A Special Honor for Island School

To close a full week, I had the honor to attend, along with Megan Clifton, Director of Advancement, Sam Pratt, Board President,  Kathy Richardson, Board member and former President, and Kumu Sabra Kauka, who led a special blessing, the Coral Anniversary event (year 35) for the Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi. This property is owned by the renowned Takenaka Corporation, which traces its family history back to 1610, an amazing 17 generations of leadership by the Takenaka family, and is managed by their local subsidiary, Kaiwailoa Development. And while they historically have done major events to mark important anniversaries at 10 and 20 years for the Grand Hyatt, their 30th anniversary event was eliminated by COVID. When they do these special anniversary celebrations, the Takenaka Corporation believes these moments are important opportunities to offer meaningful support to the communities to which they belong, support beyond what they do throughout the year. For this 35th Anniversary, the Takenaka Corporation and Kaiwailoa Development chose Island School to be named a recipient of a $100,000 gift to be distributed across 5 years ($20,000 each year). It was an incredible honor to stand alongside the 3 representatives from the other awardees, Kauaʻi Community College, Wilcox Hospital, and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, and to be recognized for the work we all do to serve Kauaʻi. “With gratitude and aloha for your dedication to Kauaʻi and its people” 

In a context where we are working hard every day for each dollar to cover our over $2.1M that we commit to financial aid and tuition remission, this gift from the Takenaka Corporation will help us continue to meet our mission in meaningful ways. It is inspiring to be recognized for the work we do to serve Kauaʻi youth via a thriving educational program where we strive to be exceptional practitioners of the craft of teaching and the other professional zones our admin and staff fulfill.

Our ties to the Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi run deep. When they finished their build 35 years ago, Mel Ventura (father of Board member Marc and grandfather to senior Mika and 3 alumnae, Maylen, Maya, and Melina) made an agreement for IS to purchase what were their building development offices at the Grand Hyatt to have them converted to be our Main Hall and Main Office / Administrative buildings as IS moved from Kealia to our current Puhi campus. Greg Kamm, Lead Developer on the project, moved to Kauaʻi in 1974 with his spouse, one of our founders, Lindsey Kamm. In conversation that night, a few people teased that had Lindsey not moved to Kauaʻi we would not have the Island School we know today! And in addition to the establishment of the Grand Hyatt, many of the past Directors of Kawailoa Development and General Managers (GM) of the Grand Hyatt have trusted Island School for their children, including current Kawailoa Development Director Rocky Matsuda (Kii in 2nd and Kai in K) and Grand Hyatt GM Michael Murphy (Connor in 1st and Millie in PK).

It was a beautiful and inspiring event, and it was an honor to represent Island School on behalf of all that we do now and will do in the future, and in recognition of all those who have come before to make our school such a special place. The Mākau award is at the front desk if you would like to take a look.

While that was a fantastic way to close my week last week, Monday night was a wonderful way to kick off our week with the Choral and Ukulele Concert, Peace through Music. Thank you to all the families who supported your children to be a part of this beautiful event and find meaning through the power of our students’ musical expression.

Finally, I want to share how grateful and humbled I am by our faculty and staff believing so much in the work that we strive to do every day that on Tuesday this week we achieved 100% faculty and staff participation in the Annual Voyager Fund! This team’s full participation in the Voyager Fund, and all that it does to support students and programs, is inspiring! And we are thrilled we can share with potential funders, alumni, all of our families, and our community overall that 100% of our faculty and staff show their support through giving to the Voyager Fund because we all believe in our Mission, our School, and the bright future impact our students will make in the world! 

Mahalo for being a part of the Island School ʻohana and for all the ways you participate in and support our community. Have a wonderful weekend ahead.

Together,

Nancy Nagramada P’29

Head of School

n.nagramada@ischool.org