Kupulau 2009 Special Section:
Kamehameha Schools Annual Report Fiscal Year 2008 page 11 PUBLISHED
FOR
THE
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Inside
Hawaiian Collection Kamehameha Schools alumni are giving back to Princess Pauahi and Charles Reed Bishop as staff members at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
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t opened in 1889 as an enduring memorial to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, constructed in her honor by the man who loved her the most. Some 120 years later, a group of Kamehameha Schools alumni are paying tribute to the memory of Pauahi Ð and the wishes of her husband Charles Reed Bishop Ð by serving in a variety of roles on staff with the Bishop Museum. The KS contingent includes assistant collections manager Leah Caldeira Õ97, botany collections manager Amanda ÒNapuaÓ Harbottle Õ81, cultural collections manager Aaron Ho Õ02, cultural educator Kealoha Kelekolio Õ65, cultural educator and Hawaiian Hall docent coordinator PuakaÔilima Davis Õ00, visitor services administrative coordinator Matthew Serrao Õ00 and attorney Jennifer Chock Wooton Õ86, the museumÕs director of government affairs. In addition, several Kamehameha graduates recently left the museum staff, including legal assistant Ashley Ching Õ96, ethnobotany educator Noa Lincoln Õ99, cultural resources division administrative assistant Hawea Aila Õ98 and visitor services administrative coordinator AnoiÔlani Ching Aga Õ97. Ching is now with HawaiÔi Public Policy Advocates, Lincoln is pursuing a doctorate at Stanford University and Aila and Aga are now employed with Kamehameha Schools. Bishop MuseumÕs mission is to study, preserve and tell the stories of the natural and cultural history of HawaiÔi and the PaciÞc.
‘OHANA
KS in the News
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Integrated Facilities Open at KS Maui, KS Hawai‘i 4 Following Pauahi‘s Example 6 Alumni Class News
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Kamehameha Schools alumni assemble on the Great Lawn of Bishop Museum. From left, Ashley Ching ’96, Matt Serrao ’00, Anoilani Ching Aga ’96, Aaron Ho ’02, Napua Harbottle ’81, Kealoha Kelekolio ’65 and Jenny Chock Wooton ’86.
It holds the stateÕs designation as the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. The museum was established to house the extensive collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms of the princess, and has expanded to include millions of artifacts, documents and photographs about HawaiÔi and other PaciÞc island cultures. Today, the museum has more than 24 million catalogued objects. Bishop MuseumÕs collection ranks fourth in the United States and is among the top ten in the world. ÒIt is an honor to have
Jenny Chock Wooton and Napua Harbottle check out some items in the Herbarium Pacificum. At left is a specimen of the “rarest plant in the world” (Kokia cookei) and right is an extinct Hawaiian mint (Haplostachys munroi). The Herbarium Pacificum houses more than 700,000 specimens.
ÒWhen your old ÔuncleÔ is dead and gone, I hope that you will continue to take an interest in it for the sake of your dear friend and ÔauntÕ whose name it bears.Ó – Charles Reed Bishop, referring to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Letter to favorite niece Victoria Ka‘iulani, April 7, 1892
Kamehameha alumni working at the museum,Ó said Bishop Museum president Tim Johns. ÒThey already know and have lived the Pauahi story, and they contribute that manaÔo to our museum family. They really want to give back to Pauahi by serving the community that Pauahi loved.Ó ÒYou do get that sense, and this probably goes for all the museum staff, that we are being stewards for that which Pauahi and Charles had collected,Ó said Wooton, whose main focus is at the federal level, working with HawaiÔiÕs Congressional delegation to help secure funding for the museum. She said Kamehameha Schools did a Þne job in preparing her for her role with the museum. ÒMore than anything else, it was a mindset of service to Native Hawaiians. You donÕt realize
it when youÕre young, but our teachers always emphasized to us that we were among the lucky few to attend Kamehameha, so what are you going to do to give back? ÒIn this position, you can actually give back to Pauahi. Her generosity helped you get that education, so working here really becomes a full circle moment,Ó Wooton added. ÒIÕd encourage Kamehameha alumni to consider the museum as a place of employment, because it has great opportunities and thereÕs so much to learn here,Ó said Harbottle, whoÕs been with the museum for the past seven years. Harbottle has found a home in the Herbarium PaciÞcum, a place where dried plant specimens are stored for research. continued on page 8
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