Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Volume 17, Issue 2

Holidays Pg.2.............Clubs/Sports Pg.3...............Student Interests Pg.4-5

KMS History Pg.6..........KMS Support Pg.6................Teachers/Staff Pg.7-9

Comics Pg.10-13...........Holiday Fun 14-16

Konawaena Middle School Pg.1

Artist Leenwut Fautanu wins the yearbook cover

competition for the 2017-2018 school year! Teachers

and students voted on December 12th to decide which

design would be selected as this year’s yearbook cover.

Congratulations Leenwut! Also, good job to all the other

participants who made this a tough competition!

Holidays Pg.2

Day of the Dead By: Allyssa Kelen & Manami Alspach

Have you heard of Day of the Dead? Also

known as Dia De Los Muertos. This celebration

originated in Mexico and throughout modern day South

America. During this celebration, people mourn those

who have passed, but also reflect upon them with

happiness and joy.

Fabian Ruiz in Mrs. Belcastro’s advisory said

his family dresses up as skeletons and traditional

Mexican dresses. Similar to the traditional dresses and

dances included in the festival parades, lit with candles

and decorated with Marigold flowers and painted

skulls. Food is also an important piece of this

celebration. Such as special sweet bread, skull candy,

and the favorite food of past loved ones that are offered

to their graves.

8th grader, Lupita says that on Day of the Dead,

she and her family eat a lot of sugar. Lupita also said,

“We celebrate it by going to parades” and going to

graves to pray for loved ones. Kimberly from 8th

Grade says, this holiday means that she gets to “meet

with my deceased family” and pay homage to the dead.

Widely celebrated with a strong cultural

background, Day of the Dead, or Dia De Los Muertos,

is celebrated by many including students at KMS.

5,4,3,2,1 Happy New Year!

By: Kimberly Garza Magana and Trisha Angelie

DelaCruz

Boom! Crash! Crackle! The fireworks explode

in the air, all night on New Years. Many Cultures

celebrate New Years in different ways. They have

many traditions that come from a long way back. The

firework tradition has been around for many years. It

started in 7th century in China. It is believed that the

noise from the fireworks would scare evil spirits and

misfortune away. In the Philippines there’s another

tradition. The tradition there is to wear polka dots.

People think that the polka dots represent prosperity.

They also keep coins in their pocket to attract wealth.

Furthermore in Spain, they have a tradition involving

grapes. Spanish people eat twelve grapes every year. In

addition, some cultures believe that the color of your

undergarments symbolizes something that a person

desires. The color red represents love. The color yellow

is prosperity and so on.

New Year’s can be celebrated in various

different ways. Many people just celebrate with special

food at a Potluck. People in Mrs. Singson’s family

usually go to their family’s house and have a feast.

Then they blast fireworks all night long. Other people

prefer a quiet celebration on New Years. Mrs.

Cummins is one of the quiet folks. She says “I celebrate

New Year’s quietly at home usually watching football.”

The most exciting part of New Year’s differs in

every family. For example, Mrs. Belcastro, believes

spending time with family is most important during

New Year’s. Other people enjoy having a do-over, a

new chance of making things right. “Starting a brand

new calendar. New opportunities and new chances and

365 days to correct my mistakes.” explains Mrs.

Cummins. Everybody celebrates New Year’s

differently, but the idea is the same. A New Year is

coming up; enjoy it with your family.

Clubs/Sports Pg.3

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

By Kira Edmoundson and Payton Kim

The KMS Recycle Club has been helping to

keep the environment clean on and off campus. They

start with their meetings in room E-4 and learn about

the negative impact of pollution as well as how to

reduce it. Three teachers, Mr. Simpkins, Mrs.

Slingerland and Ms. Gibson, help the dedicated

members keep the campus clean. To encourage

recycling at school, you may have noticed that the club

places bins around the campus for plastic bottles and

aluminum cans. They also ask teachers and students to

recycle newspaper and cardboard.

