At first, the children wouldn't sing by themselves. They came in with their buddies, three at a time, to audition for Noelani Mahoe.

But over time, the chorus at Blanche Pope Elementary School in Waimanalo grew so popular, half the school wanted to audition. The kids, 240 of them, had to come in one at a time to sing for their no-nonsense teacher, Mrs. Mahoe, who sat through it all.

"One boy, he was a special-ed student, he came in and sat across the room from me with his back to me and started singing," Mahoe says. "And what a beautiful voice! I taught him 'ukulele and guitar, and he just caught on so fast, but he was just a natural singer."

Mahoe eventually got him to face forward.

There were a lot of turnarounds during Mahoe's tenure as Hawaiian-culture teacher at Pope Elementary from 1970-1980. She led the kids from the little country school to concerts on big stages, performances on the Mainland, a tour of Japan and several recording sessions.

"I would ask the teachers to send me children they think need to develop self-esteem, even though they may not be great singers, to help them develop. And so I had some children, I'm not going to say who, but they didn't have the greatest voices, but it helped their self-esteem. I wanted that for them."

The children's chorus, called Waimanalo Keiki, made a Christmas album that became an instant favorite.

Now, 30 years later, Mahoe has re-released the classic "Mele Kalikimaka" and a second album, "Keiki o Waimanalo — Surf, Sand and Song" on CD.

"I wanted to do this 10 years ago, and we started, but just never finished," Mahoe says. "And then I thought, you know what, I'm getting old. It was now or never."

There aren't many Hawaiian albums for kids, and Mahoe says that children especially love hearing the voices of other children. These were the main reasons she wanted to get the recordings out on CD.

But also, the albums represent fond memories and proud achievements.

Mahoe is widely regarded as an expert in Hawaiian music and language. She published the classic "Na Mele O Hawai'i Nei, 101 Hawaiian Songs," and studied the Hawaiian language under Samuel Elbert and Mary Kawena Pukui. She has recorded and performed with Leo Nahenahe for more than 40 years. For many, including her former students, she is, as the expression goes, the source.

"Oh, yeah. There's some that call me all the time. 'Auntie, you know the words to this song?' or 'Auntie, I'm going to do this — what you think?' "

At the height of popularity in the 1970s, the Waimanalo Keiki were invited to sing at hotels, shopping centers and city events. Parents formed a booster club and ferried the kids to all their gigs.

"You know what was so amazing? Some of the parents had never been to Waikiki," Mahoe says. "The first time they had been to the hotels was when the kids went to sing."

The chorus was invited to perform for a school in California, so off they went, knowing only that they would be hosted by families from the school.

"My principal's sister was teaching there and kind of arranged things, and I didn't realize until we got there that we were staying in Beverly Hills. The kids all stayed with wealthy families. ... And the kids would tell me, 'Mrs. Mahoe, I have my own bed!' and 'Mrs. Mahoe, when I get home, they take my clothes and wash my clothes!' "

In the summer of 1978, the Waimanalo Keiki went to Japan on a tour that included so many performances, Mahoe got mad and had to put her foot down.

"These are children, they're not cattle!" she remembers saying. The kids were just so popular. Everyone wanted to see them.

"At the hotel we stayed at, you know, the kids were so friendly, they'd go downstairs, make friends with the people in the stores, help them fold clothes and put things away. When we left there, the storekeepers all came up to say goodbye to the kids."

She taught her students to play instruments, to sing in three-part harmony and to dance hula the correct way, but she balanced these lessons with a healthy dose of practicality.

"I always told the kids, 'I don't care what you do, but make sure you have a job. You play music on the side. Unless you going be Danny Kaleikini.' "

Some of them did.

One day, one of her students called her to say he was going to take a job as a musician.

"I said, 'Listen, will you be able to support your family?' He said, 'Yeah, Auntie, I think I can.' I said, "OK. ... Now make sure you have medical insurance.' "

A CD release party is planned for 10 a.m. Dec. 10 at the Elks Club in Waikiki. Mahoe is hoping to gather as many former Waimanalo Keiki as she can, whether they were on the albums or not, for a kind of reunion.

"We found some. And I called some of the parents and some of the ones I know, I told them, 'Come on, start looking for everybody. Tell them come down and bring your group! And if they cannot make it, you come down yourself and bring your instrument!' "

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.