5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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The Class of 2020 Virtual Graduation will air on YouTube and Facebook at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 23. Share these links with family and friends, and join in the celebration!

YouTube OR Facebook

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 1/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020 The Mid-Pacific Class of 2020 Virtual Graduation will also be broadcast on KHON2 on Subscribe Past Issues Translate Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. Everyone can tune in to this special celebration introduced by anchor and former Mid-Pacific parent Howard Dashefsky.

Heidi Bow, Mid-Pacific Institute Alumni Director, shares why this is her favorite time of year and congratulates our newest alumni. VIEW

Friendships That Endure

On this day, May 23, 2020, 186 students in Mid-Pacific Institute’s Class of 2020 will graduate, marking the end of a year unlike any other, the culmination of their high school experience and beginning of new adventures. As we close the doors to our virtual classrooms and turn our proud eyes to this amazing class, we are reminded that academics are but one piece of a Mid-Pacific education. In addition to their diplomas, we hope they are also taking away with them lifelong memories and friendships that last. In this issue, we celebrate friendships that have endured the test of time with stories from alumni in each decade.

Class of 1943

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 2/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Classmates Tetsuro Ushijima ’43 and Fred Wong ’43 have been friends and partners in music since their days at Mid-Pacific totalling almost eight decades of friendship. Up until stay-at-home orders went into effect, these friends were still performing together for residents of Kahala Nui. Mr. Ushijima, a self-taught steel guitarist, and Mr. Wong, who plays the ‘ukulele, have a repertoire of over 300 Hawaiian and ‘hapa’ songs.

In an interview this past week, Mr. Ushijima said of his long-time friend, “He’s almost like a genius, he has three computers... I learned a lot from him because I play by feel and he played by brains.” He added with a chuckle, “And when we play music, you have to hit the right notes exactly otherwise he gives you stink eye.” Read more about this remarkable friendship in Mid-Pacific’s Legacy newsletter.

The Class of 1943 bonded through their dorm experiences and were seniors on campus together during their own historic time - World War II. Even when he was living on the mainland, Colonel Charles Moriyama ’43 would come home to attend the annual 1943 reunions. Col. Moriyama was enrolled at Mid-Pacific after Leilehua High School was moved from Wheeler Airfield to temporary buildings throughout Wahiawa at the start of the war. Like his classmates, “Tets” and Fred, Col. Moriyama recalls a truck picking them up from school in Manoa to take them to work in the pineapple fields in Wahiawa, as the draft had taken many of the field workers. It was an exciting time, they recall. https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 3/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

Subscribe Past Issues Translate When asked for some words of wisdom for the Class of 2020, Col. Moriyama offered, “Be yourself. Be good to others. That’s what I’ve tried to do everywhere I’ve gone and surprisingly it has worked out well.” Surely these are words for our whole community to treasure and live by.

Class of 1951

Ray Sekiya ’51 and his classmates hold very fond memories of time with friends on campus. “Many of the classes of yesteryears like ours are close because we attended a school (MPI, of course) which provided us with a home away from home while giving us an education. We all lived, played, socialized and studied together in an environment that fostered good fellowship on a more personal basis. We have stayed close as friends by keeping in touch with each other primarily through class reunions (initially after the tenth anniversary year and then every five years thereafter) and when any classmate or former teacher visited the islands from the mainland. The initiator of the reunions was Ed Kawakami, DDS, who was a Student Council Treasurer as well as a member of the Boys Senate during our senior year.”

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 4/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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As for words of wisdom to our graduating Class of 2020, Ray says, “Just remember the words from the first stanza of our alma mater, especially, ‘So within our hearts safe cherished, Mid-Pacific stands.’ This school has affected your formative years and has laid out the foundation for you to meet the life challenges ahead.”

Class of 1963

Karen (Kawano) Koles ’63 reminisces about meeting her lifelong friends on Mid-Pacific’s campus. “We first met on the day after Labor Day, 1959. We arrived as nervous, scared freshmen from Waipahu, Waialua, and Wailuku. Others came from towns like Kaneohe, Kailua, and Kaunakakai. We were thrown together in the dorms, meeting roommates with whom we had nothing in common except that our names began with the same letter...or close to it. At the time, Wilcox Hall, the boys’ dorm was where the elementary school is now; Atherton Hall was home to over a hundred girls.

