OUR SCHOOLS • KALAHEO HIGH
'Small school' is often big winner in athletics, academics

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

Last season, when the Kalaheo High School boys basketball team captured the state championship, one of the players told principal Jim Schlosser that he was most proud that the team had to face three private schools to win.

Lt. Cmdr. Hank Van Oss teaches at Kalaheo High, which has earned the reputation of having an outstanding Junior ROTC unit. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

With just a little more than 1,000 students, Kalaheo offers a wide range of programs that have won state and national attention.

The basketball program has been one of Kalaheo's strengths for years. The boys' team has won eight of the past 10 O'ahu Interscholastic Association boys' basketball titles and has appeared in the state championship game three of the past five years.

The girls' team has also made it to the final game three times in recent years. Kalaheo has also excelled at soccer and girls track and field.

The National Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps has consistently been recognized as one of the outstanding units in the region.

"It brings a sense of decorum to a public school," Schlosser said. "We'd all like to see more formality in our society."

Lt. Cmdr. Hank Van Oss, senior naval science instructor at Kalaheo, said the 130 cadets have found a niche in dominating JROTC triathlons: They have won 10 of the last 11 they entered.

The school also is known for its communication arts program, one of 30 state Department of Education Learning Centers of Excellence. Students learn to operate myriad technologies, develop communication skills and become savvy viewers. They have won more than 300 awards in local and national competitions.

This year, students have qualified for the National History Day competition in Washington, D.C. Schlosser is also proud of an electronic media course that produces a campus news program for broadcast Monday through Friday.

To push a high standard of excellence for every student, the school a few years ago started requiring all 12th-graders to write a senior paper. Papers must be at least five pages long, include a bibliography and cover topics ranging from the Bill of Rights and how it affects the student to an event in history that has had an impact on their family. Every teacher on campus mentors students one-on-one. Papers are graded by a panel of teachers.

All 11th-grade students now must write a junior paper. The writing program will extend to sophomores next year.

Students work on the paper from September through January, and it accounts for a large portion of their grade.

"Our goal is to force them to think deeply about their assumptions to challenge the world around them," Schlosser said. "We believe writing is a critical part of a student's understanding of the academic world."

Of course, he realizes that students see things differently. "They feel like they're being tortured," he said.

Schlosser said the campus tries to encourage a higher level of academic work in other areas as well.

Freshman English students recently held a Shakespeare Night for parents and teachers, learning to approach the play "Romeo and Juliet" as directors and actors instead of as readers. "It's the way it's meant to be experienced," said teacher Jamie Suehiro.

What are you most proud of? "I'm proud of the hard work the faculty has done to develop a standards-based curriculum," Schlosser said. "I'm also proud of the senior paper. It takes a willingness on the part of all of the faculty to do it successfully."

Best-kept secret: The overall quality of the education, Schlosser said. "We're a small school and we don't get much support, but we consistently exceed national standards and have been able to compete in various arenas against much larger schools," he said.

Everyone at school knows: Kim Koopman, a biology teacher and a graduation adviser. She's one of the most popular teachers on campus and has taught at Kalaheo for seven years. Also Pete Smith, the school's basketball coach, who has taught several students through his P.E. classes and is now serving temporarily as vice principal.

What we need: Kalaheo's faculty would like to have more control over improving the school's learning environment. Like most public schools, Kalaheo has little discretionary money to use on its facilities. Parents and alumni have come out in force to paint the interior of a different building each year. They have also helped create gardens and rock walls. Schlosser said he'd also love to be able to hire more teachers.