Waha Nui

Del.icio.us

The Kahala Community Association president, attorney Kathy Puana Kealoha, has a new job. She was recently confirmed by the state Senate as Office of Environmental Quality Control director. A former prosecutor of environmental crimes for Peter Carlisle, she also teaches criminal justice classes at Chaminade and is on Star of the Sea School’s board of directors ...

Yukio Ozaki of Wilhelmina Rise will give the Art Lunch lecture at noon June 24 at the Hawaii State Art Museum. The internationally known sculptor and ceramicist’s topic: “Mixed Bag and Making Choices” (586-3087) ... Erica Wong, 16 of Kaimuki, competed in the Youth America Grand Prix, an international ballet competition held April 17-21 in New York City. She trains with John Landovsky of Hawaii State Ballet ...

One panelist at the June 19 screening of Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust is Hawaii Kai resident Peter Hoffenberg. The UH associate professor also co-chairs the UH Fund for the Promotion of Jewish Life and Studies. The film begins at 7 p.m. in Krauss Hall 012 at UH-Manoa (956-8244) ... Kristyn Mathewson of Kaiser High will be honored by HMSA June 14 as one of its 2008 Kaimana Award and Scholarship recipients ...

Stacie Gao of Kaimuki High and Yuri Kang of Kalani High are among a lucky dozen Oahu students to win scholarships worth $4,000 from Hawaii Self Storage. Stacie plans to attend University of the Pacific, and Yuri will study at UH-Manoa ... Kaiser senior John Pyun was named a Distinguished Finalist in Prudential’s annual Spirit of Community Awards. John volunteers each summer at Lunalilo Home, playing guitar and breakdancing for the adult day care clients, and leading games and activities. He also developed a website for the day care folks. John also won a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship. (Another NMS winner is Kevin Donahue of Saint Louis School). And that’s not all. John and classmates Kristyn Mathewson (see above) and Sun Young Park have received $1,000 scholarships from the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council ...

Congratulations to Kaiser High teacher Kimberly Clissold, winner of a $2,000 Teach Award from Best Buy Co. for “creatively integrating interactive technology into Kaiser’s curriculum” ... Sacred Hearts teacher Deborah Kula won $1,000 as Hawaii’s AP Teacher of the Year from the Siemens Foundation, which rewards “exemplary teaching and enthusiastic dedication” to students in advanced-placement courses ...

East Oahu has many contributors to music and the arts, and the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts honored two of them recently. Nationally respected Hawaii Kai artist Deborah Nehmad won an Individual Artist Fellowship in Visual Arts. Deborah practiced law for many years before plunging into print-making here. And Barbara Smith of Kahala won the Governor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement in Culture, Arts and Humanities. Considered the mother of ethnomusicology at UH-Manoa, Barbara also is Honpa Hongwanji Mission’s 2007 Living Treasure ...

Kahala Elementary’s Hawaiian kupuna Ivanelle Choy is one of seven winners statewide in the first Na Mo’olelo Kulaiwi Writing Contest, which showcased stories of life experiences in Hawaii. Winners were announced at the Hawaii Book and Music Festival. Ivanelle earned an honorable mention for Memories of Lahaina ... Kathleen Cassity of Hawaii Kai places first for Nonfiction, and second for both Poetry and Fiction in the 2008 Lorin Tarr Gill Writing Competition. Her Aina Haina neighbor, Susan Killeen, placed third for fiction ... Kaiser High graduate Leila Abuzalaf gave a valedictory address last month at the HPU commencement ceremony ...

Sashi Mehaffie (Kaimuki 2005) has graduated from Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas ... Catherine Graham is recruiting for Aspect Foundation, which places students from 30 countries in Island homes. Her personal peace mission this year is to find host homes in East Oahu for teens from the Middle East (741-4317) ... Kaimuki High School graduating senior Frank Hinshaw is U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye‘s choice for “competitive alternate” nominee to West Point and a principal nominee to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy