Moanalua High School

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Moanalua High School
Motto Kūlia I Ka Nuʻu - Strive for Excellence
Established 1972
Type Public secondary
Affiliation none
Principal Darrel Galera
Students 2030
Grades 9–12
Location Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA
District South Central District
Accreditation Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Campus Suburban
Colors Royal blue and silver
Mascot Nā Menehune
Yearbook Ke Aliʻi
Newspaper Nā Hōkū O Moanalua
Military United States Air Force JROTC
Distinctions Awarded "Hawaii's Best Public High School" by Honolulu Magazine May 2003, 2004
Website www.mohs.k12.hi.us

Moanalua High School is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education and serves grades nine through twelve. Established in 1972 and graduated its first class in 1975, Moanalua High School is located in suburban Salt Lake near Moanalua in the City & County of Honolulu of the state of Hawaiʻi. It is situated on an extinct volcano hillside overlooking downtown Honolulu at 2825 Ala ʻIlima Street.

Moanalua High School (also known as MoHS to differentiate itself from the "MHS", acronyms associated with McKinley High School and Mililani High School), is nationally recognized for its academics, music program and media communications learning center. In 1998, it became the first student orchestra officially invited to play at Carnegie Hall by the governing Carnegie Hall Corporation.[citation needed] This is opposed to student orchestras that played at Carnegie Hall who were participants of special educational programs that happened to have taken place at Carnegie Hall. Moanalua High School played at the prestigious venue twice, most recently in 2005. The Moanalua High School Menehune Marching Band, led by directors Elden Seta, Rhona Barbosa, June Masuno, and Grant Otomo, is also widely acclaimed to be one of the best in the state.[citation needed]

Moanalua High School recently underwent reaccreditation by Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has achieved the maximum accreditation term of six years, 2006-2012.

Darrel Galera currently heads the school as principal, along with Ben Meyer (Intern), Ken Fukada (Acting), Carolyn Morita (Acting), and Julia Toyama as vice-principals.

Contents

[edit] Origins

An ahupuaʻa in ancient Hawaiʻi was a parcel of royal land that stretched from the mountain to the sea. The Salt Lake ahupuaʻa within which Moanalua High School is located was the property of wealthy landowner Samuel M. Damon. Damon was actively involved in the Committee of Safety that successfully plotted the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1893. He later became one of the first trustees of the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate and served alongside its founder Charles Reed Bishop.

Previous to Damon's ownership of the Salt Lake ahupuaʻa, the volcanic hillside on which Moanalua High School sits was used by native Hawaiians in worship. As one of the highest points overlooking what would later become the city of Honolulu, the volcanic hillside was revered as a place where the faithful could be closer to the ancestral spirits and gods. It served as a sacred altar as late as the reign of King Kamehameha V. While the volcanic hillside's religious value was neglected during the urban development that commenced after statehood in 1959, Moanalua High School is still respected as the spiritual home of the aliʻi menehune and other menehune — fairy-like, mischievous people with a special relationship with the gods and credited with building dams, temples and other structures throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Today, Moanalua High School students pride themselves in adopting the menehune as their mascot.

[edit] Symbols

The alma mater and anthem of Moanalua High School proclaims,

"All hail Moanalua! See her proud banners fly high over all. We shall love and serve thee ever; As we see life's road before us. For we stand for honesty, We stand for loyalty, We stand for unity! All hail to thee, our alma mater. All hail! All hail! All hail!"

Traditionally, the alma mater and anthem has always been sung during the presentation of the school's flag — the Moanalua High School blue crest in the center of a field of white and trimmed at the edges with blue. The school's colors are royal blue, white and silver, influenced by the colors of the United States Air Force with which the school has shared a special relationship since its founding.

[edit] Students

As of 2006, the enrollment at Moanalua High School stands at 2,050 students. A consequence of its academic standards and notoriety, the school is forced each year to turn away students from enrollment while others are added to a waiting list — a rare action for a public high school in the United States. The student population is mostly made up of Filipino American and other Asian-Pacific races. Fifteen percent are Japanese Americans, eight percent are Chinese Americans and twelve percent are from other Asian American backgrounds. Eleven percent are either Samoan Americans or Native Hawaiians while four percent are African Americans.

Moanalua High School has the distinction of having one of the largest military dependency student populations within the United States Pacific Command.[citation needed] It serves the children of enlisted personnel and commissioned officers of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Students who are not military dependents are usually children of professionals living in the Salt Lake and Moanalua subdivisions, neighborhoods that have been classified as upper middle class.

Each graduating class averages 400 students. Approximately forty-five percent become enrolled at four-year colleges and universities throughout the nation while thirty-five percent become enrolled at two-year colleges. Eight percent go straight to the workforce while four percent join the armed forces. About five percent enroll in technical schools while three percent are usually unsure of their post-graduation plans.

[edit] Focus on Technology

Despite its age, Moanalua High School has been at the forefront of technology offerings. Today, the school is home to more than 800 computers attached to its local area network, one of the largest school networks built and maintained in the State of Hawaiʻi. While other schools have acceptable use policies which require parental permission to sign for their children to "opt-in" to use technology on campus, Moanalua High School makes the use of technology mandatory. Because Information Technology literacy has become a requirement in today's society, parents must give compelling reasoning to the administration should they choose to have their child "opt-out" of technology use.

[edit] Sports

With the absence of professional sports teams in Hawaiʻi, the popularity of high school athletics is considerably high in the state. In the year of Moanalua High School's founding, its athletics department joined the Hawaii High School Athletics Association. It currently also competes in the Oahu Interscholastic Association, an athletic conference of public schools on the island of Oʻahu. Moanalua High School competes in air riflery, baseball, basketball, bowling, canoe paddling, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, judo, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, wrestling and water polo. Sports are divided into boys and girls teams as well as varsity and junior varsity distinctions. The most popular sports based on attendance are football, basketball and wrestling. Moanalua High School has won several state championships and national honors. The Athletic Director currently is Joel Kawachi.

