Teacher of the Week: Natalie Morey

Living Noblesse Oblige

“Courageous” is an adjective often used to describe a Spartan. Many would say that Natalie Morey has been a true Spartan as an educator, not only because she graduated from Michigan State University as a Spartan or taught English for 33 years at Maryknoll School as a Spartan, but Mrs. Morey has led Maryknoll School courageously through its transformation into an Essential School and has played a large role in its success over the years. When reflecting on the scope of achievements Mrs. Morey has accomplished at Maryknoll School, there is no doubt that she lives our school’s motto of “Noblesse Oblige” and we are blessed that she is part of our family.

          Born and raised on a large farm in Michigan, Mrs. Morey did not appreciate her quiet and simple life at the time, but she certainly does now. It was as at the age of six in Emerson Elementary School when she was inspired by her first grade teacher to become an educator. Mrs. Morey liked her first grade teacher so much that she would purposefully write letters backwards just to see Mrs. Gierman’s pretty red marks on her school work. Mrs. Morey eventually attended Ionia High School where she graduated 5^th in her class of approximately 240 students. Much like today, Mrs. Morey was very active as a high school student. She served time in student government, the Young Republican’s Club, the Debate Team, and was committee chair for various events like the prom. When it was time to choose what college to attend, Mrs. Morey’s first choice was Northwestern University, but she did not want to burden her family with the financial burden associated with attending a school with such a high tuition. Instead, Mrs. Morey chose to attend Michigan State University and she is very proud of the strong education she received there as a Spartan. Initially, Mrs. Morey thought of teaching history or math. In the end, she received a B.A. Degree in Communication-Education, Teaching Minors:  English, Social Studies and an M. A. Degree Equivalent:  Graduate Work in English and Education at Michigan State University and the University of Hawaii.

Mrs. Morey was employed as a substitute teacher in Michigan while working on her graduate degree at Michigan State University. However, one day she and her husband made the brave decision to move to Hawaii without any ties to friends or family in the islands. Mrs. Morey’s first teaching job in Hawaii was at Star of the Sea School as a high school English Teacher. A year later, she became an adjunct professor teaching Speech at the University of Hawaii. During this time, she also received an M. Ed. Degree: Educational Leadership in the Pacific Basin.She eventually found a home after interviewing with former principal Jared Kaufmann for the position of English teacher at Maryknoll High School. Thirty-three years later, Mrs. Morey continues to teach English, but has added far more to her list of responsibilities since signing on.

           Mrs. Morey points to the wonderful professional development she received when Maryknoll High School became an essential school. She did such a fine job of absorbing the educational strategies used in essential schools that she eventually provided workshops and lectures across the nation on educational topics like effective assessments, integrated curriculum and project-based learning just to name a few. Within Maryknoll, Natalie has been and continues to lead by example by working in various capacities including Accreditation Co-chair, Head of the English Department, Dean of Faculty, Academic Dean and more. 

            Over the years, Mrs. Morey appreciates the many wonderful and interesting people she has had the pleasure of working with, including former priests, sisters, teachers and students. There have been changes at Maryknoll School over the years, but she firmly believes Maryknoll’s students continue to show great potential as was in the past. Mrs. Morey believes that all students can learn. In return, many of her former students and colleagues have recognized her talents by writing letters of support as part of the nomination process for various educational awards. Just recently, Mrs. Morey became the recipient of the NCTE’s CEL (Conference on English Leadership) Leadership Achievement Award.  This is the first year they have given this particular award, as the organization “identified a need to extend our leadership awards to embrace the types of leadership we observed among our candidates.”  

            Today, Mrs. Morey credits much of her success in life to her husband, Roger, who has been a constant source of support to her. In her spare time, Mrs. Morey enjoys reading and gardening. She also continues to love teaching and helping students to become the best people they can through providing them an environment where they are given the executive function to make decisions for themselves and learn from them. As Academic Dean of Classic Literacies, Mrs. Morey also mentors new teachers and administrators as seen in the picture of Mrs. Morey with new vice principal of Maryknoll Grade School and co-chair of Maryknoll’s accreditation team, Mrs. Chris Loomis.

Mrs. Morey’s journey as a Spartan has led her to move from Michigan to Hawaii and from English teacher to award winning educational leader and lecturer. Her hard work and perseverance has helped shaped Maryknoll School and the lives of those who have been students, teachers and administrators here. Thank you Mrs. Morey for your example of noblesse oblige in action by showing the courage to faithfully lead Maryknoll School to success for so many years.

Hawaii Business Magazine honored Maryknoll School by naming the institution one of the Best Places to Work in Hawaii, for the fourth year in a row.

In the April 2014 issue of Hawaii Business, Maryknoll was recognized not only as one of the best places to work, but also the most family-friendly medium-sized employer, the top non-profit employer, and the only school to be recognized for any award on this year’s list.

“As Hawaii’s largest Catholic School, we recognize the impact our employees have on such a tremendous number of youth.” Said Loryn Guiffre, Maryknoll School Director of Marketing, “It is in our belief that maintaining a healthy environment for our staff will help to do the same for our students. We believe that happy teachers make for happy students!”

Maryknoll is guided by the motto “Noblesse Oblige,” meaning, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Maryknoll School employees work as leaders in our community, continually growing with traits of professionalism, creativity, pride, service, and the ability to nurture dreams in themselves, as well as and others. Maryknoll’s 166 staff and faculty members understand that each child deserves caring, respectful, strong leaders to help them instill those same values into their own lives.

You can find Maryknoll School featured on the pages of the Hawaii Business Magazine April 2014 issue. We appreciate all our staff and faculty members, and all that they do for our school, students, and Maryknoll community.  Read more here: http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/Hawaii-Business/April-2014/Best-Places-to-Work-in-Hawaii-2014/

Teacher of the Week: Suzeth Carreon

Living Noblesse Oblige

            Suzeth Carreon, Religion teacher at Maryknoll High School since 2001, is seen in the picture above sharing her thoughts during a faculty discussion about school culture at Maryknoll High School and what can be done to help our students make the most moral and ethical choices in their lives. Others take interest in hearing Mrs. Carreon because she exemplifies what it means to be of service to God, others, and to live as Jesus did.

            Born and raised in the city of Manila, Mrs. Carreon’s mother worked as a librarian and her father as an entrepreneur in the Philippines. She attended Bonifacio Elementary School as a young kid, where she found her passion for dancing and singing. She took her talents with her through to Canossian College, an all-girl Catholic high school where she continued sharing her talents with others. After high school, Mrs. Carreon applied to Manuel Quezon University, where she attained an undergraduate degree in Foreign Service (better known in the U.S. as International Relations).    

            Mrs. Carreon could have become a foreign ambassador like some of her classmates did after graduating from college. Instead, she chose to support her husband who worked as a Civil Engineer and travelled to Samoa to raise her family. Mrs. Carreon’s time in Samoa made a big impact on her. All three of her children were born and raised in American Samoa. During her time there, she found her passion for teaching and taught the subjects of English, Language Arts, American Literature and Writing at Samoana High School and South Pacific Academy. After attaining a scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Mrs. Carreon made the decision to move to Hawaii with her family to complete her MA Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction in 1995. Soon after, she attained a teaching position at St. John the Baptist School on Oahu and taught Religion, Language Arts and Social Studies from 1999 to 2001. The next year, she was hired at Maryknoll School to teach Religion and she has been here ever since.

            Over the years at Maryknoll, Mrs. Carreon has taught many religion courses including Morality, Catholic Social Justice, and more. She appreciates the smallness of the campus, where students can get to know each other very well. Mrs. Carreon is thankful for the opportunities Maryknoll has given her to grow as teacher and as a person. She is most proud of Maryknoll’s commitment to teaching students about Catholic values. Along with Campus Ministers Leo Delgado and Christopher Casupang, Mrs. Carreon has led eleven Kairos retreats and one Emmaus retreat. In addition to this, she has exposed hundreds of our students to God’s Works of Mercy by asking students to join her in feeding the homeless, visiting the sick and more.