“Friendships grew as we attended classes in the Quad, competed in intramural sports, stood around during weekend dances in the old Mills Gym, and signed out from the dorms for shopping adventures at the brand new Ala Moana Shopping Center. We learned table manners and the finer points of etiquette during our three meals a day in Scudder Hall seated at assigned tables (eating our favorite turkey turnovers), sweated hours of hard labor and penalty work, and signed in hourly during the dreaded dorm confinement!” https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 5/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

Subscribe Past Issues Translate Classmate Walter Ozawa ’63 writes, “We all began our Mid-Pacific lives together, learning new rules and practices, and most importantly, discovering each other. Mid-Pacific’s mandatory dormitory life brought us all together and probably the reason we are still so close today. Mid-Pacific Institute was our world. We were all 15 year-olds, new to brand new experiences and learning together. Through our four years together, we formed relationships and lifelong friendships. We each recognize how our MPI experience helped to nurture and shape us to who we are today.”

Karen goes on to say, “We graduated in Bakken Auditorium wondering if we would ever see each other again. We separated for military service, jobs, and colleges both here and on the mainland. Some of us kept in touch by occasionally writing letters (social media didn’t exist, and email, texting, smartphones and FaceTime were years away) then getting together during summer breaks. Life was good. We became wrapped up in our careers, establishing families, and networking new relationships.”

“It’s now 2020, and COVID-19 is dictating many changes in our lives. We had to postpone our ’63@75 birthday bash in Las Vegas, and we are temporarily prevented from regular gatherings. We miss exchanging signature gifts, along with belly-achingly funny confessions about life in the dorms, and sharing things like the best relief for joint pains, how to lie convincingly about golf scores, and fail-proof recipes.

“We may now move a bit more slowly and have to turn up the hearing aids a notch, but it’s as if time has stood still. We look back on friendships that started sixty-one short years ago, celebrating relationships that have withstood the test of time. We came from vastly differing socio-economic backgrounds, different cultures and traditions, brought together by one undeniable bond: We were dormers! We support each other through times of joy and sorrow. When one of us gets hurt and bleeds, we still bleed green.”

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 6/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Jon Fernandez ’79 recalls wonderful memories on campus with his cherished friends. “One of our most cherished holiday events was senior caroling. We not only sang carols for the administrators, staff and faculty who lived on campus, but also to the residents in our Manoa neighborhood. We loved that some of our teachers lived on campus!”

“The reasons why our class is close knit are many. Some might call it kismet, while others call it fortunate. And regardless of which reasons can be attributed to our everlasting friendships, it all stems from our alma mater, Mid-Pacific Institute.

Dormitory life definitely fostered everlasting friendships. We did everything together. We ate our meals, studied and enjoyed a plethora of school organized activities together, as siblings and families do. On weekends, those of us who chose not to go home would walk to Pizza Hut on Dole Street or take the bus to Ala Moana.

We were also fortunate that our classmates were kind, diligent and always willing to participate in class projects or activities. During our sophomore year we were required to volunteer at a previously determined site. I volunteered for an after school program at Ala Wai Elementary. This is where I discovered my need to volunteer. Dorm and school life absolutely created strong bonds.

Those bonds have helped us remain close knit as the years past. During our college years, we’d return to Hawaii and immediately plan get-togethers. Of course we have the typical milestone class reunions, often drawing participants from https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 7/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020 around the world. But during non-reunion Subscribe Past Issues Translate years, some of our classmates gather for UH football, the Super Bowl, a meal out or parties. We‘d reminisce during these gatherings, where laughter was ubiquitous. Frequently our gatherings attracted other MPI alumni from different classes. We’re just a fun loving group: we suck people into our madness!”

Class of 1987

Aisha Rahman ’87 says her class remains close to this day. They continually keep in touch and even if they do not see each other for 10 or more years, she still encourages classmates to attend all of their gatherings. Aisha says the key to these lasting friendships is to make an effort to plan things together, share life’s latest adventures and offer good counsel and advice for one another. She says, “Just continually invite people, even if they always decline, one day they might surprise you…don’t take it personally because we all have stuff going on and sometimes it’s a bad time. When the time is right, they’ll come around.”

