pandemic, is getting protectivesupplies. So far, I have donated more than1,000 different supplies to differentorganizations. We need to help each otherwhen someone is in a difficult situation.My hope is to keep everyone strong andvery healthy!”

Keani (Morita) Alcoran ’07 is sellingspecial graduation lei made with facemasks and hand sanitizers on herwebsite. READ MORE

Owls For OwlsMid-Pacific alumni business owners/employees are doing their best to continue to offergreat services to our community while keeping the safety and health of their customers inmind. Let's show our support for them during this challenging time. For a complete list ofalumni businesses we have featured in past issues of this newsletter, click here.

Lane Kawaoka ‘03, OwnerSimplePassiveCashflow.com

READ ABOUT MORE ALUMNI BUSINESSES

Something to Brighten Your Day

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Ms. Sarahlea Kekuna, music teacher to our preschool and elementary students, shares abright and happy song, “Aloha Kakahiaka.”  Good Morning!

The latest issue of Mid-Pacific Today isout! In this issue, we celebrate the corevalues of the Mid-Pacific community -‘ohana, caring, innovation, creativity anddiversity. Read about the amazingstudents, faculty, staff, parents and alumniwho live these values every day. Click here to view the digital issue.

If you have any questions, please contact Heidi Kim, Parent Relations Liaisonat (808) 973-5022 or hkim@midpac.edu.

Our mailing address is:2445 Ka‘ala Street, Honolulu, HI 96822

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