            Mrs. Carreon takes her job very seriously and spends many hours planning and prepping lessons to be used in the classroom with her students. She lives for the glory of God and wants to “teach like Jesus, love like him and live like him.” We thank Mrs. Carreon for being an example of “Noblesse Oblige” for our students by continuing to live a life of service to others. Mahalo Mrs. Carreon for being an important part of our Maryknoll family for so many years and for modeling the Christian values that makes Maryknoll School so special.

Teacher of the Week: Troy Kamiya

Living Noblesse Oblige

            The importance of being there for others is a principle our Maryknoll Sisters have passed down to both our students and teachers here at Maryknoll School since its inception in 1927. That spirit lives on today at Maryknoll High School and is exemplified by the hard work and dedication sociology teacher Troy Kamiya has invested into helping others throughout his journey in life.

            Mr. Kamiya was born in Kaneohe and later moved with his family to the town of Kaimuki. He attended St. Mark’s Lutheran School until he was accepted to Punahou School in the 4th grade. While in high school, Mr. Kamiya enjoyed playing football and being a member of the Punahou track team. His fondest memories of high school are related to his experience as a Junior Leader in Kaimuki each summer when Mr. Kamiya would lead children in helping them to become young adults. During the school year, Mr. Kamiya also worked at various places like TCBY Yogurt and Chucky Cheese. Even at work, Mr. Kamiya found himself surrounded by children either wanting to eat yogurt or play video games. In retrospect, Mr. Kamiya wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He loved being with kids so much that he even dressed up as Chucky Cheese a few times while working in Aina Haina just so he could see the joy in the eyes of the children there.

            After graduating from Puanhou School, Mr. Kamiya thought he would study the courses needed for him to become a school counselor. For that reason, he began taking many sociology courses. After four years, he attained his BA in Sociology from the University of Hawaii Manoa while working at the same time as Kaimuki’s YMCA Program Director. While in this position, Mr. Kamiya made the decision to eventually become a teacher because he was told by many people that school counselors, much like the position he held as program director, spent most of their time processing paperwork instead of being with kids. For that reason, Mr. Kamiya eventually applied for a teaching position at Maryknoll School and was hired soon after. He has been a teacher here ever since.

            At Maryknoll, Mr. Kamiya began as a substitute teacher, study hall facilitator, and also administered exams to students. In time, a position as social studies teacher opened when Della Au, sister of current principal Darcie Kawamura, left Maryknoll School for a career as a politician. Eventually, former sociology teacher Mr. Eackman retired and Mr. Kamiya took over the job of teaching sociology at Maryknoll School. Over the years, Mr. Kamiya has been actively involved at Maryknoll as an assistant coach of the Maryknoll’s varsity basketball team and Senate Advisor just to name a few.

            Mr. Kamiya loves working at Maryknoll School because he believes that like his former alma mater, Maryknoll School develops strong academic skills in their students. In addition to this, what makes Maryknoll School even more unique is that it also graduates students with a desire to make a difference in their respective communities. Through various projects, activities, and assignments, Mr. Kamiya does his best to teach his students that lesson and he is so proud of the many Maryknoll graduates that have continued in life with a desire to help those in need.

            We thank Mr. Kamiya for committing his life to helping children and young adults reach their full potential. In this way, Mr. Kamiya has lived our school motto of “Noblesse Oblige” and we are ever so grateful for him and his work. Thank you Mr. Kamiya for being a part of our Maryknoll family for so many years.

Several exceptional students represented Maryknoll in the Hawaii Council on Economic Education (HCEE) 2014 Economic Challenge, and took home two awards.

The challenge that took place on April 2 was divided into two separate competitions: the Adam Smith division for AP students, and the David Ricardo for non-AP students enrolled in courses with economic concepts. Initial rounds of the competition include written tests, while the final rounds include “first-to-the buzzer” question rounds for the teams to showcase their knowledge and critical thinking skills. Maryknoll students Heather Acidera, Katherine Guevara, Natalie Kamada, Chad Saito were the runner-up team in the David Ricardo Division (pictured below). Alex Lee was Maryknoll’s individual high scorer in this division.