Class of 1996

Todd Jinbo ’96, current middle school faculty member, has the benefit of seeing friendships develop among students through their time on campus. He says, “My parents always told me that the people I meet in high school will be my life-long friends.” They were right! https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 8/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

Subscribe Past Issues Translate Todd goes on to say, “I feel that my class or people around my class years are close because of the experiences we've had at Mid-Pacific. Our classes were made up of athletes, hula dancers, and outgoing people who kept us together. We wanted to win every competition the school had (spirit week, tug-o-war, etc.). Some of the things that my friends try to do to keep close over the years are: have yearly trips, dinners at each of our houses every month, and support each other's children.”

As for words of wisdom, he offers the following advice to students:

1. Treat each other like you would like to be treated. You never know how your paths will cross in the future. 2. Make memories with the time you have. Be a kid. Life is tough. 3. Give back. Leave people or places better than you found them.”

Class of 2007

The Class of 2007 feels their class is close because everyone genuinely cares about one another. Class representative, Leanna Agcaoili ’07 says, “For many of us, our reunion was a time for us to sustain and reconnect friendships. It provided us the opportunity to network and celebrate each other's successes from the past ten years. We valued https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 9/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020 physically spending time together. As soon as the bell rang, everyone rushed to have their Subscribe Past Issues Translate video game sleepovers, surf sessions at Sandy's, going to the mall and movies, or even eating at Manoa Marketplace. We didn't rideshare -- we rode the bus or piled into friends' cars because they had their license! It's these memories that hold near and dear to my classmates' hearts.”

Leanna goes on to say, “One way my friends and I stayed connected in college was by writing letters to each other. ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ was one of the last movies we watched together before we left for our freshman year of college. On the fifth day of every month, we mailed letters to each other sharing stories about our personal experiences in college. It was a fun way for us to stay connected more than just phone calls, social media, and Skype. We all still have our letters stored in our families' houses till this day.”

Here is Leanna’s message to the Class of 2020: “You're all truly living in a historical time in our lives. Take photos together. Record videos of moments that make you smile with them. Journal your meaningful conversations. You'll only live these moments once, and it's going to fly by quickly. You won't want to forget this journey!”

Class of 2015

Class Representative, Treana Garcia-Perreira ’15 shared a few favorite memories about her class. “The Class of 2015 is like no other! Our class was so welcoming and all we really wanted to do in high school was have fun! We became close to one another because of our amazing advisors Mrs. Kerry Wheeler and Mr. R. Kevin Doyle. They hosted as many events as they could for us, since the beginning of our freshman year, to help us bond and get to know everyone in our class. We really connected with our advisors and they always instilled school pride, which is why we won every high school contest (yes we still brag about that). During senior year, we even celebrated the days until graduation with parties on campus. Our class was extremely supportive of each other, and we became such a close family early on in high school.

“I keep my Mid-Pacific friends very close to my heart as they are the ones who made my years at Mid-Pacific so memorable. We all stayed connected on our Facebook page. Mrs. https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 10/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020 Wheeler even challenged us to post selfies at our colleges, and she consistently checked Subscribe Past Issues Translate in on us, especially during our first year in college when the homesickness started to kick in. I stay in contact with my friends through social media & when everyone comes home for winter/summer break, we meet up as much as we can! Our class loves to go out and you will always run into someone at a bar or at the beach. I have a core group of friends that I stay in contact with. We always check in with one another since we all live in different states. We hang out when we can and we also vacation together!

“My advice to the graduating Class of 2020 is to always check in on your friends. Even though college is a new and exciting experience, there comes a time when you will want to reconnect with your high school friends. They are people who have known you for years and it’s comforting being able to share connections and relive memories. So take that trip to see your best friends when you miss them, call them occasionally, and always hang out when you are home! Mid-Pacific has given me lifelong friends and I am forever grateful for that!”

Ka Ulu Pueo - Class of 2020

A special group of students from the Class of 2020 literally grew up together on the Mid- Pacific campus. These students entered Mid-Pacific in preschool or kindergarten and on this day, May 23, they become Ka Ulu Pueo - a designation reserved for 15- and 13-year Mid-Pacific students - together. Congratulations to all of our Ka Ulu Pueo - may your friendships soar many years more!

