By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Staff Writer
Doug Hiu walks with his head held high. In his eyes, the look of a champion.
It’s not just because the Kahuku High senior was a star on the football team that won the state championship and that he’s an all-state linebacker. It’s not because he’s a state wrestling standout.
It’s because he and his 279 classmates were held to higher standards than any other class at Kahuku, higher standards than required by the Department of Education. And they’re proud.
Kahuku High and Intermediate school administration started cracking the whip on attendance, athletic eligibility and promotion six years ago. They called it the "Kahuku Rule."
For example, the DOE requires a 2.0 grade-point average for athletes during the athletic season. Kahuku requires at least a 2.0 for athletes year-round. Athletes also have weekly grade-checks and mandatory study hall if their academic performance is slipping.
The attendance policy is an eye-opener. Students are allowed just four absences in a term, but have to make up those absences in Saturday school. Any more than four absences means automatic failure.
The idea was this: Raise the bar, and the students jump higher.
As Hiu puts it, "You have to. You have no choice."
This year’s class of graduating seniors is the first to be held to all three new levels of performance since seventh grade. And the school staff is saying the results are remarkable.
There were 160 seniors who made the honor roll this year. Fifty had a 4.0 GPA or higher.
There’s also been an increase in students applying to college, and getting in to their top choices.
College and career adviser Raynae Fonoimoana points out that the higher academic standards are closer to the NCAA’s 2.5 GPA requirement. "We have very few kids who can’t accept athletic scholarships because they’ve had to keep their grades up all the time," she says.
Principal Lisa DeLong believes the system is working because the high standards are backed by a strong support system to help students achieve.
"Some people see it as a dichotomy, that when the students don’t achieve the standards, we don’t nail them, we help them," says DeLong. "But it’s like strong families, where much is expected of the kids but there’s a support system when they fail. There are different paths to get to a diploma."
Hiu, who described himself as "really lost" as a freshman, found himself in the rules and discipline. He just got accepted to the University of Hawai‘i. He says the higher requirements set a new tone on campus, establishing the positive side of peer pressure.
"You do your best because everybody is trying their best. You don’t want to be the only bum hanging around."
Lee Cataluna’s e-mail address is lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com
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