Our runner-up winners from the Adam Smith division included Xamantha Curameng, Chloe Fortuna, Xavier Imperial, and Gwendilyn Liu. Xamantha Curameng was Maryknoll’s individual high scorer in this division.

Our high school May Day program will be streaming live on Friday, April 25 at 11 AM. Click here to watch the broadcast.  It will be available for viewing after the live stream.

Teacher of the Week: Sara Smitherman

Living Noblesse Oblige

            Like a few other teachers currently employed at Maryknoll School, Mrs. Smitherman came to Maryknoll from the island of Maui. Born a raised in Kula, Mrs. Smitherman enjoyed her childhood years at Kula Elementary School, Seabury Hall Middle School, and finally, St. Anthony High School on Maui. As a teenager, Mrs. Smitherman loved playing soccer, camping, and hiking, but did not initially see herself as an educator. In fact, after graduating from high school, Mrs. Smitherman put college on hold for several years to work in various capacities before finding her way to Maryknoll School as an English teacher. In retrospect, she believes the long road she took that led her to teach at Maryknoll has only made her more appreciative of the fact that she now works in an amazing school that builds students into 21^st century learners, leaders, and citizens of character.

            Before finding her way to Maryknoll School, Mrs. Smitherman worked for Kaiser Permanente as a service agent informing patients about the status of their medical insurance. She did not find that position satisfying to her and soon Mrs. Smitherman became an editor for an archeological company. However, she began to miss being in an educational environment after being away from school for several years and soon returned to college with hopes of someday becoming a school teacher. While in college, Mrs. Smitherman worked at Mid-Pacific Institute each summer and tutored students at the University of Hawaii.  After receiving both her BA in English and MA in English at the University of Hawaii, Mrs. Smitherman located an ad in the newspaper stating that Maryknoll School was looking for an English teacher. Soon after her interview, she was hired and we have benefited greatly from her presence here in the last five years.

            Since working at Maryknoll School, Mrs. Smitherman has taught many courses as an English teacher, including American Literature, Writing for College, AP Language and Composition and much more. She has also served Maryknoll as a leader in the positions of Department Head, Grade Level Coordinator, Co-Senior Project Coordinator, and Hiking Club Advisor. Interestingly, Mrs. Smitherman was also advisor of the Zombie Club for a few years. Unfortunately, she said with a laugh that membership in the Zombie Club “died out” eventually.

            What Mrs. Smitherman loves most about working at Maryknoll School are the people there. She remembers the joy of working with Sister Sarah, a Maryknoll Sister who showed her the beauty and essence of the Maryknoll mission, much the same way Jared Kaufmann did when he was teaching history at Maryknoll. She also recognizes the energy that has been brought to Maryknoll with new faculty members and administrators on board.

Mrs. Smitherman says she has grown much since working at Maryknoll because of the many opportunities she has been provided while working at Maryknoll. Mrs. Smitherman’s recent trip to China to visit our sister school, Jin Yuan High School in Shanghai, is just one example of this. During her three weeks there, Mrs. Smitherman taught students English using many of the pedagogical strategies used here in the United States when teaching students new content and skills. She also learned many new things from Chinese educators and students there that we can consider adopting at Maryknoll School in the future. Mrs. Smitherman was the perfect choice of teacher to send to China because of her openness to learn new concepts and share them with others. This is one of many characteristics that make Sara Smitherman so special. Her passion for learning and sharing that knowledge is a prime example of our school’s motto “Noblesse Oblige.”  

Eigth graders from Maryknoll School participated in the Middle School Speech Festival at Punahou School. On April 19^th, Dr. Anne Sylva, Mrs. LeeMarie Deponte, and Ms. Diana Wan coached seven of the Maryknoll contestants to win “Superior” performance medals. These talented students were Raquel Valle, Daniel Ferrer, Aedrik Johann, Ryan Benavente, Chad Oshiro, Jacob Nakasone, and Braedan Taramasco. Congratulations students on your well-deserved winnings!