Legacy Friendships https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 11/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Some friendships span generations. Friends Jacob Bow, Adam Kobayashi, Shawn Loui, Eli Sniffen and Simon Sniffen are all sons of Mid-Pacific friends from the Class of 1991. And for Adam, cousins Trevor Okinaka and Aaren Umemoto, and the Sniffen brothers, their grandmothers went to Mid-Pacific together back in the 1960s.

With 180 legacy families on campus totalling 239 students, multi-generational friendships continue. Enjoy these pictures from the most recent Mid-Pacific Alumni Legacy Dinner back in November 2019. VIEW

High School Sweethearts

Among the types of friendships Mid-Pacific has brought together is a very special group: high school sweethearts who eventually married and remain a family ‘til this day. Lane Nogawa ’97 and Lureen Tanaka-Nogawa ’97 met in seventh grade and became a couple their sophomore year. Flash forward to 2020, the Nogawas have two children at Mid- Pacific, Toby ’25 and Kaira ’28, and are very active in baseball, hula and their kids’ other activities on campus. When asked about the secret to maintaining their relationship over the years, Lureen says, “Like all relationships in our lives, communication, respect and patience are important... and to remember that relationships take work. Don't worry about the past, or the future. Enjoy the moment you're in!”

Coffee Companions

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 12/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Mid-Pacific is a place that fosters longtime friendships not just for students, but for teachers as well. Ann Kondo, student activities coordinator, and Gale Ikeda, art teacher, have been friends since 1986, the year Ann arrived at Mid-Pacific as an 8th grade social studies teacher. Gale started in 1977 and the two friends met by way of Linda Cook who was the Social Studies Department Chair at the time. All three of them still keep in touch, a friendship lasting 34 years and counting.

At some point, perhaps around 2008 when Ann’s daughter Mari graduated, Ann and Gale began having coffee to start and end the week. Coming from opposite ends of the island, both drove in really early to avoid traffic and have some downtime before school began. They’d see each other in the dark morning and once in a while would get coffee together up at Manoa Marketplace since it was still only 6 a.m. Eventually, fellow early risers Dunn Muramaru and Faye Aki, both former middle school teachers now retired, joined them. Until this day, you can find these coffee buddies starting the week on Monday at Coffee Bean and ending the week at Starbucks on Friday.

Says Ann about these friendships, “A positive of this pandemic is it’s giving us pause to remember all the good times and people who have brought us to this day. We’ve seen and lived through a lot of Mid- Pacificʻs history together. Without Mid- Pacific our lives would have been very different. It’s a special place for us.”

Crew of Coaches

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 13/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Forged on the fields, courts, and hallways of Mid-Pacific, these 40-plus year friends were classmates, fellow faculty members, parents and coaches together. They still go on trips and gather every year for the Super Bowl on Maui. Among their earliest Zoom calls during this quarantine time was a pau hana with each other back in March. This crew of coaches includes former boys basketball/football coach Craig Roberts ’79; former dean, social studies teacher and former baseball/football coach Yasuo Yorita; former social studies teacher, basketball/football coach Wayne Feike ’79; former boys basketball and current girls basketball coach Matty Miguel ’80; Director of Student Activities and former basketball/football/softball and current CSAL coach Bill Wheeler ’79; former PE teacher and basketball/football coach Jerry Fornelia; and current Pac-5 head football coach Kip Botelho ’80.

Answering the Call

Gabrielle “Gabi” Turnbull ’22 has started the Oahu branch of Zoomers to Boomers, a network of mostly teenagers who offer grocery shopping and delivery service for kupuna and others who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. The goal is to help people who have no one to do their shopping for them. There is no delivery fee and tipping is discouraged. Gabi has recruited about 20 volunteers from around the island, who each handle two to four deliveries a week. Hear more from Gabi herself about Zoomers to Boomers in this article from the Star Advertiser. Way to go, Gabi! READ MORE

For more information about Zoomers to Boomers click here.

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 14/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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We are proud of alumnus Jeffrey Jay ’92 for his work on the front line as a nurse in the COVID-19 ward at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to your community! He says, “Congratulations to Mid-Pacific Class of 2020! Stay home, stay safe for yourself, your family, and everyone you love. This is ONLY temporary. We will get through this.”

Jeffrey Jay ’92 taking some time to walk his pups.

