That's the school's biggest challenge, said Principal Linda Puleloa.

The school must provide everything from college counseling to preparation for every area of science — without a chemistry lab on campus — to ready students to compete in a highly technological world beyond the island's shores.

The good news is it's doing that, said Puleloa. Moloka'i High graduates have gone on to Yale and Stanford as well as other top schools. One recently graduated from the Air Force Academy. Moloka'i High even had a graduate — Kimo Von Oelhoffen —on last year's winning Super Bowl team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though he never played football in high school because Moloka'i has no team.

"Each school has somewhat of a different strength," said Puleloa, "but on Moloka'i, because we're the only public high school, the expectation is we meet all needs."

And that's what the school sets out to do.

"I think I'm most proud of working with a faculty and staff that really care about our kids and does their best to do what needs to be done for them," said Puleloa. "This year I think we're more kid-focused than ever. We have a cadre working together to plan and develop 'kid talk' discussions where we're looking at the data on every single child and assigning teachers to mentor every child according to what each needs."

Best-kept secret: "Not too many things are secret on this island," said Puleloa. "Everybody knows everything about everything."

Everybody at our school knows: The vice principal, Earl Nakamura, more commonly known as "Mistah." Nakamura has been at the school since 1971, and taught some of the parents of children now at the school. "He's got that rapport," said Puleloa. While he takes care of facilities issues, he's also responsible for discipline, and under his tutelage behavior problems have been reduced dramatically.

Our biggest challenge: Being everything to everybody, despite losing positions under the weighted student formula financing system. Eight positions were cut, and people left the island and the school before money was reinstated by the Legislature.

"The money came back but the people were already gone," said Puleloa. "For the rural areas, it's hard to get people to come here in the first place, and we lost some really good people."

What we need: A science lab that can handle chemistry projects. The single lab ended up with the middle school when the high and intermediate were separated two years ago and now must be shared.

Special events: The school sponsors many projects, including "Ohana night" several times a month that highlights programs or offerings at the school. It could vary from a fun math night to an evening with a school counselor talking about how to talk about sex with your children. Before Christmas, there will be a Fine Arts evening — Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria — when student art and other projects are sold, as well as a Science Fair evening to give student science projects their first local judging.

Clubs offer a wide variety of additional activities. The Moloka'i Earth Preservation Organization, a school club, has just returned from a Kaho'olawe cleanup; a group of immersion students is visiting Tahiti for the Polynesian Festival; and the Leo Club collected canned goods for needy families at Thanksgiving. "The Odd Couple" will be on stage in the cafeteria Nov. 28-30, and after the holidays, on March 2, the school will sponsor a giant career fair.

One of the biggest celebrations of the year comes on the Memorial Day weekend when as many as 500 alumni gather for the annual lu'au sponsored by the Alumni Association for classes celebrating 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th or 50th reunions. Every class is responsible for a portion of the entertainment.