State Championships -

Basketball, Boys - 1996, 1997

Bowling, Boys - 1985, 1990, 2004

Golf, Girls - 2006

Competitive Cheerleeding - 2003, 2004, 2005

Golf, Individual - 1976 Maurice Jeanpierre (coached by Leslie Higashi), beat top players Kalua Makelena, Tommy Hines, D. Hurter, Robert Black, Wade Nishimoto, Brandon Kop and R. Castillo.[1]

Track, Girls - 1994

Wrestling, Girls - 1999, 2000, 2001 [2]

State Runner Ups

Basketball, Boys - 1978

Basketball, Girls - 1992

Bowling, Boys - 1984

Bowling, Girls - 1979

Cross Country, Boys - 1987,

Cross Country, Girls - 1991

Soccer, Boys - 1981, 1998

Soccer, Girls - 2005

Track, Girls - 1991

Wrestling, Girls - 1998, 2002, 2003 [3]

The 2007 Boy's Basketball Team returned to the state tournament for the first time in ten years.

[edit] Music Program

The Music Department consists of a number of various ensembles. The list includes the Marching Band, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Orchestra, Concert Choir, Chorus, Jazz Ensemble, and Concert Band (usually consisted with incoming freshmen). Due to the overwhelming number of students who play orchestral instruments coming to Moanalua High School, in 2007 the Concert Strings ensemble was introduced into the Music Department. Also offered at Moanalua High School is the Piano program. This group, however, does not perform.

[edit] Marching band

The Moanalua High School Menehune Marching Band is a marching band program (students grades 9-12) with an established record as being the top, and largest marching band in the state of Hawaiʻi. The school's entire music department, now directed by Elden Seta, is nationally-acclaimed. Its corps-style field shows are largely known for its fast, elaborate set designs, fast movement, and integrated and elaborate color guard performances of the Hawaiʻi bands.

The 240+ member program holds its own marching festival each year known as the Menehune Classic. It also competes in other annual competitions such as the Kamehameha Tournament of Bands, Mililani Trojan Band Fest, the Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) Festival, and the Rainbow Invitational. It usually marches in at least one parade each year, such as the Aloha Week parade, and is frequently invited to march in parades abroad such as the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Signature elements in its half-time shows include a set of three or four pieces (including a quick, visually-stunning opener, a fast-paced main piece, and ending with a ballad), expansion sets, a single company front (usually in the final piece), horn flashes and sets that spill into the pit area. Not usually in the shows (but common elsewhere) are spinning drills, park and wail (punch/shout) segments, follow the leader drills (AKA snake), and park and play (standing) segments.

Recently, the marching band traveled to Osaka, Japan to march in the Osaka Midosuji Parade.

[edit] Symphony Orchestra

The Moanalua High School Symphony Orchestra (simply referred to as S.O. by many students) consists of students from grades 9 to 12 that have shown the greatest ability in the string program. Members are hand-picked to be in the Symphony and play an extremely difficult repertoire ranging from Franz von Suppé's overture to "Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna," Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg. [4] The group's regular performances include the Moanalua High School's Music Department Winter and Aloha Concerts and the HASTA Parade of Orchestras, in which they consistently receive a rating of Superior—the highest possible.

The Symphony Orchestra has the distinction of being the first student orchestra ever to be invited to grace the stage of New York's Carnegie Hall in 1998. [5] The Symphony Orchestra did it a second time in 2005, performing at the Isaac Stern Auditorium on March 20, 2005. Out of the three ensembles to perform that night (the other two being the New England Symphonic Ensemble and the Greater Miami Youth Symphony [6]), only they received a standing ovation in which audience members reportedly yelled, "Good job, Hawaiʻi!" [7]

[edit] Symphonic Wind Ensemble

The Moanalua High School Symphonic Wind Ensemble, referred to as SWE (pronounced "swii") by many students, consists of the top wind and percussion musicians in the Moanalua High School band program. Students are hand-picked to be a part of this group. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble has received consistent Superior ratings at the Oʻahu Band Directors' Association Parade of Bands and is known as being one of the top wind ensembles in the country. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble makes appearances at the Music Department Winter and Aloha Concerts, the OBDA Parade of Bands, and the Central District South Parade of Bands. The Ensemble has also traveled to Japan in the winter of 2003 and 2006 where they represented the United States in the All-Japan Band Festival in Hamamatsu, Japan.

[edit] Traditions

[edit] Homecoming

The highlight of each school year is the Homecoming Parade down Ala ʻIlima Street and the Homecoming Floorshow competition between the four graduating classes. The Homecoming football game is part of the festivities, kicking off the active athletic season.

[edit] Graduation

At the end of each school year, Moanalua High School has the distinction of being the first in the state to graduate its students. Graduation and commencement ceremonies are held at the athletic field and stadium. It is always attended by the school superintendents, state legislators, city council members and sometimes the Governor or Lieutenant Governor of Hawaiʻi. A high-profile media event, portions of the ceremonies are broadcast throughout the state by the major Honolulu-based network affiliates: KFVE, KGMB, KHNL, KHON and KITV. The event attracts large crowds and often results in mass confusion among those trying to give lei to the graduates.

Moanalua High School also has the distinction of graduating the most valedictorians each year, in comparison to the other schools of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education.[citation needed] As many as one dozen or more students graduate with the honor in a single class, arguably indicative of the strength of the school's academic programs (20 in 1998).

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

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[edit] External links