Local art teacher and alumna, Laurel Nakanishi '02 is using her 11 years of experience to help Hawaii children through this pandemic. She has created ten interactive video lessons, “Writing with Auntie Laurel,” to help children express themselves by using poetry to deal with their emotions. Visit her website.

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 15/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Michel Ng ’91 has worked at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for the last decade where he serves as a Nurse Practitioner in the fields of infectious disease (HIV/HCV), hepatology, and gastroenterology. During the current pandemic, he has volunteered to take on the challenge of working with the clinical trials office, to treat hospitalized patients with investigational agents such as remdesivir, plasma and other biologics. Having lived through the HIV crisis in the early 90s, 9/11, and multiple citywide blackouts/storms, he has seen his city rise anew from the ashes and flames time and again. While disheartened by the huge toll COVID-19 has taken on the social and political fabric of our nation, he is hopeful that we will overcome this crisis through compassion, wisdom, and courage. He wishes his classmates well, that they stay healthy, and continue to follow the guidance of science. Says his classmate, Heidi Kim ’91, “I was lucky to have Michel in many of my classes in high school and he was someone I always looked forward to seeing. I remember him as an extremely kind and highly intelligent person. I am not surprised that he is now in a profession where he can put both of those qualities to such good use.” We all wish you the best, Michel – thank you for your important work on the front lines.

For many Mid-Pacific families, the COVID- 19 pandemic has caused sudden and unexpected financial hardships.

The Owl Strong Response Fund enables our school to meet its highest priorities during these trying times. If the timing is right, please know your gift at any amount is deeply appreciated. Thank you for your continued support of Mid-Pacific. To learn more, click here.

From the Classroom

https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 16/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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The 2020 Virtual Visual Arts Gallery is now open! Browse the work of our amazing artists and read about Mid-Pacific’s visual arts curriculum from Ms. Jill Johnson, high school visual/digital arts program head. VIEW

We accidentally aged 2016 graduate Ke‘ala O’Connell 20 years in the last issue when we noted her as a 1996 alumna! The good news is, this typo gives us another chance to promote her amazing work, a capstone project to earn her BFA in Dance at Southern Methodist University. Enjoy embers to ash, also featuring the talents of Ke‘ala’s sister, Kalena ’23, and Koa San Luis ’16 who filmed, edited, and composed and produced an original score for the film. https://vimeo.com/419097537 Follow Ke‘ala on Instagram @kealaoconnell.

A Special Message to the Class of 2020

Mr. Galen Narimatsu graduated from Mid-Pacific in 1955, went on to earn his degree at the University of Hawaii, and served for 32 years in the US Army, including two tours in Vietnam. In 2009 he was honored as Alumnus of the Year for his contributions to Mid-Pacific as a former https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 17/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020 member of the Board of Counselors, Subscribe Past Issues Translate President of the Mid-Pacific Institute Alumni Association, class representative and member of the M-Club. To the Class of 2020, this distinguished alumnus says, “I wish you all the best. Take care of yourselves. Trust in your common sense. Remain flexible. Whenever I don the mask to combat coronavirus, I will think of the Class of 2020.” Mahalo, Mr. Narimatsu, for your warm aloha and many years of service to Mid-Pacific.

Something to Brighten Your Day

Ms. Bella Congon’s ELD Listening and Speaking class has more Genius Hour projects to share to help people dealing with COVID-19. Student Yuyuko Miyazaki’s driving question was, “How can I raise the awareness of how the outbreak has affected the traditional shops in Japan and to encourage people to stay home by making miniature traditional shops in Japan?” Enjoy her video.

Kosuke Horie’s driving question was, “How can I write lyrics to encourage people to stay home with the stay at home order?” Enjoy his creative take on a familiar classic. https://mailchi.mp/midpac.edu/friendships-that-endure?e=5bd58d6793 18/19 5/26/2020 #OwlStrong Newsletter, May 23, 2020

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Resources for Students and Parents

In case you missed it, links to follow end of year ceremonies can be found on myPueo.

5th Grade Leavetaking WATCH 8th Grade Kaleihala WATCH Athletics Honors & Awards Banquet WATCH

If you have any questions, please contact Heidi Kim, Parent Relations Liaison at (808) 973-5022 or [email protected].

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

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