Mules Create Peace Haven On Campus

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Leilehua High students celebrate the school’s new
Peace Garden and Peace Pole in a Dec. 13
ceremony, among them are the peer mediators
who helped make it happen: Ashley Baker,
Jonathan Bielecki, Christian Collado, Samantha
Cowper, Sharae Hawelu, Shanee Henderson,
Ikaika Hewitt, Malia Hewitt, Steven Karr, Christine
Licato, Sean McCaulley, Diego Munoz, Daryl
Patlingrao, Derique Pusey, Vanessa Sulgencio and
Tasha Tanda. Photo by Matt Capps.

Leilehua High School bid hello to a courtyard Peace Garden and farewell to longtime principal Norman Minehira in a double ceremony Dec. 13 fronting a counseling center newly named in his honor. The farewell portion was a surprise for Minehira, whose relatives and friends were invited to attend.

Ceremonies began with a Peace Garden and Peace Pole dedication led by students in the Peer Mediation Program, which brought the garden to the Wahiawa campus so students would have a tranquil place to gather and reflect, said vice principal Bob Davis.

Peer mediators, who are trained to help other students solve problems, each spoke a personal message about peace. And all attendees - students, staff, faculty and guests - were asked to write messages of peace on slips of paper, which were later placed at the base of the Peace Pole and permanently covered in concrete.

A new plaque names the Leilehua High School
counseling center in honor of former principal
Norman Minehira. Photo from Matt Capps.

Davis said the new garden is so beautiful it looks like something you’d find in a botanical garden.“I think anybody who sees it is blown away because you don’t expect that in a public school,“he said.“It’s so nicely put together aesthetically.”

Peer mediator Samantha Cowper shared emcee duties with fellow mediator Diego Munoz. Cowper said the garden is set in the perfect place, between the peer mediation room and counseling center and adjacent to a mural inscribed with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi:“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Davis said those instrumental in making the garden a reality were Minehira, who worked to get the project completed before his Dec. 31 retirement; peer mediation counselors Carla Lum and Candace Wada, who led the project; Castle & Cooke Hawaii, which provided design assistance; contractors who also helped; and two folks who worked extra hard to get the job completed in time:Volunteer George Nakamura, whose daughter attends Leilehua, poured the sidewalks, slabs and concrete walls; and agriculture teacher Russell Wong installed a sprinkler system and planted greenery.

The garden’s focal point is a four-sided Peace Pole in the shape of an obelisk, like the Washington Monument.“May Peace Prevail on Earth” is written on each side in English, Hawaiian, Japanese and Spanish.

The pole is surrounded by a rock wall at the center of a concrete floor and a low circular wall for sitting. Four areas with green benches and numerous plants complete the expansive haven, which is reachable by walkway via Building N and the new Building HH.

The first floor of Building HH houses the newly named Norman Minehira Counseling Center, which consolidates counseling services for students in one site, which was a vision of Minehira’s.

Norman Minehira

Davis said the ceremony naming the center in Minehira’s honor had to be planned secretly because Minehira is so humble “he would not have allowed it or would not have attended.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Davis added about Leilehua’s principal for the past 17 years.“He gave so much to the school. This really was his idea. One of his greatest strengths was (his belief) that the students be fed in their souls first, then they can be taught. If you nurture them and love them, then they’re willing to learn.”

New principal Aloha Coleman delivered the English translation for the welcome chant He Pule No Ke Kihapai Maluhia, or A Prayer Chant for the Peace Garden, composed by Jan Yoneda, a former Haleiwa Elementary principal who still works for the Central School District. A plaque honoring Minehira and the center which now holds his name, is displayed in a front office showcase.