Tahaa Kahele is one of the Recycle Club

members as well as their public relations member.

Tahaa decided to join the club because his mother

works for the Department of Agricultural Resources.

(DAR). “I like apples,” he said, “and without a good,

clean environment, I couldn’t have good, clean apples.”

Tahaa also says he likes being part of the Recycle Club

because of how enthusiastic the other members are

about helping the environment.

The club is always planning field trips to help

the public and are looking for KMS students to join

them. If you would like to join the Recycle Club you

can pick up a form in room E-4. You take the form

home and get it signed by your parents. To join you will

have to pay a $5 membership fee to help fund field

trips. They have several exciting field trips already

planned for later in the school year such as a trip to the

Seahorse Farm, Atlas recycling, and cleaning up the

Old Airport. They would appreciate new members to

help them keep the environment clean and make an

impact on others.

The members aim to have all of KMS students

recycling on and off campus. Their jobs are to guide

students and the people of Hawaii to keep our

environment clean. Tahaa’s message to KMS is

“My grandma once told me that

if you don't care about the aina, you shouldn't

be living on it. I encourage others to care

about the earth.”

Volleyball

by : Bekah & Heaven

Volleyball is a very popular sport at

Konawaena Middle School. Many 6th,7th,and 8th

graders love playing volleyball during their free

time.

Most 7th graders play in a big circle down

by the 6th grade black top, however the 8th graders

like a more challenging game. They divide into

teams of 2 and use cones to mark where the net

would be. Whichever team loses steps away and

lets the next team play against the winners.

8th grader Kailee Llanes says her favorite

position is libero. “I like being a libero because I

like playing in the back row as a defense player.”

However, Stephanie, another 8th grader stated “I

would be a front left so that I could set the center

people.” 8th grader Areana stated “My favorite

position is front middle because that position gets

the ball a lot.”

After asking the question, “Does the

Konawaena girls volleyball team encourage you

enough to make you want to join next year?”

Trysten replied, “yes because they work as a team.”

We asked other students if they were a fan

of high school volleyball. Nikki answered “yes

because of all the hard work they have to do and

how they are able to work together as a team.” We

also asked Nikki, Do you play volleyball for fun?

She said “yes I play volleyball with my friends for

fun because I like to work on my skills and I like to

understand the game a little more.”

Volleyball is a very popular for middle

school & high school students. Many want to play

in many different positions, and looks like there's

going to be a lot of new people joining the

Konawaena Volleyball team next year.

Student Interests Pg.4

What’s the difference between home school

and public school? Both home school and public

school students have many similarities and

differences. To find out some of these, we

interviewed our KMS registrar, Mrs. Masukawa!

We also asked another handful of questions to

students here at Konawaena Middle School.

First, we asked Mrs. Masukawa if home

schooled students and public school students follow

the same curriculum, she then explained that the

curriculum and the standards are much different.

Standards are the basic lesson and information we

all must learn each year and the curriculum is how

they are taught. The specific teacher and/or parents

are the people who choose the curriculum, making

each and every lesson one of a kind. She further

explained that the required curriculum that each

parent must follow is the start and ending date of the

program, number of hours per week on instruction,

subjects to be covered, method to assess, and list of

the textbooks or resources used.

We also asked if home schooled students do

big projects such as Kulia or Science Fair? She

replied, “Every home school situation is unique and

the curriculum they develop is also one of a kind.

They may have some big projects which could be

different from the ones we have here at KMS. One

thing though, the students who are homeschooled

cannot choose to come to school just to participate

in a particular project or elective; neither can they

participate in a sport activity sponsored by the

school (i.e. soccer or football).”

We later asked who exactly teaches the

homeschooled students. Mrs. Masukawa told us,

“Parents will decide who will teach their child It

could be the parent, a hired teacher/tutor, an online

computer program, etc.”

