Moanalua High School
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| Name |
Moanalua High School | |
| Address |
2825 Ala Ilima Street | |
| Town |
Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 | |
| Established |
1972 | |
| Community |
Suburban | |
| Type |
Public Secondary | |
| Religion |
Secular | |
| Students |
Coeducational | |
| Grades |
9 to 12 | |
| Accreditation |
Western Association of Schools and Colleges | |
| District |
Hawaii State Department of Education | |
| Subdistrict |
Central District | |
| Nickname |
Na Menehune (formerly "Menehunes") | |
| Mascot |
Ali‘i Menehune | |
| Colors |
Royal Blue, White and Silver | |
| Motto |
Striving for Excellence, Exceeding Standards | |
| Military |
United States Air Force JROTC | |
| Newspaper |
Na Hoku O Moanalua | |
| Yearbook |
Ke Ali‘i | |
| Distinctions |
Awarded Hawaii's Best Public High School by Honolulu Magazine in May 2003 | |
| Website | ||
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Moanalua High School is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school of the Hawaii State Department of Education and serves grades nine through twelve. Established in 1972 and graduated its first class in 1975, Moanalua High School is located in suburban Salt Lake near Moanalua in the City & County of Honolulu of the state of Hawaii. It is situated on an extinct volcano hillside overlooking downtown Honolulu at 2825 Ala Ilima Street.
Moanalua High School is nationally recognized for its academics, music program and media communications learning center. In 1998, it became the first student orchestra officially invited to play at Carnegie Hall by the governing Carnegie Hall Corporation. This is opposed to student orchestras that played at Carnegie Hall who were participants of special educational programs that happened to have taken place at Carnegie Hall. Moanalua High School played at the prestigious venue twice, most recently in 2005. The Moanalua High School Menehune Marching Band, led by directors Elden Seta, Rhona Barbosa, June Masuno, and Grant Otomo, is also widely acclaimed to be one of the best in the State.
Moanalua High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and will undergo reaccreditation in 2006.
Darrel Galera currently heads the school as principal, along with Ken Furukawa, Robin Martin, Johnny Verzon, and Juila Toyama as vice-principals.
Origins
An ahupua‘a in ancient Hawaii was a parcel of royal land that stretched from the mountain to the sea. The Salt Lake ahupua‘a within which Moanalua High School is located was the property of wealthy landowner Samuel M. Damon. Damon was actively involved in the Committee of Safety that successfully plotted the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and Queen Liliuokalani in 1893. He later became one of the first trustees of the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate and served alongside its founder Charles Reed Bishop.
Previous to Damon's ownership of the Salt Lake ahupua‘a, the volcanic hillside on which Moanalua High School sits was used by native Hawaiians in worship. As one of the highest points overlooking what would later become the city of Honolulu, the volcanic hillside was revered as a place where the faithful could be closer to the ancestral spirits and gods. It served as a sacred altar as late as the reign of King Kamehameha V. While the volcanic hillside's religious value was neglected during the urban development that commenced after statehood in 1959, Moanalua High School is still respected as the spiritual home of the ali‘i menehune and other menehune — fairy-like, mishievous people with a special relationship with the gods and credited with building dams, temples and other structures throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Today, Moanalua High School students pride themselves in adopting the menehune as their mascot.
Symbols
The alma mater and anthem of Moanalua High School proclaims, "All hail Moanalua! See her proud banners fly high over all. We shall love and serve thee ever As we see life's road before us. For we stand for honesty, we stand for loyalty, we stand for unity! All hail to thee, our alma mater. All hail! All hail! All hail!" Traditionally, the alma mater and anthem has always been sung during the presentation of the school's flag — the Moanalua High School blue crest in the center of a field of white and trimmed at the edges with blue. The school's colors are royal blue, white and silver, influenced by the colors of the United States Air Force with which the school has shared a special relationship since its founding.
Students
As of 2004, the enrollment at Moanalua High School stands at 1,900 students. A consequence of its academic standards and notoriety, the school is forced each year to turn away students from enrollment while others are added to a waitlist — a rare action for a public high school in the United States. The student population is mostly made up of Whites and Filipino Americans, each comprising twenty percent of the student body. Fifteen percent are Japanese Americans, eight percent are Chinese Americans and twelve percent are from other Asian American backgrounds. Eleven percent are either Samoan Americans or Native Hawaiians while four percent are African Americans.
