Schools reopen to hugs, classwork

By James Gonser and Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writers

At Noelani Elementary School in Manoa, kindergarten teacher Paula Sekiguchi hugged each of her students before class yesterday, some three or four at a time.

"

Noelani Elementary School JPOs march to their posts at the Woodlawn Drive crosswalk and school entrance, providing safe crossing for students returning to school yesterday. The "Mahalo" sign was put up earlier by teachers. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

At Hilo Union School on the Big Island, Didi Statler summed up the feelings of parents and caregivers everywhere as she escorted her first-grade grandson back to classes following a tree-week hiatus forced by the teachers strike.

"It's about time," said Statler.

And at Roosevelt High School in Makiki, reality was sinking in for 10th-grader Ashley Furtado by the end of the day.

"I forgot a lot of stuff," Furtado said after school, referring to her algebra class. "They gave us a bunch of classwork and homework and it's all due Monday!"

Across the state, teachers and students said they were happy to be back.

Hawai'i's public schools reopened to 183,000 students, signaling an end to the turmoil fostered by a 20-day walkout that paralyzed the education system, derailed school reform efforts and sent parents scrambling for childcare.

Noelani principal Clayton Fujie visited every classroom to personally greet all 548 students.

"I'll tell them the teachers worked hard to plan for the rest of the year, and now it's your job to learn," he said yesterday morning.

Fujie met with the teachers Wednesday to go over recovery plans for the academic time lost — 14 days. Some field trips will be cut and work condensed, but a few programs, such as the May Day festival and annual talent show, will go on as usual because they are so important to the children.

"It's the little things that kids remember from elementary school," he said. "I don't want them to miss that."

Noelani sixth-grader Ren Ishii had breakfast with her mother in the cafeteria before school. Ren kept up with her studies at home during the strike, and even wrote an essay about the events for her class. "It's good to see my friends again," she said.

Horns tooted and shaka signs abounded from 7 to 7:30 a.m. while teachers waved homemade mahalo and thank-you signs at passing motorists on again-congested Waianuenue Avenue.

Hilo High students were glad to be returning to classes, too.

"I wanna go back; it's been too long," said junior Leisha Mento.

At Campbell High School, the rift that formed during the strike when 12 teachers — the highest number in the state — broke ranks with their colleagues and crossed the picket line was on many minds. Principal Gail Awakuni said no animosity was evident when teachers returned to school Wednesday.

"We're putting the clash aside, and we're focusing on the students," Awakuni said yesterday. "It's been very professional," she said. "We're getting over the pain."

Michael Jaros, a calculus and geometry teacher, said he suspects the teachers won't hold any long-term grudges toward strike breakers.

"The first few days will probably be stressful, but I think we'll forgive and forget," Jaros said. "At least I hope so."

At Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi, Kaua'i, children seemed a little more subdued than normal as they arrived for class.

"They're kind of sleepy, not used to getting up this early," said Principal Maggie Cox, who patrolled the year-old school with two-way radio in hand as classes started.

"It's great. Things are going well," Cox said.

Tonya Murray was happy to be dropping off her son at Lihikai Elementary School in Kahului, Maui, but 6-year-old Ethan wasn't overjoyed. The mom explained that when the strike began, he was missing school and his friends. But as the strike dragged on, he became comfortable without it.

Murray said she took time off from work to watch the boy during the strike. "It was good, actually, because I got to spend some time with my son,'' she said.

Lihikai custodian Ed Kaho'ohanohano said students were excited and that makes him happy.

"I only saw one child cry, but that was just a minor adjustment. Most of them seem eager to come back and start learning again,'' he said.

At Kalani High School, some students were eager to face the challenges of cramming in 14 days of lost education, and others were anxious to resume sports.

Basketball player Krista Young, 14, found the strike came in the middle of her season. She and her teammates will have to hold back-to-back games starting next week

As students stood in clusters by paper signs welcoming them back, they realized they had lost opportunities because of the strike. Baseball players didn't accumulate enough statistics to qualify for scholarships. Track participants lost out on a season.

"I lost my chance of a scholarship because of the strike," said baseball player Sean Kaku. "We had so little bit games, it messed up the stats."

Rodney Roque, a 17-year-old senior, was most upset over graduation week. Normally, Kalani seniors get out of school a week before commencement. But not this year —they'll get out one day before graduation, which is May 31.

"It's going to be the junkest graduation ever," said Roque. "I want to grad, but it's going to be more difficult now that everything has to be crammed in."

With the schools open again, residents can finally begin to put behind them what began three weeks ago as the nation's first-ever shutdown of a state education system from kindergarten through graduate school. More than 12,000 public school teachers and 3,100 university professors walked off the job in dual strikes that began April 5.

It was the Department of Education's longest public education walkout ever.

All that appeared forgotten yesterday as principals, teachers and students reunited around the state to make the best of the 30 school days — 29 now — that remain.

Advertiser staff writers Johnny Brannon, Jan TenBruggencate, Rod Ohira, Timothy Hurley and Hugh Clark contributed to this report.