Lastly, we asked, “Are there a lot of

homeschooled students?” She replied surprisingly

with,

“Out of 633 students, 9 are home

schooled, which is about 1.4%. I am

not sure how that compares to other

schools in the state or nationally.”

Some other interesting information Mrs.

Masukawa shared is that “homeschoolers do not

earn credits while they are being home schooled, to

earn a high school diploma - you must attend the

high school for at least three years or you may earn

a high school diploma (GED) from the community

school for adults.” Thanks Mrs. Masukawa!

Now for the students opinions on

homeschooling vs. public schooling. First we asked

Makamae Kadooka if he likes public school? Which

he replied with, “I like going to school because I get

to hang out with my friends and if homeschooled I

can’t hangout with my friends.” However, 8th

grader Alyssa Caballero feels differently saying, “I

would rather be homeschooled because you can get

more sleep, and you can choose your hours.” We

also, asked 6th grader Maria Villegas the same

question, she responded, “Public school because

there’s more kids instead of being alone.”

In conclusion, homeschooling and public

schooling are both educational and unique in their

own ways and both can get you a great education.

Learning at home vs. learning at school!

By, Morgan Wheeler and Jazmine Yoshioka

Student Interests Pg.5

Here at Konawaena Middle School, 258

students participated in our school wide survey. The

question was whether they approved of the school

uniform or not. Surprisingly, only 21 students

responded with yes. A staggering 237 no votes

overpowered this argument. Five or six years ago, the

familiar blue and grey uniform was enforced upon

KMS. But what do the students actually think about

them?

Around campus we began to ask teachers and

students alike about their opinion on the uniform. We

asked Mr. Wainwright whether or not he wears the

uniform. He responded with, “Yes, it’s an easy choice

in the morning; I like the look, and it’s cost effective.”

Mrs. Murphioka told of how “before the uniform, we

had an issue with dress code [violations], bullying,

and it was much harder to tell high schoolers from

middle schoolers. Not only do uniforms look great,

but they also have an enforcing purpose for our

school.”

However, not everyone appreciates the

uniform. We asked students about what they would

change about the uniform. 7th grader, Ariel Cohen,

had quite an idea, “I think they should have a wider

variety of colors.” Imagine the whole spectrum of

colors available!

Jade Onaka gave another suggestion, “Maybe

have a free dress code day or change the design.” It

seems some students may just want a new uniform.

Upon asking if she liked the uniform, she responded

with, “Yes, because not only does it help me get ready

[faster]. It keeps the dress code in check. However, it

keeps me from expressing myself.”

Surprisingly, Jade Edmoundson supports the

uniforms, unlike the majority of the school. She stated

that “it prevents inappropriate stuff.”

Mrs. Murphioka felt that before the uniform, it

was hard to keep students under control. We asked if

we should lift the policy. She said, “No, because I am

one of the few who helped support and create the

uniform at KMS. We need the uniform to keep

students safe.”

Ms. Singson says that, “It’s great that we show

unity as a school through the uniforms. However, if

we didn’t have uniforms and all students followed

dress code, I’d be okay with that too.”

The Controversial KMS Uniform By: Toko Minoda and Kianna Lim

Either way, the uniform is being used, but

maybe students will change that in the future.

Consider the following anonymous quote:

“Thirty years from now, it won’t matter

what shoes you wore, how your hair looked,

or what jeans you bought. What will matter is

what you learned and how you used it.”

To conclude, the students of KMS will either

like or dislike the uniform. School uniforms can be a

pain and not so pretty or stylish to some, but they do

serve a purpose. So don’t hate ‘em, just deal with it!

‘Cuz after these three years of middle school, you’re

done with uniforms.

Every year the KMS office staff folds and organizes the KMS

t-shirts for sale at registration. A couple thousand shirts are

ordered every summer.

KMS History/KMS Support Pg.6

Ever wondered why KMS has the wave warrior

for a mascot? Or what KMS was like in the past?

Recently the staff members of KMS have been

interviewed, and those mysteries are not mysteries

anymore.

