HAWAI'I WAYS, HAWAI'I DAYS
Monkeypod watches over Ma'ema'e
By Stacy Yuen Hernandez
Special to The Advertiser
When the sun shines in the valley
O'er our school so cool and green...
So starts the beloved Ma'ema'e School song. Beloved to those who attended this wonderful school in Nu'uanu Valley.
I drive past Ma'ema'e Elementary each day and still hear the laughter of my childhood as a student there more than 30 years ago.
Underneath the shady monkeypod
Happy children work and play ...
The tree still stands watch over the school, long after most of my teachers have retired.
I fondly recall my favorite, Mrs. Nora Chong, who taught first grade, in Room 9. She instilled in me a love of learning.
Most of my lifelong friendships began at Ma'ema'e. We would sit on the concrete walkway before school, trading stickers from homemade albums made from squares of waxed paper stapled together.
The Japanese girls had fancy vinyl pencil cases filled with pencils and sweet-smelling erasers from Hakubundo.
There were fads, including "The Pet Rock." But I never got one, just as I never got Kabonkers — two oversized marbles attached to string that you would clack together. They obviously were invented before there were toy safety standards, because Kabonkers could easily be used as weapons — sort of like whimsical nunchaku sticks.
I did have a Lemon Twist, a plastic lemon on a black vinyl rope that looped at the end. You would put your foot through the loop, swinging the lemon around in a sort of skipping motion.
But it wasn't all play. Ma'ema'e was and still is a leader in elementary education. We learned basic physics in science class. Standing out on the playground with an Exchange juice can filled with water, we swung the can around on a string without spilling as our introduction to centrifugal force.
Music was an important part of the curriculum, too. Our red and white Flutophones could be heard throughout the valley.
When the recess bell rang, we headed to the cafeteria, or "the caf," as the cool kids called it. There we would buy frozen juice or cocoa for 5 cents. We referred to these primitive popsicles as "ice."
We were a democratic bunch, and I believe it was when I was in the fifth or sixth grade that we voted on a school mascot. We chose to be the Dolphins, and I recall it was because the Miami Dolphins won the Super Bowl in 1974.
Perhaps what we did at Ma'ema'e was the same as all the other Hawai'i elementary schools in the 1970s. I'm sure we played the same games, conducted the same science experiments and outgrew the same fads.
But there is a magical quality about the school which I can't pinpoint or describe to this day. Maybe it's the distinct aroma of my first day of kindergarten, something like a blend of cubbyholes and wooden puzzles, or maybe the sanctuary-like atmosphere of the monkeypod-shaded grassy area in the center of the school.
My daughter will be attending this 105-year-old school in a few years, and I'm sure she, too, will one day have fond memories of a school so dear.
Stacy Yuen Hernandez is a Honolulu free-lance writer who works part-time in the classified advertising section of The Advertiser.
Hawai'i Ways, Hawai'i Days is a column of essays by readers on what makes Hawai'i unique. Send your article of 500-600 words with your address and daytime phone number, and address it to Hawai'i Ways, Hawai'i Days. You may e-mail islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com; fax 525-8055; or mail to The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Sending a headshot of yourself is optional. Articles and photos submitted to The Advertiser may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.
