Pride, Passion, and Determination…

The last two weeks have been incredibly full. I felt such pride in our students for their determination and heart. I saw teachers and coaches sharing their passion with their students and athletes. Last Friday I had time on O‘ahu to meet with other Heads of School and exchange about our communities and practices. I became filled with a new kind of determination to seek out creative ways to ensure our faculty and staff feel they can stay on Kaua‘i, stay committed to Island School, and also build their own future for themselves and their families. My visit helped me understand that here in Kaua‘i in particular, our future needs us to be determined in how we do this together, how we navigate a challenging course to both value and maintain our current resources and carefully identify new resources and our next generation of visionary supporters to take our school into its next 50 years.

Whether making a great save on the volleyball court, steadying their aim for air riflery, or pushing through the pain on an uphill for cross country, our student-athletes had such a strong close for our fall sports season. I loved sitting in the stands cheering on our Varsity Women’s volleyball team and they played their hearts out in the KIF championship. All the mud I trudged through was so worth it as I darted from the hill, to our homebase, then all the way to the finish line to cheer on our runners on O‘ahu as they ran a tough course for the State Championship. There was such pride in the girls’ eyes – as well as that of their families – as they were called forward to the line FIRST of over 50 schools present because this year, for the first time in nearly 10 years, we won the KIF championship for Women’s Cross Country! 

And yes, while I sat with our students and families that filled ¼ of the gym… which, given that we have high school 178 students compared to Kapa‘a’s 1200+, that’s a pretty darn good ratio. Did I also notice the value the locker rooms gave the athletes to prep and debrief with their teams…I did.

And yes, while I felt the pride for our school and with our runners and their families, did I also notice that many of the other schools with whom we compare ourselves had pop-up tents with their names on them and other ways to support their athletes?…I did. 

And then last night, I had the wonderful opportunity to see the opening night of the high school production of Much Ado About Nothing. They took on the production with great heart and enjoyed the thrill of pre-show nerves and the challenge of moving through a live performance…what do you do when you drop a line? How do you support your peers if they forget their entrance? And the small band of 8th - 12th Grade players pulled it off with grace and wonderful expression of Shakespearean humor and double-meaning. 

And yes, while I was so proud of all the players in the show, the student audience who came out to support their peers, as well as the faculty and staff who shared their evening to appreciate the play and the students’ and their colleagues’ hard work, did I also notice the tattered chairs with temporary covers? Or the intensity of the heat under the stage lights for the performers in costume that the ceiling fans just couldn’t combat? I did.

And my days are filled with engaging with our faculty and staff. We talk about their classes, and what is exciting to bring to life with their students. How can we create more language immersion opportunities for our Spanish students? How can we connect the relationship to the land as an element of what it means to learn the Hawaiian language? How can we keep creating spaces where students who love solving big science questions through the 5th Gr Science Fair, MS Science Olympiad, Robotics…duties that often take teachers and families working with students afternoons and weekends? And while I see the LOVE our faculty and staff have for the work we get to collectively do for our students, do I notice how many of our team must work additional jobs at night or on weekends, often impacting their own class prep time, to make ends meet for their families or do I hear how many worry they can’t stay in the profession because they fear they won’t be able to make ends meet if they want to start their own family or buy a home…I do.

And so it is with great love and determination that I turn towards my work every day. If you’ve read this far…please keep going…

I feel so lucky and privileged to be a part of this caring and dedicated community. We have come so far, from individual funders and foundations who made Pratt Hall possible, to the Parent Association who brought us the Fall Festival, not to mention all that Boosters has done in partnership with our Athletic Department. There is a readiness to support each other, make things happen with limited resources, and build a meaningful place of learning and growing for all of us…adults and students…families who choose to enroll their children with us, and colleagues who choose to build their professional lives with us.

AND, I see our work ahead. We invest in what we love.

I am investing in Island School.

I know every one of you are too.

Our future needs us to be determined in how we do this together, to take our school into its next chapter. Thank you for trusting in me and this community as we navigate into the future on our Island School canoe. There is so much we have built over the course of the past 46 years, and there is so much more we are heading towards.

And so I close this week with a deep feeling of gratitude.

Salamat…

Mahalo nui…

Thank you so much for 

this beautiful school, 

this beautiful community,

this promise for the future that we will help pull out of the ocean together.