According to our Principal Mr.Burgess and Vice

Principal Mr.Palakiko, KMS has been around since the

1990’s. “We just celebrated the 20th anniversary,” said

Mr.Burgess. Mr.Palakiko believes that the Konawaena

schools have officially been around since 1992. The

middle school used to be where the Hawaiian Immersion

School is now. Since then, the middle school has moved

to be above most of the high school buildings. As for

the mascot, Mr.Burgess said that KMS students wanted

to be different from the high school and that there was a

big contest to decide on what the mascot would look

like. The result was the Wave Warrior.

Mr.Burgess also said that Mr.Palakiko,

Ms.Goeas, Ms.Camelli, Mrs.Masukawa, and

Mr.Gambone were among the original faculty members

of this school. The original principal of this school was

Mrs.Beverly Bedwell and the predecessor of Mr.Burgess

was Nancy Soderberg.

KMS has changed significantly in the past 20

years. According to Mr.Gambone, KMS had a T-shirt

contest before it had uniforms. Back then, students

would design T-shirts for KMS. The contest probably

started in 1997 or 1998 and it lasted between 10 and 15

years. The last T-shirt contest was probably held in

2009-2010. In addition, Mr.Gambone said that the

school was “so much smaller” back then. In the

beginning, there was no 6th grade and about 200

students attended the school. There were 14 teachers in

all. There were four 8th grade teachers, four 7th grade

teachers, four elective teachers, one counselor, and one

special education teacher. Mrs.Lucker Rom was able to

back him up. When she was interviewed, Mrs.Lucker

Rom said that there were only two grades. The 7th and

the 8th. There were 225 students and they grew close to

each other. So close that the teachers would “play jokes

on each other.” Ms. Lucker Rom remembers a time

when the teachers hid all of Mr.Palakiko’s students.

However, Mr.Palakiko was not upset at all. He actually

thought of this situation as an opportunity to take a

break!

KMS has come a long way since then. In the

past 20 years, KMS has gone through many changes to

become the school that we all know and love today.

Origins of the Wave Warrior By: Staci Nakamoto

In the Minds of the

KMS EA’s

By Alia Swalley

What is an EA, you may ask? EA’s or

Educational Assistants are the adults, besides the

teacher, that help students when they need it. EA’s

are necessary in a school to provide support for

both teachers and students. Without them, some

students would never get the help they need. Here

are what some of the EA’s here at KMS had to

share.

Mrs. Kay, also known as Mrs. Slingerland,

is one of the Ea’s here at KMS. According to Mrs.

Kay, her favorite thing about being an EA is giving

the students an extra boost of support to help them

become successful. Mrs. Kay wanted the students to

know that, “Our school rules are simple, and if we

all abide by them, and remind others when they

stray from them, we would not have problems.”

Mrs. Kay has been working here at KMS for 17

years.

Auntie Keisha, also an EA, stated that her

favorite thing about being an EA is, “Being able to

make a difference in our student’s lives. Building a

relationship with these kids and having fun with

them.” Auntie Keisha had also added, “I just feel

like these kids can gain so much more in a different

structure and setting!” Auntie Keisha has been

working here for 3 years. She worked at the high

school prior.

Mrs. Taka’s favorite thing about being an

EA is being able to help a student truly in need.

Mrs. Taka has been working at KMS for 21 years.

While being an EA is fun and rewarding,

there are many challenges that come with the job.

Auntie Keisha says that not having enough staff is a

major problem. As well as not getting their voices

heard. Mrs. Taka says that many students who

struggle don’t see the value in paying attention.

They don’t want to understand, they just want the

answers. Mrs. Kay says that a huge problem is

“Time- There is never enough of it.” She also says

that in a perfect world, there would be enough time

for everyone and all students would get “lessons

designed to their specific abilities.”

