Navigator - Spring 2012-2013

the island school

a tri-annual publication Spring, 2012-2013

Navigator

Getting the job done

From Kealia to Puhi What’s Ahead?

May Day Celebration

Friday, May 3

Junior/Senior Prom

Saturday, May25

Memorial Day

Monday, May 27

Academic Awards Assembly

Thursday, May 30

Headmaster’s Senior Brunch

Saturday, June 1

HS/MS Finals

June 3-6

Last Day Tri 3 - Summer Beach Blast Off

Friday, June 7

Graduation

Saturday, June 8

Kamehameha Day

Tuesday, June 11

Last Day for Teachers

Friday, June 14

Summer School Begins

Monday, June17

peggy@ischool.org

(808) 246-0233

www.ischool.org

• A bigger campus was the next step … pg. 2 • Moving is expensive … pg. 3 • Over 20 alumni attend the Auction … centerfold • Recognizing those who gave … pg. 6 • An extraordinary woman Sue Tuttle … pg. 8 http://www.facebook.com/IslandSchoolVoyagersKauai

On the Move With Island School Early visionaries of Island School always saw beyond the little red school house in Kealia. In 1985, enrollment was at 98. Three portable classrooms, a used trailer and covered lunch spaces attempted to accommodate the growing population. “Athletic fields” were carved out of rock-hard former parking areas behind the Kealia Store, but the continuous unearthing of bits of broken glass made the area hazardous. Parking at drop-off and pick-up times was a nightmare for parents who crowded their cars in front of the front steps . It was commonly known that “termites holding hands” were holding up the walls of this seven decades old building.

“I’d be teaching and suddenly a coconut would explode onto the roof.”

Sue Tuttle’s recollection of her portable classroom under the coconut trees.

In 1985, 73% of our student The “athletic field” at Kealia population lived from Kapa‘a to the north shore - 29% on the north shore alone. Only 7% lived south and west of Lihu‘e. It was agreed that a central island location was needed for Island School to be accessible to more of Kaua‘i’s families. With a grant from S.W. Wilcox Trust, strategic planning began in earnest.

“A promising offer came from Grove Farm,” recalls Lindsay Kamm, Island School cofounder and President of the Board of Directors, 1977-1997. The property offered was sugar cane land, just west of where we are now. “We [the Founders] tramped through the brush to a high spot on the property and were exhilarated at the possibilities.” This was short-lived, however, when it was discovered that access to the property would require costly widening and grading of the access from Kaumuali‘i Highway.

In 1985, the Board entered into discussions with American Factors, Inc. (AMFAC) about obtaining land in a more suitable location. The company agreed to donate 10 acres in Puhi, behind Kaua`i Community College, the present location of Island School. In December, 1987, the announcement was made: Island School was “On the Move.”

The Board of Directors and the Relocation Committee, chaired by David Pratt, spent the next three years planning and working with state and county officials to make the move possible. Access to the property was a challenge, as it was landlocked. Use of the road through Kaua‘i Community College Community was worked out after much negotiation.

“Kaua‘i Community College has played a critical role by granting an easement over their road, and Grove Farm Company organized contractors to provide the equipment and labor to prepare the site.”

Volunteers helped move the school to Puhi in cars, trucks and buses.

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Island School Navigator

Lindsay Kamm then President, Board of Directors

The Capital Campaign was officially launched in 1989. Ground was broken in April 1991. Five short months later, our new campus opened its doors.

Enrollment was 123 students in grades Kindergarten - eight.

Ever Moved House?

Try Moving a School

Moving to a new campus is not only complicated, it’s expensive. And for a small, young, independent school, raising the funds required an all out effort.

We couldn’t afford to build from scratch. Ventura Development Corp. and Takenaka Corp. (Ainako Resort Associates) donated a portable building totalling 10,200 square feet.

This was reconfigured into the current Administration Building and Main Hall.

Also, the three portable classrooms were loaded onto trucks and moved to Puhi. Curtis Law Construction was hired to build two new classroom buildings and oversee the project.

The lead gifts from AMFAC/JMB and Ainako Resort Associates enabled us to launch a capital campaign. Support from the community was generous. The June, 1991 Annual Report noted that over $1,300,000 had been raised: $737,000 from foundations, $213,500 from corporations and $251,600 from individuals.

The Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce called the move to Puhi, “Good news for Island School and for the island.”

“We are truly at a turning point for Island School.

Together we embark on a new road, creating new traditions, cherishing the old, and building the kind of learning environment we value for our children.”

Sue Tuttle, June, 1991

Grants from Trusts & Foundations Annie Sinclair Knudsen Trust Atherton Family Foundation Elsie H. Wilcox Trust Frear Eleemosynary Trust G. N. Wilcox Trust Harold K. L. Castle Foundation J. M. Long Foundation Mabel I. Wilcox Trust Samuel & Mary Castle Foundation McInerny Foundation Persis Hawai‘i Foundation S. W. Wilcox Trust

“I remember thinking how big the area behind the new classrooms was. We had such a huge open field to play in at lunch recess compared with the Kealia playground.”

Kylie Wilson 8th grade Island School graduate, 1992

I was sad to leave Kealia because I had such strong, happy memories of having class there by the beach, sometimes even at the beach. Of course, leaving some of my teachers behind was also difficult.

I think being the first class to arrive at and leave the Puhi campus made us feel special, but it was also a bit difficult. At first, the new campus felt a bit soulless. Nothing can replicate the unique magic of morning circle at the old main hall at Kealia. Also, somehow lunch never tasted quite as good as it did back in Kealia. I still reminisce about John’s taco salads.

Despite our initial trepidation we did feel special being the first class to start school at Puhi and the first class to graduate from the Puhi campus.

Now that I think about it, we had the upheaval of moving campuses between seventh and eighth grade and we also faced the prospect of moving on to a much larger setting at high school, so the move to Puhi was sad, exciting, and daunting in many ways.

Our teachers did a wonderful job bringing us through that first year in Puhi. Having been back a few weeks ago, I can say that the Puhi campus has a soul now and the heart of Kealia lives on.

Lindsay Kamm and Sue Tuttle remove the Island School sign from the Kealia site.

Jonathon Medeiros 8th grade Island School graduate, 1992 Kaua‘i High English Dept. Chair

Island School Navigator

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Alumni

On Facebook?

Centerfold

2012 - Lauren Claypoole has been playing NCAA Division III volleyball at Williams College in Massachusetts. The team advanced to the semi-finals in the March Madness championships, finishing in third place overall. Lauren, who plays forward, said, “It is the first time our program has ever made it this far, and we could not be happier!” Emeline Wu is studying science at Stanford University and is doing research in an orthopedic surgery lab. She’s also dancing hula with the Hawai‘i Club.

Pi‘ilani Kali, ‘11, performed Kahiko with her halau, Hälau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua.

2011 – Pi‘ilani Kali, a student at UH, Hilo, is a member of Hälau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua, under the direction of Kumu Hula Johnny Lum Ho. They were among the halau performing at this year’s Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.

Their kahiko, or ancient dance, featured Pi‘i delivering the opening chant, which was about the salt ponds in Hanapepe, where her family has been harvesting salt for generations. Hunter Schone attends University of Oxford in the UK and is studying neurobiology.

Hunter Schone, ‘11, at left, with his family and teachers at a recent visit to Island School.

2009 – Kariann Lee was a coordinator of the 43rd Annual Lu‘au at University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma, WA. “It’s one of the biggest events at UPS this year,” she said. Kariann danced in four dances and had a solo in the Tahitian number. Brother Kyle Lee, ‘10, and Steven Baptiste, ‘12, performed as well. Kariann got a summer job as camp counselor in Gig Harbor. (“No reception and camping for two months!”) Kenji Rutter and Logan Alcott (‘07) have been helping out as mentors for our all-island high school robotics team, Kaua‘ibots. They both went to O‘ahu with the team for the 2013 FIRST Robotics tournament.

Join the Island School Alumni Group IslandSchoolVoyagersKauai

Look who came to the Auction!

