Scouts come to Kahuku High's aid

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAHUKU — For more than a decade, facilities at Kahuku High School suffered from neglect. Budget shortfalls meant little or no maintenance to the football field scoreboard, press box, storage shed and concession stand and the gym.

Kahuku seniors, from left, Zed Ah Quin, Wilson Unga and Solomon Lee earned Eagle Scout badges by completing school restoration projects. Spencer Hafoka, a ninth-grader, also earned an Eagle Scout badge for his work at the school. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kahuku athletic director Linda Semones only needed one boy to ask her if she knew of a possible project for Eagle Scouts to recognize an opportunity for the campus.

"I realized that here's a potential resource that we could use because the school is in such bad shape," Semones said. "So I typed up a list."

From her list of 12 ideas, five were completed this year. She hopes scouts will complete the list next year. Semones estimated the projects saved the state $20,000 to $25,000.

To earn an Eagle Scout badge a boy must plan a project that benefits the community, organize a work crew, obtain materials and see the job through to completion. Scouts had performed such projects at the school before, but never five in one year.

The projects, which took months to plan, taught the boys leadership and organization and stressed the importance of team work — qualities that student Zed Ah Quin said he was weak in.

"It was pretty hard, but I had everybody helping me and pushing me along," said Ah Quin, 18, who installed a new sound system in the gym.

Senior Solomon Lee, a kicker on the football team, chose two projects that would benefit the football program. He cleaned and painted the scoreboard frame, which had gone unpainted for 14 years, and refurbished a shed, known as the House of Pain because it stored equipment for football and other sports.

The shed, neglected for longer than anyone could recall, was surrounded by concrete rubble, trash and weeds. Its paint was chipped and discolored. Red had turned pink and white was brown.

"In Kahuku we pride ourselves on having bad facilities, but I figured this was too much," said Lee, 18, who will attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in the fall.

About 25 people helped on Lee's two projects, putting in about 200 hours in three days. The paint, which cost an estimated $150, was supplied by the school and friends donated a power washer and scaffolding.

Wilson Unga, the student-body president, doubled the size of the athletic field's 15-year-old concession stand. A main source of extra income for the school, workers have had to turn away customers because the service counter was too small, Semones said.

Unga increased the counter to 30 feet, with donations from the Friends of Malaekahana and Home Depot and paint from the school. Unga estimated the cost of the materials at about $940. He led a crew of 20 people working for a couple of hours and 12 who stayed a full day.

Unga, 18, had considered other projects.

"I decided to go with the school because I thought it was most appropriate because it had done a lot for me," said Unga, who will attend Georgetown University in the fall. "(The project) also helped my friends give back to the school while I give back."

Ah Quin arranged for a donation of sound equipment from BYU-Hawai'i to replace a public-address system stolen from the gym.

His team of about 20 people built shelves and took three days to test and install an amplifier, equalizer, mixer and other equipment.

Every time the school had an assembly, game or activity in the gym, it had to rent a sound system at about $100 per event, Semones said. Ah Quin's project will save the school about $2,000 a year, she said.

The final project, and probably the most involved, was done by Spencer Hafoka, a ninth-grader, said Semones. He enclosed the athletic field's press box, installed windows and painted it.

"We would have a problem before if a wind gust came up," Semones said. "It would blow the video camera off the roof. Now they have a nice sheltered area."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.