Teacher of the Week: Christina Simpson

Living Noblesse Oblige

            If you ask the right questions, you’ll find the many of our teachers have generations of connections to Maryknoll School. Ms. Christina Simpson is one example of this. Ms. Simpson has been a teacher at Maryknoll School for six years now; however, both her father and mother are both alumni of Maryknoll School, she attended Maryknoll School as a child, and now her daughter is a student Maryknoll School. Three generations of Spartans are proud to be a part of such a special place.

            Born and raised nearby Maryknoll, Ms. Simpson’s father worked as an investigator and her mother as a union representative. Ms. Simpson attended Maryknoll Grade School for a few years and eventually graduated from Kaiser High School. In high school, she was actively involved in the Speech Team, Drama Club, Color Guard, and Band. She fondly remembers playing the cymbals in band as a percussionist.

            When it was time to graduate from high school, Ms. Simpson wanted to study in the fields of law or education. She eventually chose teaching. After graduating from the University of Hawaii with her BA in English and Post Baccalaureate degree in Secondary Education, Ms. Simpson worked at Mililani Middle School for three years as an 8^th grade English teacher. She later moved to Moanalua Middle School to teach English there for five years. Finally, after locating an ad in the paper for an English teaching position at Maryknoll School, Ms. Simpson did not hesitate to return to the school she once attended as a child.

            Ms. Simpson enjoys teaching English. She also loves being an advisor. She takes pride in being with her current advisory class for three years while guiding them on their way to graduation. As a former division coordinator, Ms. Simpson did not have her own advisory class until Mrs. Smitherman took over that role, so she truly appreciates having the opportunity to foster relationships with the same group of students on a daily basis for three years.

            In the picture above, Ms. Simpson displays her fun-loving side by taking part in a treasure hunt earlier this school year with other faculty members of Maryknoll School. It is clear to see the Ms. Simpson knows how to have fun and we are appreciative of the fact that she has chosen to return to Maryknoll because of her desire to live our school’s motto of “Noblesse Oblige” by giving back to the community she grew up in. Mahalo Ms. Simpson for being a part of our Maryknoll family!  

Baccalaureate Mass is in the Maryknoll Community Center’s Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium on Thursday, June 5, 2014. Service begins at 9:00 a.m. Doors will open to guests at 8:15 a.m.

Class Night is at the Hawaii Theatre Center on Thursday, June 5, 2014. Program begins at 5:00 p.m. Admission is by ticket only, and doors open at 4:00 p.m.

Graduation is at the Neal Blaisdell Arena on Friday, June 6, 2014. Commencement begins at 5:30 p.m. Admission is by ticket only, and doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Maryknoll students work especially hard to better themselves, their school, and their communities, but there are always students who go above and beyond expectations. Xavier Imperial, class of 2014, has proven his dedication and his heart and won himself an HMSA Kaimana Award.

The Kaimana Award and Scholarship program honors students for their excellence on and off of the field. Only 21 students in the state of Hawaii are granted awards that can be used toward college tuition, room, board, or books. These students will have competed on an athletic team recognized by their league, in Xavier’s case, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH). During their time in the league, recipients have earned points in athletics, academics, sportsmanship, and community service. Athletes who lend their talents to give back to those in need are just the type of recipients that the program looks for.

Additional requirements for recipients include: maintain a grade point average of 2.75, belong the graduating class of 2014, participate in at least one sport recognized by their league during their high school career, write a short essay, and submit two letters of recommendation. We congratulate Xavier on his proven excellence, and we thank him for representing the Maryknoll Spartans with such positivity!

What are you doing on your summer vacation?

Maryknoll High School students spent a sunny Saturday afternoon on June 21st helping Project Hawaii, Inc. -- a non-profit organization that directly assists homeless keiki in Hawaii through activities such as an educational summer camp and providing them backpacks and school supplies at the start of the school year.