Moanalua High School has the distinction of having one of the largest military dependency student populations within the United States Pacific Command. It serves the children of enlisted personnel and commissioned officers of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Students who are not military dependents are usually children of professionals living in the Salt Lake and Moanalua subdivisions, neighborhoods that have been classified as higher middle class.
Each graduating class averages 400 students. Approximately forty-five percent become enrolled at four-year colleges and universities throughout the nation while thirty-five percent become enrolled at two-year colleges. Eight percent go straight to the workforce while four percent join the armed forces. About five percent enroll in technical schools while three percent are usually unsure of their post-graduation plans.
Sports
With the absence of professional sports teams in Hawaii, the popularity of high school athletics is considerably high in the state. In the year of Moanalua High School's founding, its atheletics department joined the Hawaii High School Athletics Association. It currently also competes in the Oahu Interscholastic Association, an athletic conference of public schools on the island of Oahu. Moanalua High School competes in air riflery, baseball, basketball, bowling, canoe paddling, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, judo, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, wrestling and water polo. Sports are divided into boys and girls teams as well as varsity and junior varsity distinctions. The most popular sports based on attendance are football, basketball and wrestling. Moanalua High School has won several state championships and national honors.
Marching band
The Moanalua High School Menehune Marching Band is a marching band program (students grades Nine through Twelve) with an established record as being one of the top, and largest marching bands in the state of Hawaii. The school's entire music department, now directed by Elden Seta, is nationally-acclaimed. Its corps-style field shows are largely known for its fast, elaborate set designs, fast movement and (usually) the most-integrated, and elaborate color guard performances of the Hawaii bands.
The program holds its own marching festival each year. It also attends other yearly shows such as the Kamehameha Marching Festival, TrojanFest, the Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) Festival, and the Rainbow Invitational. It usually marches in at least one parade each year, such as the Aloha Week parade, and is frequently invited to march in parades abroad such as the Tournament of Roses Parade.
Although the program discourages seeing the yearly show competitions as anything but friendly, there have been a few rivals bands. In the past, since General Effect winners would switch between them, its rival program was widely considered to be the Kamehameha Schools Warrior Marching Band, known for its musicality. Recently, however, its rival is generally considered to be the Mililani High School Trojan Marching Band, known for fast, DCI-esque thematic shows.
Signature Elements in its half-time shows include a set of three or four pieces (including a quick, visually-stunning opener, a fast-paced main piece, and ending with a ballad), expansion sets, a single company front (usually in the final piece), horn flashes and sets that spill into the pit area. Not usually in the shows (but common elsewhere) are spinning drills, park and wail (punch/shout) segments, follow the leader drills (AKA snake), and park and play (standing) segments.
Traditions
Homecoming
The highlight of each school year is the Homecoming Parade down Ala Ilima Street and the Homecoming Floorshow competition between the four graduating classes. On the same evening of the Homecoming Floorshow, a bonfire is lit on the athletic field. A giant "M" is constructed and burned, symbolic of the burning spirit and pride of Moanalua High School students. The Homecoming football game is part of the festivities, kicking off the active athletic season. The most popular Homecoming event is the Homecoming Dance usually held in the gymnasium.
Graduation
At the end of each school year, Moanalua High School has the distinction of being the first in the state to graduate its students. Graduation and commencement ceremonies are held at the athletic field and stadium. It is always attended by the school superintendents, state legislators, city council members and sometimes the Governor or Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii. A high-profile media event, portions of the ceremonies are broadcast throughout the state by the major Honolulu-based network affiliates: KFVE, KGMB, KHNL, KHON and KITV. The event attracts large crowds and often results in mass confusion among those trying to give leis to the graduates.
Moanalua High School also has the distinction of graduating the most number of valedictorians each year, in comparison to the other schools of the Hawaii State Department of Education. As many as one dozen of students graduate with the honor in a single class, arguably indicative of the strength of the school's academic programs.
Noted alumni
- Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss America 2001
- Bernadette Baraquio Hamada, Broadcaster
- Dae Sung Lee, United States Tae Kwon Do National Champion
- In Young Park, Violinist