In conclusion, EA’s play a very important

role in our school and we appreciate the support

they provide

Teachers/Staff Pg.7

Ms. Harbour and AVID

Success

By Julia DeLeon and Ataivai Faleofa

Hawaii-loving Ms. Harbour is originally from a

beach town in Ventura, California. Although she misses

California, she has lived in Hawaii for so long that she

wouldn’t want to leave.

Ms. Harbour currently teaches computer and AVID

to 7th and 8th grade KMS students, but she has always had

a passion for history and politics. She wanted to share that

New Science Teacher?

By: Stephanie Watai and Kylie Cacho

How many KMS students know Mr.Shine? Mr. Shine is

one of our newest teachers here at KMS. Mr. Shine lived in Iowa

for 20 years. He is originally born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He went to Ma’ema’e Elementary and graduated at Roosevelt High

School.

Some things he enjoys are going on vacations with his

family and also exploring the island. Also, Mr. Shine likes

searching for good surf spots. Out of all sports, football is his

favorite! “Go Ohio State!” stated Mr. Shine.

“I like the beauty of the Big Island but I don’t like the

traffic here.” says Mr. Shine. Once Mr. Shines took a road trip and

drove 1012 miles in 16 hours. Would you go on a road trip that

long?

“passion” with children so she taught social studies for 10 years back in California. After moving to the Big Island,

she was an administrator at Kona Pacific Charter School for 7 years. Eventually, a craving for a “refreshing change”

brought her to Konawaena Middle School.

Ms. Harbour has big plans to expand and strengthen the AVID program. She believes that all students have

college potential. Ms. Harbour wants to prepare students for high school and other future endeavors. She plans on

having her AVID students participate with Konawaena High School AVID students. Ms. Harbour also aims to bring

in AVID video tutorials to show her students. Get ready AVID students, new opportunities and activities are

brewing.

Ms. Harbour strives to be a “lifelong-learner.” Some of Ms. Harbour’s other interests include, cooking,

scrapbooking, and arts and crafts. Ms. Harbour also loves swimming in the ocean. Many of you may not know this,

but she can speak a little French and Italian.

After being asked what her favorite holiday is, she answered, “Thanksgiving,” because it unites a family and

“brings them together to a table” to show gratefulness. During her favorite season, Fall, she prefers to travel to

Oregon to see the leaves change color. Ms. Harbour also likes to go to pumpkin patches and corn mazes during the

fall time. She would like the power to fly over any other superpower because in her opinion, it would be a great way

to get around. Ms. Harbour would probably make use of that superpower to travel to her top 5 places on her bucket

list. On the list are Japan, Thailand, Australia, Greece, and New Zealand.

Many of you may have regrets or things that you would like to change if given the chance, but Ms. Harbour

says she wouldn’t change anything because all of her decisions have led her to good experiences. According to Ms.

Harbour, “Even your mistakes are part of who you are,” and that is definitely something to ponder on.

Mr. Shine and his period 1 science class.

Teachers/Staff Pg.8

Ms. Gibson’s Up-“Grade”

By Brianne Omori

All the way from New York comes Ms. Gibson!

With no teaching jobs hanging around in New York, a

door of opportunity opened up here on the Big Island.

Now a 6th grade teacher here at KMS, we get the chance

to get to know her a little better.

Two quarters have already passed and soon, two

more quarters will come and go. So take a moment to

think, “What are your thoughts on the fast passing days?”

For Ms. Gibson, it has been “interesting.” She explains

that becoming a teacher at KMS has been a big change

for her. 2017 is the first year Ms. Gibson has taught at a

middle school. She previously taught at Ho’okena

Elementary School for three years. But teaching hasn’t

always been her main interest. “No…something with

animals,” Ms. Gibson said after being asked if she had

always been interested in teaching. However, she later

says she likes what she is currently doing.

Whenever Ms. Gibson has free time, it’s either

swimming or snorkeling the day away at the beach,

spending time in her garden, or watching movies. Her

favorite movie genre is comedy.

