"Back when I was a freshman," 1981 grad Poyer Gaui said, "nobody at Campbell talked about college. Everybody was laid-back. We played sports, got our core requirements done and didn't think about what we were going to do after graduation until our senior year.

"Today, I see them tutoring students and aiming them in the college direction their freshman year," added Gaui, an assistant football coach at Campbell the past 15 years.

All of it starts from the top, said Selena Gaui, a 1984 Campbell graduate.

"When my son started school I could see how much different it was since I was a student here," Selena Gaui said. "That's because of Dr. (Gail) Awakuni. She's such a good principal."

Maggie Soares, an educational assistant/career resource specialist and Campbell faculty member for 25 years, said Awakuni thinks in terms of "big dreams."

Awakuni's administration has not only pushed seniors to graduate high school but to further their education, whether it be in college, auto mechanics or business school, Soares added.

"My dream is to get to college and to be an architect," Shane Gaui said.

Campbell graduates were offered $4.88 million in scholarships last year, second highest among public schools in the state, according to Awakuni.

The "Breakthrough School" designation honors schools that have at least 50 percent minority students, 50 percent qualifying for free or reduced lunch — a common measure of poverty — and most significantly, 90 percent of their graduates accepted into college or other qualifying post-secondary programs.

• What are you most proud of? Principal Awakuni said it's the "culture of high expectations and accomplishments of our students and staff," from teachers to custodians, cafe workers and managers, security, aides and part-time helpers.

• Best-kept secret: "Our campus looks like a junior college campus that is well-maintained," Awakuni said. "Students may enroll in community college courses on campus and at the college site and earn dual credits (high school and college credit). Also, we have a bell schedule that is a modified block, in which students can earn eight credits instead of six credits per year. The schedule allows students to accelerate or remediate. Teachers teach three periods a day, with one period for intensive professional development focus."

• Everybody at our school knows: Sandy Matias, head custodian, is "the menehune who comes to work during weekends to remove graffiti, is the first to respond to emergencies and is a terrific cook (Gonduli rice and patelli)," Awakuni said.

• Our biggest challenge: "Gaining public trust and developing community pride," Awakuni said.

• What we need: "More funding to meet increasing demands of (No Child Left Behind) facing all schools, and (also) qualified teachers."

• Project wish list. Includes building an athletic facility, auditorium and more classrooms to meet the growth of the community; restructuring the school with "High Schools That Work" as a reform model into smaller learning communities; implementing a schoolwide E Portfolio system; literacy instruction in reading, writing and mathematics; and a pyramid of interventions for students who are not responding.