KidNews
Students log the memories of their break from school
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
It's supposed to be a vacation from school, but some students spent it learning.
Some of them spent it criss-crossing the globe. Some stayed home but checked out local attractions they'd never got around to seeing. And some of them did, in fact, simply rest.
Actually, it's impossible to say what a vacation is "supposed to be," judging by the wide variety of replies The Advertiser got to this year's "Summer Scoop" invitation for reader essays.
More than 200 young people sent in their essays. Many, believing the maxim that a picture is worth 1,000 words, enclosed a photo along with their written memories (most people scribbled far fewer than 1,000, so there was a lot more to say).
We wished we could print more of them, but here is a small sampling of what we found in our overflowing mailbox:
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| Candy striper Christa O'Connor on her summer job. |
William Bower, 6, wrote about his studies on how things grow at the Lyon Arboretum. The Lanikai resident, a first-grader at Iolani School, said he "learned to care for plants and for the earth. I sprouted lima, Anazazi, corn and kidney beans, and later, planted them with my grandaunt Kazuko Imamura in her special garden." William said he learned that some plantings were older than auntie while others were younger than his little brother Robert, and that "we are all connected to each other."
Another 6-year-old, A.J. Domingo of Kalihi Kai Elementary School, spent part of the summer in California, fulfilling a widespread keiki fantasy: visiting Disneyland and Six Flags Magic Mountain. Disneyland topped everything, A.J. said. "I got to meet my favorite character, Buzz Lightyear, from 'Toy Story,'" he wrote. "I knew he was real and wasn't just a cartoon."
Anyone's summer sounds like slacking next to the one 16-year-old Debbie Liu spent. The St. Andrew's Priory senior took two college classes, joined a police department mentorship program, spent a week at a health-care student conference in Virginia, took an online public-health course and worked in the University of Hawai'i at Manoa microbial physiology research lab, "where I extracted DNA from previously unknown microorganisms in the soil and classified them." Oh, and she carried on with lessons for her piano students.
There was sadness and joy abounding in the summer spent by Emily and Daniel Araki, who moved to Pearl City from Rhode Island. Emily, who celebrated her 10th birthday, loved being a bridesmaid at her aunt's wedding; Daniel turned 13 and had a date at a teen dance, always important milestones. There were farewells to old friends and hopes that new friends made here will ease that pain. "This summer was definitely packed," he wrote. "It had its ups and downs, but the ups overruled."
Amanda Wong, 11, enjoyed a visit to New York during happier days for that now-troubled city, including a visit to the World Trade Center. There was food of every description to sample, a subway ride, and something really thrilling to pre-teens: "Here I am with my cousin Kevin," she wrote, explaining her photo. "We are standing at 42nd and Broadway, where they tape 'TRL' on MTV with Carson Daly."
Amanda Wong and cousin Kevin Wong pose with Chinatown fans.
Zachary Fonoimoana, an 11-year-old from Kahuku High and Intermediate School, made it to the second round of the National Scholastic Surfing Championships in San Clemente, Calif., and placed second in the Rip Curl Grom contest in Santa Monica. "When I got in from surfing, I realized how stoked I was that I was in California," he wrote, then added: "I was really proud on how I did in the contests."
Jovial Kinimaka of Stevenson Middle School kicked back with movies, shopping and babysitting and enjoyed some excitement at a family reunion. "It was really cool seeing all my other aunties, uncles and cousins from all over the U.S.," she wrote. "I think it's pretty sad to just walk by someone that's family and not even know it. So, it's good I had that."
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| Monica Lee pauses for refreshment in Kalalau, Kaua'i. |
Stanley Himeno-Okamoto, a 9-year-old student at Kupono Learning Center, penned an evocative poem about his summertime visit to Ireland:
Bless the lakes of Killarney,
beautiful lakes where I see
the clouds reflecting
off the water,
the silver of salmon bodies
beneath the blue of canals
on the Blackwater lake
where a man leads
a mule pulling
a blue cart
filled with peat,
heat for Irish homes
near the hollow castles of Dublin
that sip water from the sky,
humming over fields of barley, wheat and sugar beets,
a sweet blessing
for a hungry island boy.
Shin Kim is framed by the famous Tower Bridge in London.
Shin Kim, a Sacred Hearts Academy senior, reveled in her experiences throughout her European adventure. England brought her face to face with the mystery of Stonehenge and the wonders of the crown jewels. But France, she said, was the best: "Notre Dame reminded me of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,'" she wrote. "I still wonder where Esmerelda was."
Hawai'i students aren't the only ones relishing their travels. Rebecca Jane Bathrick, 12, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., described her discovery of snorkeling during her summer vacation here. "Jumping into the warm Hawaiian water is like stepping into a silent, foreign world," she wrote. "The fish swim all around, like dancing clowns at the circus. They dash in all directions as if to entertain me. The next moment they dash away, remembering they are fish and are frightened by the strange intruders."
Rebecca Jane Bathrick, 12, of Colorado, on a Hawai'i beach with her brother Brody.
Cherry Cachero and partner Ador Oliver romp on the lava fields.
Cherry Cachero, 18, related "the most life-altering experience of my young life" — her enrollment in the math and science program of Upward Bound, at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo campus. It took her and her Micronesian partner, Ador Oliver, onto the lava fields, where the Hawai'i Volcano Observatory geologists did their work.
Tracy Ho, a sophomore at Sacred Hearts Academy, developed a new skill that she values more than the traveling opportunities or big parties that were not part of her summer experience. "I took up judo," she wrote. "It was the best thing that I did ... besides getting a good workout, I learned as well. I learned about myself being more responsible. I found out how much farther I could push myself, and to fulfill my obligations."
Finally, 11-year-old Sky Uyehara, a student at Hawaii Baptist Academy, will remember the summer of 2001 as a bittersweet time in her life, one that began with some carefree relaxation and included a Mainland trip. But by mid-July she'd experienced the death of her grandmother. The family had spent time with her in the hospital before they left. "Grandma had set it all up," Sky wrote. "When we were gone, she passed away ... when my grandma died I had chills in Virginia City. It was like she was telling me that it is time for her to go."
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| Melissa McIntyre of Mililani knew she'd caught a fish in the Lorrancian Mountains: "All the fish were delicious, and even better because they were caught by our labor." | Sacred Hearts Academy student Maile Galagcac (center) called "being able to step back through history" at the USS Missouri a highlight of her summer. |
Summer was a time for learning for many students, and Sky found a clearer realization of her love for her grandmother. "She always supported us," she wrote. "She would always say, 'Never let your dreams go.'"
