Our Schools • McKinley High School
At home of Tigers, students know 'they're in a good place'
By Jean Chow
Advertiser Staff Writer
Students at President William McKinley High School have at least one thing in common.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
They all know, or quickly learn, the one unofficial, unspoken "rule" — nobody walks on the oval.
A statue of President McKinley stands in front of the high school's administration building. Tradition dictates that until they graduate, students must not tread on the grass oval surrounding the statue. The boy in foreground is on "safe" ground.
"The oval is the grass area at the front of the school surrounding the McKinley statue," said Vice Principal John Hammond. "There's a tradition that nobody walks on that oval until graduation. On grad day, the graduates can walk on it; that's when you earn the 'right.' "
Hammond, who has served as vice principal for seven years, said the tradition has been kept since before he started working at the school more than 30 years ago.
"It's funny — you see all the kids walking back and forth (around the area). Everyone knows."
• What are you most proud of? "I would say that as a school, we go out of our way to try to make students feel that this is their home for the four years that they're here," Hammond said. "It's a schoolwide effort — done by faculty, staff, custodians, cafeteria workers — to let students know that they're in a good place."
• Best-kept secret: "We have great lunches. Our cafeteria manager, Mitch Arnold, provides good lunches for the kids." Arnold not only tries to make meals nourishing but also serves generous portions because "our kids like to eat," Hammond said, with a laugh.
• Everybody at our school knows: Bill Holland, head of security, who supervises and promotes campus safety. "He's very visible and gets to know everyone," Hammond said. "And he's got a voice that gets everybody's attention!"
• Our biggest challenge: "Our school's vision statement is 'to graduate a successful person,' and the biggest challenge is to achieve that vision, to make sure we are able to do that, both socially and academically," Hammond said.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
"Some of our students come to us not quite ready to buy into that vision, so it's our job to show them how they can address that."
McKinley High School students, from left, Hanna Leung, 17, Hok Him Lau, 17, and Connie Ma, 14, work in the school's computer lab.
• What we need: "Our need is to continue to upgrade our programs — and keep them relevant— to fit the needs of our students," Hammond said.
• Projects: The school's latest project is to put together an industrial arts program in which students will be involved in printing, "to the point where we might be able to do all the printing (for the Department of Education)," Hammond said. "We want to let the kids learn how to do it (well enough) so that they could go over to Kinko's and run the place."
• Special events: Hammond mentioned several special events, including homecoming, but said McKinley is most famous for "our annual commencement exercise (which is) held outdoors on the school grounds every year."
At a glance
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Where: 1039 S. King St., Honolulu
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Phone: 594-0400
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Web address: www.mckinley.k12.hi.us
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Principal: Milton Shishido, three years
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School nickname: Tigers
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School colors: Black and gold
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Enrollment: McKinley is one of the state's largest public high schools with about 1,900 students.
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SATs: Here's how McKinley students fared on the most recent Stanford Achievement Test. Listed is the combined percentage of students scoring average and above average, compared with the national combined average of 77 percent. Tenth grade reading, 71 percent; math, 75 percent.
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History: The school was established in 1869 as Fort Street English Day School in the basement of Fort Street Church. In 1869, the school moved into a new stone building at the corner of Fort and School streets. In 1895, it moved to Princess Ruth's palace and was renamed Honolulu High School. In 1907, it moved to the corner of Beretania and Victoria streets and was renamed McKinley High after the president. The school moved to its present site on South King Street in 1923.
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Special programs or classes: McKinley students often attend the school specifically to enroll in its business learning center/finance academy program. The program specializes in helping students prepare for jobs in the financial world, such as accounting and banking. This year, the school is also starting an academy of tourism to prepare students for jobs in that industry.
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Computers: There are three computer labs in the school and at least one or two computers in each classroom.
To get your school profiled, call education editor Dan Woods at 525-5441 or e-mail dwoods@honoluluadvertiser.com.
