---

COURTESY OF LAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL Beginning this year, Lahainaluna High seniors are required to do a yearlong Senior Capstone Project on a topic of their choosing. Upon completing the project, students give a presentation to a panel of faculty, staff, community members and peers. Senior Raymond "Naihe" Akoi presents his project to the panel.

---

Capstone achievement

Seniors can develop skills or get
job experience as part of a
required project

Believing they worked hard enough for their first three years in high school, Lahainaluna's seniors expected their fourth year to be close to effortless.

They were proven wrong on the first day of English classes as they were assigned the Senior Capstone Project, a required yearlong project making its debut this year.

Lahainaluna High School Newspaper Ka Leo Luna Faculty adviser Shanda Sasai Editors Zach Bali, Carson Chihara, Tasha Pagdilao, Jay Ramos and Leanne Santella Address 980 Lahainaluna Road, Lahaina, HI 96761 Phone number (808) 662-4000 Principal Michael Nakano Nickname Lunas Enrollment 1,051

According to travel and advanced placement English teacher Anne Goff, the Capstone Project is "a culminating project of everything they have learned since kindergarten."

"The administration had talked about a senior project before," said senior English teacher Heather Wickersham, "but it never really happened."

Wickersham researched and saw how many mainland schools assigned a senior project and decided to try it. She looked up different models and assembled her own version of the project.

There are four different projects: a service-oriented project, self-development project, career project and curricular-based project.

In the service-oriented project, the student must devote a minimum of 15 hours of community service to a recognized need.

"My favorite project is from Jared Kahaiali'i," Goff said. "He restored the campus' cemetery by pulling weeds and cleaning the tombstones. Through the Lahaina Restoration Foundation and Hale Pa'i (the first printing house in the state located on campus), he researched the history of the buried people. It will be documented in our school's archives."

The self-development project allowed the seniors to learn, develop and perform a new skill.

"I made a surf movie for my project," senior Nainoa Kakalia said. "I chose to do this project because I wanted to learn video production, and it turned out to be a pretty sick video."

Seniors who chose the career project served as interns in their chosen field of study. They were to shadow their mentor for a minimum of 15 hours. This project was useful to seniors unsure of what they wanted to do after graduation.

"At the beginning of the year, I was interested in retail but also had an interest in film," senior Brandon Vierra said. "Doing this project made me realize that retail might not be what I want to do and that (in college) I want to major in film."

The last project the seniors could choose from was the curricular-based project, in which students focus on a particular curricular area.

The Senior Capstone is broken down into five different parts, with due dates spread throughout the year. Students submitted three different proposals, which teachers examined before approving one. The students were then required to do a six- to eight-page formal research paper on their topic. Although several students complained about the research paper, most found it to be useful.

Students wrote five reflection essays at designated intervals about their feelings after having a set plan and a mentor, their outlook on the research paper, thoughts halfway through the project, their experience with their mentors and a reflection on the final product.

"Because the project was spread out, it gave us time to conference with the students," Goff said. "It also made it less overwhelming for the students."

Wickersham said: "My goal was for every student to finish. I figured that most students would procrastinate and not get it done. I broke the project down instead of laying out the project for them to do all at once."

Only two students failed to complete the project out of Wickersham's 160 students.

The first project was presented on Feb. 28, with presentations continuing since then. Each student prepared an eight- to 10-minute speech for a panel of faculty, staff, community members and peers.

"I think it was a success," Wickersham said. "I was really impressed with the students. It made me realize the talents of my students, rather than doing regular English assignments. This project made me see them differently."

---

BACK TO TOP
|

Hard work helps Lunas earn
a berth in semifinals

It has been a few years since Lahainaluna last had a football team that won the Maui Interscholastic League title in such a convincing fashion. It has been even longer since the Lunas went into the state tournament as a potential favorite. Combining their talent, winning attitude and great work ethic, the boys in red deserved their success this year, no question.
The 2002 season was a rebuilding year for the Lunas after losing key seniors.
"The attitude of the players was a losing one," said assistant coach Garret Tihada. "This was before we even played a game.

"Any team can win. It all comes down to how you prepare for things. We didn't have any kind of offseason," Tihada said.

The Lunas ended the 2002 campaign with an 0-8 record. That year gave young players experience to prepare for the next season.

"We lacked leadership and work ethic," senior Preston Medeiros said.

When the 2003 season rolled around, the Lunas felt confident about their abilities and their chances of winning the MIL title. But as the season got underway, the Lunas faced many internal problems.

The Lunas, who ended the season with a 2-7-1 record, found themselves going to the state tournament as a Division II team instead of a Division I.

"Near the end of the season, the players started believing they could win," said Tihada. This was shown in how close they came to the Division II championship.

This past offseason was where the team really showed improvement, partly due to the fact that most of the team's roster from the previous season returned.

The Lunas started the 2004 season on Sept. 3 against Baldwin, then ranked as one of the top 10 teams in the state.

The two teams battled to a 6-6 tie, even with Lahainaluna missing key players due to grades. It was a game that proved that Lahainaluna was not going to be a pushover in the MIL.

The Lunas went on to win six straight games before suffering their first loss against King Kekaulike in the second round. They ended the season with a record of 6-1-1 in the MIL and 7-2-1 overall.

Lahainaluna went into the state tournament and beat Mililani in the quarterfinals before falling to Kamehameha Oahu in the semifinals. Coach Robert Watson later was honored as the NFL Hawaii Pro Bowl Coach of the Year.

---

BACK TO TOP
|

You asked...

"What is your favorite line
from a movie?"

Jay Ramos
Senior
"Don't let go, Jack." ("Titanic")

Leanne Santella
Senior
"It's like I have ESPN or something." ("Mean Girls")

Tasha Pagdilao
Junior
"You're the only person that makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time." ("White Chicks")

Michelle Fuller
Freshman
"Aww, you guys made me ink." ("Finding Nemo")

Zach Bali
Junior
"Are you drinking 2 percent milk? Is it because you think you're fat? 'Cause you're not." ("Napoleon Dynamite")

Ellen Cabanting
Sophomore
"Please keep off of the grass, shine your shoes, wipe your ... face." ("Shrek")

Eric Peralta
Senior
"She said she looks like Janet Jackson; she looks more like Freddy Jackson." ("Friday")