By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
The holes in their rulers make them suitable for all sorts of
secondary uses, such as weapons and helicopter blades,
according to, from left, Jordan Tani, Lawrence Leovao
and Todd Dunlap ofPearl Ridge Elementary.
Show us your
STUFF
Going back to school means
By Burl Burlingame,
going back to the store for the finest
in educational accessories -- like rulers
that can double as jet fighters
Star-BulletinBACK to school -- crispy reams of paper, clothes still rigid with manufacturers' starch, the taste of paste, the tang of mimeo fluid, the thick, woody aroma of newly sharpened pencils. Update those traditional clunky pleasures with some sleek '90s educational artifacts such as calculators and computer programs, and you've got the makings of a modern kid. But what ARE kids taking to school? What DO they equate with the ringing in of the school year? The short answer is: whatever their parents are willing to buy them. But that doesn't tell us what's important to the kids.
So, we dropped in on some schools that are already in session and asked some kids directly what their favorite thing was that they got to take back to school.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Kyle Miyamoto, with pager and shades,
at Hawaii Baptist Academy.
Eleazar Corpuz, 6, of Kapolei Elementary was pretty typical. He solemnly showed us his pencil box, which was decorated with a huge chortling face of Warner Bros.' Tasmanian Devil. "Taz is funny," deadpanned Eleazar. "And I can keep my crayons inside him. I love my pencil box."Generally, boys were more interested in things and how they could be manipulated, while girls were interested in appearance and feel.
Give a kid an inch and he thinks he's a ruler. Actually, rulers come in a variety of mediums, which can be chosen to suit the kids' personality. We asked some 11-year-olds at Pearl Ridge Elementary to show us their rulers.
"This is my FIRST wooden ruler!" announced Jordan Tani. "It's cool because it has a hole in the middle and you can spin it around like a weapon or a helicopter blade."
"This ruler is plastic," said Todd Dunlap. "When I'm bored I can attach a pen to it and pretend it's a jet fighter."
"My ruler is clear," said Lawrence Leovao. "When you put it on the paper you can see right through when you're drawing cool stuff."
"My ruler is clear green plastic," said Gianmarco Baker. "When you look through it, everyone has a green face."
It sounds like boys will be boys, even with rulers.
What about those beeping, chirping virtual pets that were the rage last spring?
We saw several at each school, but there were probably more hidden away. At Kapolei Elementary, principal Mike Miyamura asks that kids don't bring Tamagotchis or other electronic pets. "The beeping causes problems in class."
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Saying hello with their new calculators are Hawaii
Baptist students, from left, Tiffany Dahlen, Kara Morita,
Sheryle Ishimoto, Edward Chu and Matthew Lee.
At Pearl Ridge Elementary, 11-year-old Chelsey Gouveia had several electronic pets with the sound switched off. "They're fun to play with, and they help you to be responsible, but they don't want you to have it out in class," she said.At Hawaii Baptist Academy, Jill Akutagawa had a bundle of electronic pets around her neck. "We can have them if the sound is turned off," she said. "It's the sound that bothers people. Also, our pagers have to be set on 'vibrate.' "
Pagers have become useful in a world where both parents work and kids commute to school. Sandra Tory, 12, in seventh grade at Hawaii Baptist, got a GTE Motorola pager for her birthday, and uses it to coordinate pick-up times after school.
We asked to see other pagers, and several had them. But many had left them at home -- the one place where parents know the exact location.
Electronically, calculators are useful, but not until after the kids have already memorized -- hopefully -- their multiplication tables. "I really like my calculator," said Edward Chu, 12, in seventh grade at Hawaii Baptist. He had customized the case with what looked like Maori tattoos. "It does algebra, that really helps. But I wish it had computer games in it too."
As kids begin the transition from elementary to intermediate and high school, wristwatches suddenly become important.