1. Aria Castillo, ‘05, Maddison Domingo, ‘07, and Kim Mayfield, ‘06 with Cpt. Jack Sparrow 2.Eimy (Escaño) Frampton, ‘04 and Tiana Kamen, ‘04 3. Cpt. Jennifer Proudfoot, USMC, ‘02 4. Justin Guerber, ‘01 with Kim Wright 5. Ita Rubio, 01 and Natasha Arruda, ‘06 6.Nathaniel Evslin, ‘98, and wife, Marissa 7. Mike Hubbard, ‘97, and wife, Liz 8. Keana (Hanchett) Oliveira, ‘95, and husband, Daniel 9. Grant Wells, ‘93, and wife,Vindi 10. Colby Ayonon, ‘01, and Ryan Mackey, ‘92 11. Robin (Thompson) Pratt, ‘89, with Cpt. Jack Sparrow 12. Dana (Mackey) Temme, ‘89, with husband, Kim 13. Ben Welborn, ‘88, with wife, Courtney 14. H. Peter King, ‘86, with wife, Kori 15. Hobey Beck, ‘85, with wife, Marau 2007 - Congratulations to Noah Randolph-Flagg a recipient of an NSF (National Science Foundation) Graduate Research Fellowship. This award is the science/engineering equivalent of a Fulbright or Rhodes scholarship. (Noah received a Fulbright Scholarship a couple of years ago.) NSF Graduate Research fellowship pays for PhD students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, math). In 2013 there were 2,000 awards chosen from 13,000 applicants. Noah is currently a PhD student in Earth and Planetary Science at University of California at Berkeley. Maggie Trautman graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 2011. She lives in New York, working for Barclays Bank.

2004 - Jordan Trautman, a graduate of Georgetown University in Maryland, was named Head Coach for the woman’s Lacrosse team at Kean University, in Union, New Jersey.

She’s engaged to be married in July.

Cory Ann Hom-Weaver is living in Encinitas, California, doing whale research with a team of scientists at Bio-Waves Inc.

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2001 – Matt Trautman, a graduate of University of Maryland, works as an oil broker for Odin Marine, Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.

1998 – Sol Kahn has been modeling for magazines and TV commercials. In March, he was on O‘ahu waiting to see who would join him on the set for a swimming pool commercial. Who should arrive to play the part of his son, but Mike Hubbard’s (‘97) 8 year old son, Tanner! They had a blast!

1983 – Toby (Wilson) Neal announced the release of her latest novel, Stolen In Paradise. This is the fifth in her Lei Crime Series.You can find it for your Kindle on amazon.com.

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“This is an opportunity to recognize the generous people who have made major gifts to Island School’s Puhi Campus,” David Pratt, Chair of the Relocation Committee, 1991

Recognized at the Groundbreaking in March, 1991, were from l-r,: Mel Ventura, President,Ventura Development, Partner, Ainako Resort Associates; David Pratt, President & CEO, Grove Farm Co. and Chair, Relocation Committee; James Perry, President & CEO, Hawaiian Dredging & Construction Co., Roderick Wilson of Amfac/JMB; John A. Hoag, President, First Hawaiian Bank; Phil Scott, Vice-President, A&B Hawai‘i, Inc., and Mel Kihara,Vice President & Regional Manager, Bank of Hawai‘i. Not pictured is Bob Akinaka of Akinaka & Associates.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on March 27, 1991. Members from the Island School Board of Directors joined major donors and county and state representatives to commemorate this auspicious occasion. The entire Island School ohana was invited to mark the receipt of $1 million in gifts and pledges toward the relocation of Island School.

Relocation Committee 1990-1991

These people worked tirelessly to make all of this happen:

David Pratt - Chair Mel Ventura Greg Kamm Dennis Esaki

How close did we get?

This is an artist’s rendition of what Island School would look like.

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Island School Navigator

Shigeto Yamaguchi David Proudfoot Conrad Murashige Buddy Surles

November, 1991, the new campus is dedicated

The School Community

by Robert Springer Head of School Institutions evolve. They grow and change over time, and, if successful, transcend generations. As reflected in this Navigator, such has been the case with Island School.

At its origins, the founders had vision, purpose, and knowhow, and this provided impetus to get the school underway. The questions are, what kept Island School alive and growing?

What constitutes the vital center from which its identity developed and its directions determined?

Several themes run through Island School’s history, including the following: • A shared vision that Kauai needs an independent school of stature to complement the large, public educational system.

• A commitment to work to bring this vision to realization.

• Knowledge of different ways to teach and learn and a willingness to try new approaches. What has been and is being done is by design, not chance, abetted by opportunity and community support.

• A sense of camaraderie, caring for each other, as central to effective education and a lively school.

