Hawaii’s Super Students




Saturday, March 1, 1997

Name: Dalen Kahiapo
Age: 17
School: Home schooling
Favorite subject: Physical education
Hobbies: Surfing, spear fishing and playing the ukulele
Future: Undecided

Kahiapo, a home-school student, takes all his classes by video. Some have a teacher lecturing and others are more interactive -- with a teacher doing a lab experiment while Kahiapo follows along.

"I can work at my own pace and do things that I wouldn't be able to do if I went to school," said Kahiapo, a former Kamehameha Schools student, who prefers home-schooling.

His studies haven't suffered. Kahiapo is a 1997 National Merit Scholarship finalist.

To become a finalist, Kahiapo scored high in the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test and Scholastic Assessment Test. He also had to get a recommendation from a school principal or an educator who does not know him but knows his work and write a self-descriptive essay.

Kahiapo is studying trigonometry, physics, senior English, Spanish, U.S. government and U.S. economics this semester.

He spends an average of five hours a day studying. "It varies a lot because some days I do three to four days of school (work) in one day, then other days I work," Kahiapo said.

The grading is done by Kahiapo's mother.

Kahiapo, son of Laurie and David Kahiapo, is getting "career training" by working for his uncle who is a clothing representative.