nce 1 i s s
de st u nt
Vol. 84, Issue 1
av
e for
August 30, 2008
3
oic
Imua ‘Iolani
92
Honolulu, Hawaii
Molting ‘Io bird statue takes flight
By Stephen Stack
For 23 years the ‘Io bird perched in front of the SAO, but the now-rusty statue has been taken down for safety reasons. A and all that remains of it is its head on a steel stick. Mr. David Roberts decided with Headmaster Dr. Val Iwashita that once a steel feather fell off the ‘Io bird, it would be time to take it down. Mr. Roberts, who supervised the construction of the ‘Io bird in 1985, related a brief history of its creation. Originally, the ‘Io was to be a mere twelve i n c h e s high. However, one student made a line drawing of the bird’s plans that became a transparency for an overhead projector. The transparency increased the size of the bird to thirteen feet tall. Mr. Roberts said it was “a super moment as a teacher” when his 3-D design class realized the project they could undertake. His class of twelve boys and two girls began con-
structing the bird using scrap steel that was originally going to be made into dumpsters. Dr. Carey Inouye and his physics class doubte d that the bird would stand, let alone last for 23 years. “No one at that point expected it would last that long,” said Mr. Roberts. According to finance director Glenn Ching,he hawk was removed on Aug. 18 to prevent the rusting feathers from falling off and injuring someone. Some feathers had already become loose and fallen. Now that it has gone, Mr. Roberts has plans for a new ‘Io bird statue at the front of the school. The new bird will be made of materials that will last longer than the old one. Mr. Roberts calls his venture “keeping on tradition but using a new bird to get there.” So, like the mythical phoenix, the ‘Io bird will rise again, reborn from fire and metal in the name of ‘Iolani tradition.
Seventh graders taste life in Upper School By Iris Kuo
However, he’s looking forward to quite a few aspects of seventh “Were any classes more chal- grade, including making new lenging for you? What’s the best friends in his different classes, time to switch your books for signing up for and playing footupcoming classes? How do you ball, and exploring his favorite subject, math, with Mr. Joseph keep track of the bell schedule?” Simon Wechsler, Joseph Monaco. Even though the new, tighter Hannemann, and Ilana Buffendress code of tucking in shirt tails stein, all rising seventh-graders, and having to wear shoes all the bombarded the panel of four time is one of the less appealfreshmen during a questioning details to many, he and-answer session, thinks it’s not that bad, revealing their worbecause Upper School’s ries for the upcoming dress code is similar to year. They aren’t Le Jardin’s. alone. Even returnAfter the interview, ing ‘Iolani students Sutter rejoined his seem nervous about grade as they filed the transition to Upinto the Lower Gym per School. for the sports expo, Sutter Grune the last part of the came to ‘Iolani seventh-grade oriin sixth-grade entation. Sutter from Le Jardin. and around 180 Although he’s had of his classmates one year to adjust to Illustration by Cordelia Xie attended the orithe ‘Iolani way of life, entation, where Sutter’s still a little nervous about seniors led students grouped by Upper School.
homeroom to places on campus they’d most likely need to know. The first stop for one group was the library, where Ms. Carrie Miwa had prepared a PowerPoint presentation to guide them through the process of personalizing their school usernames’ passwords. Later, the group followed two seniors to Castle Building, where counselor Ms. Lara Feldhaus talked to them. Next, they went on a quick tour of Upper School from the doors of Castle towards the Art Building, past the Student Center and Seto Hall, around to Upper School Auto Line, then down the repaved Convention Drive, meeting Dr. Val Iwashita on the way. All the groups met up back in Seto Hall to listen to the panel of freshman speakers, then migrate as a grade to the sports expo. Aside from the odd bellschedules, the new seventh-graders have so much to look forward to, including more sports, new classmates, and Upper School in general.
Cole Stevens | Imua Iolani Above: Mr. Roberts with the ‘Io head today. Left: Mr. David Roberts perched next to the ‘Io bird 1985 when it was first constructed. Photo by Jon Yamshiro. Below: Workers moving the sculpture away. Photo by Cathy Lee Chong.
New design graces senior benches By Katrina Karl An ‘Iolani senior has beautified the nondescript wall by the senior benches. The old rainbow mural was painted beige in the summer of 2007, but today the area sports a design with blue skies, clouds and a hawk. Mark Rulona ’09 came to Headmaster Dr. Val Iwashita looking for a way to give back to the school he has attended since ninth grade. “I wanted to make a hawk, and make it clever,” Rulona said of the letter I within the hawk’s eye. While it might be mistaken as the title of the mural, a plaque near the top of the painting is actually unrelated. It reads “Fiat Lux/Let there be light/Class of 1993” and refers to the lights under the library that the class provided. Seniors who were on campus
before school started formed early opinions. “I think it looks pretty nice,” Kela Marciel said. Robert Tamai shared a thought that other students echoed. “I think it would be cool if we did a grade mural,” he said, with everyone in the class of 2009 working on the painting. Rulona did face some challenges in designing and painting the hawk. “I had no guidelines,” he said of parts of the painting process, such as picking the colors. “And it was really big.” Rulona’s father helped him finish painting the design that takes up a significant part of the wall flanking senior benches. He hasn’t yet considered how his fellow seniors’ reactions to the mural on the first day of school. “I hope they find it nice,” Rulona said.