Marsha Hirae, principal of Hawaii Baptist Academy, speculated the change is fundamental, and has to do with the growing process. "In elementary, the kids spend most of their time with one teacher, who tells them what to do next, and with their parents, who tell them what to do ALL the time. But when they go into schools with different classes and teachers and they have to get to class on time by themselves, suddenly they have to be more responsible. A watch can help them do that, and might relieve some of the stress."
Trey Kile, 12, Gabriel Torno, 11, and Nakita Uslan-Pineiro, 11, of Pearl Ridge Elementary all held up their wrists for us.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Brian Chang picked Batman, while Shana Lee Matas went
with classic sandals for their return to Kapolei Elementary.
Trey has an Ironman Triathelon watch with all sorts of functions, big and black and knobby. "I use it when running 200 meters, and it has an eight-lap memory timer," he said. "And I use it to count down the school day."Gabriel's watch is an Aquatech, which also looks like something an astronaut would use. "I use it as an alarm to get up in the morning."
On the other hand -- literally -- Nakita's Infinity watch is simple and elegant and sports a clear band. "It doesn't make noise like the others," said Nakita, making it clear she preferred it that way.
Jonathan Crosson, 17, a senior at Hawaii Baptist, also wore an Ironman Triathlon watch. "I got it at Longs for about $40. My girlfriend thinks I'm too self-conscious about it. I use it because it has so many timers. I set the timers to remind me of things."
In elementary school, the kids are more focused on manipulating tools and developing skills, so you see a lot of T-shirts and shorts, clothing-wise. The lists sent home by the teachers are heavy with writing and drawing tools. The kids don't much care about clothes.
The one item of apparel that gets kids going, however, is backpacks. Each kid's backpack is as individual as possible, and in the stores the backpack selection is generally wide and wondrous.
In Wendy Larrow's sixth-grade class at Pearl Ridge Elementary, 11-year-olds Macy Perrin and Marisa Nakanishi were both wearing Nike-logo jackets.
"I like the color," said Macy.
"And because the classroom is air-conditioned, it helps keep us warm," said Marisa.
Their moms picked the jackets out.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
"I love my pencil box," says Eleazar Corpuz
of Kapolei Elementary.
Despite the heat shimmering up from the playground, 6-year-old Daren Reyes of Kapolei was bundled up in a colorful French Toast jacket. "Why? 'Cause I WANT to be hot!" he retorted. "It's my jacket, a special jacket because my dad got it for me."Kishti Kamaka, 5, was wearing her favorite dress, a denim jumper by Jazz Kids with flowers embroidered across the waist. "The flowers make it pretty," she said.
It was foot-level comfort -- from the sublime to the ridiculous -- for 6-year-olds Shayna Lee Matas, who had a pair of classy faux-leather sandals, and Brian Chang, who sported a pair of "Batman and Robin" athletic shoes. They are in Tammy Pang's first-grade class at Kapolei.
"Sandals," said Shayna Lee, "are comfortable ALL the time in the school."
"Oh?" said Brian. "Well, at least I get to wear socks. And my socks match my shoes!" He was wearing a pair of off-the-shelf white crew socks.
When they get older, though, clothes matter big-time.
"Oh, a new wardrobe is the best thing about going back to school!" said Keri Kawabata, 16, in 11th grade at Hawaii Baptist Academy. "It's the time every year when we're allowed to spend money on clothes."
Hawaii Baptist, although it doesn't have a uniform, does have a formalized dress code.
"The trick is in picking stuff that's in the dress code, but also fashionable," said Keri. "Shirts must have collars. No T-shirts! No tank tops! Skirts have to reach your knee. You can wear pants, but not overalls."
Curiously, but not surprisingly given the dress code, Keri and classmate Jill Akutagawa, 16, were dressed almost identically -- black trousers, flower-patterned artificial-fiber blouses with long sleeves and collars.
Kyle Miyamoto, 16, in 11th grade at Hawaii Baptist, accessorizes his dress-code-OK clothes with a pair of wrap-around Rayban sunglasses. "Bottom line, I look cool in them," he said. "Very Men-In-Black. If you're going to be cool, be cool in school."