Project Hawaii depends solely on contributions from the public to run its activities. During the “fishnetting” activity near the First Hawaiian Bank in Pearl City, Maryknoll students collected donations from cars during red lights. In just an hour and a half, the students raised more than $570.

Said Magin Patrick, co-director of Project Hawaii, Inc., “It was our pleasure working with such a wonderful group. We really enjoyed having them…and we did an awesome job!!! Your group was able to help us raise $573.52 towards our summer camp adventures. That really is a great amount of money to add to our goals.”

High school students have several more opportunities to volunteer for this activity. The more, the merrier! (And the more money raised to support our homeless children in Hawaii.)

Saturday, June 28 – Pearl City
Saturday, July 5 – Pearl City
Friday, July 11 – Kapolei
Saturday, July 12 – Pearl City

To sign up, email Mrs. Michel at camille.michel@maryknollschool.org. A consent form will be emailed to you. Consent forms must be signed and returned two days prior to the date on which you would like to volunteer.

Varrick Suezaki, from Maryknoll's class of 2014, recently finished off the project he had been working on for the last six months. The graduate built his own robotic arm from scratch using a generic microprocessor board (called Arduino), servo motors, and generic electronic components. Dr. Eugene H. Guillian, who had overseen the project, tells us, "He encountered many obstacles, but stuck with it and built something quite amazing. On the way to completion, he learned a lot, and he is well on the way to becoming an expert in electronics and robotics." Varrick will be passing on his project so that the Spartans after him are able to have a head start on more sophisticated projects. We thank Dr. Guillian for continually supporting our students, and congratulate Varrick on this exceptional feat!

You can watch Varrick Suezaki with his robotic arm here.

Maryknoll Exchange students from China earned their wings at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Thursday, July 17, 2014. Here, they learned about flight simulation, robotics, going to the moon, building a rocket, and much more. In teams made up of Chinese and American students, the students would present what they had learned to an audience consisting of their mentors, parents, friends, and even Maryknoll School President, Perry Martin, who was there to congratulate them. They were given their wings at the pinning ceremony that came after their team presentations.

Check out some of the photos!

Maryknoll School's Class of 2018 kicked off the new school year with a Freshman BBQ that was held on Friday, August 15 at the MCC Gym from 11 AM - 1 PM. There was fun and games and an opportunity for the students to meet their freshman advisory teacher.  

The second event for the Class of 2018 is the Freshman First Day on Tuesday, August 19.  Only the freshman are on campus on this day so that they can become familiar with their class schedule, locate their lockers, configure their laptops to the school network, participate in team building activities, and much more. Below is the schedule for this day. 

The schedule for the day is as follows:

6:30 - 7:55 AM          Pancake Breakfast and Campus Tour
7:55 - 8:00 AM          Morning Prayer and Flag
8:00 - 8:30 AM          Introduction of Teachers and Administration
8:30 - 9:00 AM          Tour of 1st Quarter Classrooms
9:00 - 9:10 AM          Break
9:10 - 9:15 AM          Introduction of Freshman Advisory Teachers
9:15 - 9:55 AM          Rotation #1: Advisory Picture and Lockers
10:00 - 10:40 AM      Rotation #2: Advisory Time
10:45 - 11:25 AM      Rotation #3: Laptop Configuration
11:30 - 12:15 PM      Rotation #4: Team Building Activities
12:15 - 1:00 PM        Lunch and change into class t-shirts
1:00 - 1:15 PM          Walk to Maryknoll Community Center Gym
1:15 - 1:25 PM          Welcome by President Perry Martin
1:25 - 1:45 PM          Games
1:45 - 2:10 PM          Zumba
2:10 - 2:20 PM          Alumni Talks
2:20 - 2:30 PM          Closing

Freshman advisory teachers, the Student Senate, Team Upperclassmen, and high school administrators are excited to welcome the freshman onto campus on Tuesday.