What else is there to know? What about middle

school memories! Ms. Gibson took a moment to think

about it and the memory that she shares is when she got

her very first apple from a student. It was a very special

feeling she explained.

I bet all of you students didn’t know something as

little as an apple can really make a teacher’s day! After

all, when a student takes the time to get their teacher an

apple, it’s a symbol of appreciation towards their hard

work of being there for them. It can also be a very

delicious snack!

The One and Only

Mr.Jarrett

By: Kristy Galan & Mahealani Sundberg-Villiarimo

At 3:30 in the morning you can catch

Mr.Jarrett driving from Hilo to Kona, just to teach

us! I know right! Early! This is Mr.Jarrett’s first

year teaching math at KMS. Mr. Jarrett is originally

from Oahu but he now lives over in Hilo.

You may not know this, but Mr. Jarrett

hasn’t always wanted to be a Math teacher. When he

was younger he dreamed of becoming a police

officer. However, he was inspired to teach by his

mom, his wife, and a math professor. He was

inspired by them because his mom is a PE teacher,

his wife is a teacher, and the math professor had

asked Mr.Jarrett “Why don’t you become a math

teacher?” A quote Mr. Jarrett enjoys telling his

students is,

“I love Math because you can

prove it.” Outside of school, Mr Jarrett enjoys

spending time with his family, going to church and

drinking his favorite Pink Drink at Starbucks. He

also enjoys Chess. He is hoping to open a Chess

club here at KMS next year so don’t forget to join.

Also when Mr. Jarrett was in middle school

he loved Band and Martial arts. His math teacher

was also his Sensei.

Teachers/Staff Pg.9

From the Field to the

Classroom

By: Richelle Gouveia and Lacey Young

Meet 6’5” tall Mr. Beymer, the football player

who was born and raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

He went to not one but two different colleges. He began

his college education at Potomac, but graduated at

Fairmont State University.

His ticket to college was his football scholarships.

With his football skills and the advantage of height, the

positions of defense and quarterback were a no brainer.

However, he not only went to college for football, he also

majored in Graphic Design.

Ms. Adare used to be a Spanish interpreter but has

found a new love as a middle school teacher here at KMS.

One of her favorite memories from middle school was of

her teacher, Mr. Barry. He was a very strict teacher but all

his students loved him because he cared a lot about his

students, explained Ms. Adare.

Ms. Adare has taught all of her life and loves to

teach, however, teaching isn’t her only interest. “I have

infinite interests,” said Ms. Adare, “I love to hike, camp,

swim, read, write, interview people, and fix my house.”

In her free time Ms. Adare loves to do all of those things

but, enjoys fixing up her house the most.

Ms. Adare came to the Big Island when she was

still a spanish interpreter because she had a house here.

However, if she could go anywhere she would go and see

The Northern Lights. She would also go to Africa and

South America. Let us all welcome our new teacher Ms.

Adare to our KMS ohana

So far, Mr. Beymer’s experience at Konawaena Middle has been nothing but good. As he stated, “Overall the

people are good, all around really good people.” Mr. Beymer “loves it here”. As far as background information

goes, Mr. Beymer moved to Konawaena from Kealakehe Intermediate. To compare his experience at Kealakehe and

Konawaena, he thinks that Konawaena teachers are more “unified” and “Kealakehe isn’t as mellow as KMS.”

In his free time, Mr. Beymer likes to weight-lift, and use his skills of Graphic designing as a job at home. He

likes to create athletic designs, uniforms, logos, and fan T-shirts. He also loves to create his own music such as

soundtracks and radio advertisements. If he wasn’t a teacher today, he would be a Graphic designer; he would train

four times a week, and be a football trainer.

Fun Fact: If there was ever a zombie apocalypse, Mr. Beymer would not hide in Costco but Kmart! If you

ever have a curiosity of learning about football or graphic design, Mr. Beymer is the way to go.

Mr. Beymer and 6th grader Rufaul Kemlan

Ms. Adare’s Journey In Teaching By:Jannie Caravalho