Leadership matters and Island School has had its share of talent. At the Board level, Diana Dahl filed the initial papers to obtain legal status for Island School even as she was dealing with a personal tragedy, the death of her son through a drowning accident. Lindsay Kamm carried the school through its formative years, including the move from Kealia to Puhi and its recovery after the devastation of Hurricane Iniki. David Pratt was largely responsible for obtaining land in Puhi and then for the expansion of the campus from 10 to 38.4 acres.

Further, he and Kathy Richardson spearheaded raising funds to construct the Samuel W. and Edith K. Wilcox Gym, the Frear Center for Hawaiian Culture and the Arts, and a new access road to our campus. Currently he is working to change the zoning of the campus from agricultural to urban. Once accomplished, this will allow our Campus Master Plan to be implemented as funds become available. In addition to raising funds, Kathy Richardson has overseen the establishment of a solar farm to provide for Island School’s daytime electrical needs and coordinated Board committees, especially Academic Affairs and Activities, in moving Island School ahead.

Heads of School, too, have played their part in shaping school culture and in developing curriculum and activities as enrollments have grown. Of particular note is Sue Tuttle who

Development Update Many Thanks For Your Support of Island School’s 34th Annual Auction The support and efforts of our donors, volunteers and participants made this year’s event, A Pirate Ball, one of the most successful auctions in Island School’s history.

Kudos to all involved!

(At right are co-chairs, Lulu Schilleci and Alan King.)

Your Support is Needed For Annual Giving Tuition revenue covers just 82.6% of the cost of running the school. This means that 17.4% must be raised from other sources. Proceeds from the Auction provide only part of what is needed to close this gap. Donations to Annual Giving are taxdeductible and reach every Island School student.

For more information or to give, please contact the Development Office at (808) 246-0233 or visit our website, www.ischool.org, and click on “Giving.”

was pivotal in organizing the move from Kealia to Puhi and in getting classes back in session after Hurricane Iniki.

Survival and success require resilience and perseverance, driven by a sense of purpose. This continues to be Island School’s experience. As a result, today it has a growing enrollment, a diverse and highly skilled faculty, exciting programs and activities, graduates well placed in colleges and universities of their choice, and a favorable reputation in our community.

Island School Navigator

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Teacher Kindergarten, Music, 2nd Grade from 1983 through 1987 Head of School from 1989 through 1994

“After we checked in at the Coral Reef Hotel, our first stop was Island School,” recalls Sue on her move to Kaua‘i in 1983. Sue had been hired to fill an opening she heard about through a mutual friend of Peggy Ellenburg’s. Her story is familiar: “Jeff and I had vacationed here and knew we wanted to live here.”

Prior to moving to Kaua‘i, Sue had been a music teacher for the Santa Rosa School District in California. She also taught

gifted and talented classes there. Island School’s kindergarten and music position sounded like a perfect fit and, when her husband, Jeff, got a job on island, things really fell into place. Little did she know at the time she’d wind up in the Principal’s office for five years during two of the school’s most critical turning points.

In acclimating to the Kaua‘i lifestyle and to Island School in particular, Sue’s creative instincts came in handy.

Checking out her new classroom for the first time, Sue found it had accumulated some “interesting specimens” over the summer – (“Perfect for my first nature project.”) She learned to incorporate the local bird population into her lessons.

“I thought it would be fun for the kids if I hung a bird feeder out the window, expecting finches and thrushes. But it only attracted chickens,” she smiled.

A kindergarten, 2nd grade and music teacher for four years, Sue left Island School briefly to work for the DOE. The call came in 1989: Island School needed

a new Principal - someone to head the school as the Board took on the huge challenge of moving to Puhi. The job was offered and Sue took it.

The two extraordinary events of Sue’s tenure tend to overshadow the many day-to-day accomplishments of Sue’s years as head of school. Moving and setting up the new campus, only to have it destroyed by Hurricane Iniki a year later, were challenges she met with confidence and composure. “Everyone came together in the recovery process,” said Sue. “The day after the hurricane, when the roads were impassible, Duarte, our security guard, made his way to my house to give me the news of the devastation inflicted upon our newly built school. I got on my bike and rode to Curtis Law’s house across the Homesteads and told him I wanted to put my bid in right away! Curtis really came through for us.”

As did you, Sue. Mahalo for your leadership.

Island School 3-1875 Kaumuali‘i Hwy Lihu‘e, HI 96766

Sue Tuttle