We are excited to welcome back grades 9 to 12 on the high school campus! Renovation of the library have been completed, while work on the front office continues until October.  During this time, the front office has been re-located to room 115, and the health room is in room 201.

Here is the schedule for the first day of school on Wednesday, August 20, 2014.

7:45 – 8:40 AM         Flag Raising & Prayer                                
                                  Advisory
8:40 – 8:45 AM         Transition to class      
8:45 – 9:20 AM         Period 1                  
9:20– 9:25 AM          Transition to class      
9:25 – 10:00 AM       Period 2               
10:00 – 10:05 AM     Transition to class      
10:05 – 10:40 AM     Period 3                 
10:40 – 10:45 AM     Transition                  
10:45 – 11:20 AM     Period 4               
11:20 – 12:05 PM    Lunch                 
12:05 – 12:15 PM      Advisory                   
12:15 – 12:40 PM      Walk to MCC            
12:40 – 1:40 PM      Prayer Service       
                                  Senate Assembly
1:40 – 2:00 PM          Walk to HS                
                                  Dismissal

As we start off the year, listed below are some important dates to keep in mind.

• August 22: Opening School Year Praise and Worship Service
• August 25: Yearbook and ID Picture Taking, Grades 9-11
• August 29: Summer Reading Seminar: Moloka'i
• September 4: Summer Reading Seminar: Farewell to Manzanar
• September 4: Senior Parent College Night
• September 5: All-School Anniversary Mass
• September 10: Grades 9 & 10 Parent Night
• September 11: Grades 11 & 12 Parent Night
• September 12: Spirit Day Pep Rally
• September 12: Welcome Back Dance!

Spirit week is always sensational here at Maryknoll! Middle school and high school students alike were able to participate in various prideful activities. To add a little change to our normal routines, students were able to dress up to match spirit week themes. We had days like Military Monday, Twin Tuesday, Western Wednesday, Tourist Thursday, and Show-Some-Class Friday(students wore class shirts).

Friday was very exciting for the students because there was an amazing banner competition between the classes, topped off with thrilling dodgeball games between homerooms.  The eighth graders won the banner competition for the middle school, while the junior class won for the high school. Ms. Higa’s freshman homeroom competed with a fierce drive and rallied the freshman together during the semi-finals (pictured). At the end of the day, a senior homeroom claimed their trophy for winning the dodgeball series. Throughout the week, our students expressed their pride when learning, praying, and playing together. We are one school and one team. Go Spartans!

Right now, Maryknoll School's Baron Kimura (grade 9), Thomas Root (grade 10), Mrs. Myrna Spurrier (Art), and Dr. John Trowbridge (Spanish, Chinese) are part of the ENVOY team in Wuhan, China. They will be in Wuhan Changqing No.1 School from October 25 to November 7, teaching English and American culture, and learning about the Chinese way of life as well as their education system. Most recently, the seventh grade students in Wuhan Changqing No.1 School have had been learning about Halloween! You can keep up with the team by following their blog here: http://maryknollwuhan.weebly.com/

On November 3rd, Mr. Hickel's freshman physics students built and showcased their very own roller coasters. Combined classes met in the library to create an amusement park right here on campus. The prototype roller coasters allowed the Smart Spartans to demonstrate their knowledge of the different forms of energy. Other teachers came by to hear the students explain their work, along with their ingenious coaster names to include "Coaster Rica," and "The Procrastinator."

A great achievement was made by a distinguished group of Maryknoll students on Saturday, February 21.

Ethan Chun, Jonah Chun, Kaleo Ogura, Matthew Choy, Trevor Lau, and Andrew Millard participated as a team in the first ever UH Manoa Regional Science Olympiad. The team worked very hard to prepare for the tournament, and their hard work paid off. The Maryknoll team was awarded third place! Congratulations Spartan Scientists, on a fantastic success. 

A huge thank you to UH Manoa for hosting the tournament. Also, thank you to the Hawaii State Science Olympiad for creating a program that promotes the scientific excellence of our students. We are immensely proud of our team!