In the game tent, nicknamed “North America” to fit into this year’s theme, the Fair committee has brought in Whiffle Ball Toss and Water Race.  Whiffle Ball replaces the old dime toss booth.  Its goal is to throw a whiffle ball into a cup, with prizes available depending on the cup the whiffle ball lands in.   Water Race is the second new game introduced this year.  Fair gamers shoot a water gun at a target.  When contact is made, a creature connected to the target shoots up into the air!  Come test your skills, marksmen, at Water Race and see how skilled you really are.

Even if you’re off your game during Family Fair, don’t be deterred from “North America”!  Many games offer, tickets regardless if one wins or lose, that one can redeem at the Trading Post for wonderful new prizes.  Kindles, Bluetooth speakers, and iPod Nanos are now available at the Fair.    An extra incentive to visit “North America” is that you might actually go there!  Alaska Airlines has generously decided to give away two round trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies on Friday and on Saturday.  This prize can be won if you play Alaska Airline’s Hole-in-One Game and win.

Moving down the checklist of new things to check out are the rides.  The new ride this year is a jumper called “Ninjasaur.”  It is made for one person so you will have to wait your turn, but for those who love climbing and sliding, this game was made for you!  Climb up the tail of a Ninjasaur and slide down the front, then climb back up to the head and slide down the tail!  Ninja’s and dinosaurs, this ride can’t be bad!

The food at this year’s fair has also been upgraded.  Although there is no cake to take home as the Cakewalk was not continued, nor is there no longer an Eco Square, new booths have appeared in the Marketplace, labeled “Europe” at this year’s fair.  The main new booth is known as Swisschalet “Raider Snack Shop.”  In it there is popcorn, root beer floats, and ice cream galore!  Lanikai Juice and their tasty acai bowls will also be making an appearance at the Market Place from their old position at Eco Square.  In fact, a global menu will fill the stomachs of all those going to the fair.  Korean Wraps, Cuban Sandwiches, Pasta Bolognese, Sushi, Greek Wraps should be checked out as you enjoy your flight at the fair.

This year’s Family Fair promises to be a good one.  With many new booths, rides, and food available you won’t run out of things to try and do.  The two movies showing at the Fair are Kung Fu Panda 2 on Friday at 7:15 and an installation of the Marvel Series, Captain America on Saturday (7:15).  Free for all fairgoers; make sure to join the Iolani Ohana on the football field to enjoy a movie under the stars.  “See you at the Fair!” said Fair Coordinator Carissa Leonida.

Feb. 27 to March 2 was “Hell Week” for the students of `Iolani’s 2012 spring musical. Students in the cast, crew, and pit orchestra struggled to keep their eyes open in classes, rushed to rehearsal right after school, and returned home to tackle a mound of homework. The cast gave previews of the musical throughout the week during morning chapel services until Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat premiered at 7 p.m on Thursday, March 1st in Hawaii Theatre and ran until Saturday, March 3rd. The pressure was evident throughout the week. “The most stressful aspect [of the musical] was finding the balance between trying to do homework for your classes, trying to focus completely while in musical rehearsals, and trying to stop yourself from getting sick,” said Bradley Wo ’13, who played Isaachar, one of Joseph’s brothers.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple: as a rainbow of colors erupted on the Hawaii Theatre stage, narrators Summer Scott ‘14 and Brooke Alcuran ‘14, and our beloved Joseph, Austyn Lee ‘14, showcased their melodious voices and dramatic expressions. Joseph’s eleven brothers, dressed in monogrammed overalls, gathered on stage, portraying the specific personalities they worked to perfect during the nine weeks prior to the show. In number after number, song after song, the cast drifted on and off stage, excited to produce a fun and exhilarating production for the public to see.

Many alumni were also impressed with this year’s production. “It was a spectacular showcase of creativity and organization by Mr. Duval and Ms. Jones and a wonderful show of talent by all the performers,” said Robert Moran ‘10, former IDP crew head and star of the 2010 musical Kiss Me, Kate.

As the upbeat performance continued, chaos ensued backstage. After each number, the cast scurried off stage and disappeared into a sea of black curtains and a state of panic. Crowded stage right and left, costume crew members, assigned to specific people in the cast, held piles of clothes. People of the ensemble, clothed in nude leotards, stripped off their costume as two costume girls helped slip on another dress, pin a wig, and examine their work before sending the cast member back on stage within one minute.

Located off stage left, stage manager Marissa Uyemura ‘13 directed students throughout the theater. Every aspect of the musical’s sound, lights, sets, and the cast’s calls to stand by were made through Uyemura’s whispers. Black-clothed ninjas (the sets and props crew) maneuvered giant sets onto and off the stage while avoiding the cast and crew waiting and getting ready in the wings. The pit sat tucked away in the black crevice underneath the stage. With all eyes on Music Director and Conductor Manny Dayao, the orchestra played their instruments and listened intently to the production from below.

“Even though we’re all at school together, theatre is the one place that we all get together to make something amazing,” said freshman Juliette Paige. “So every night in Hell Week is a day less to spend time with them. And it’s really sad, especially since we really become close to all of them. I honestly think that some of the seniors raised me in becoming a better person. It’s incredibly hard to say goodbye to those people. That’s my Hell Week.”

Over a hundred people put in the effort to make Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat a success. All members filed on stage before every performance each night for vocal warm-up, alumni messages, and senior speeches. Disregarding the stress of the past week, students from various grade levels with diverse backgrounds and personalities shared tears, laughs, and memories.

“I have found people to help me and support me through the hardships of putting on a show of this magnitude. And the people that I met and became brothers and sisters with will always be there for me no matter what,” said Sophia Teruya ’12 on closing night, smiling with tears in her eyes.

“This saddens me much more than it angers me,” said Chaplain Leatherman. “This person violated the sanctity of this chapel by going for the most sacred object in here.”

Police were called the following morning to assess the situation.

“It was pretty minor as far as damage goes, but it’s evident from this that someone needs help,” Chaplain Diane Martinson-Koyama said.

A student also found a note addressed to Dr. Iwashita on Wednesday or Thursday, Chaplain Leatherman said. He turned it in to the Main Office, but since the Headmaster was off campus for a few days, it was placed in his mailbox and not read until Thursday. The letter was addressed directly to Dr. Iwashita and stated that the fires would continue if a certain set of demands were not met.

It is suspected that the arsonist either stayed in the chapel or entered it some time on Tuesday evening, stood behind the altar, and tested three spots for flammability using one of the lighters that used to sit by the prayer candles and altar.

However, the flames did not spread far from their ignition site. Police speculated that the arsonist is a young student given the methods used to set the fire.

Shortly after the incident, Chaplain Leatherman conducted some flammability tests of his own on the materials that compose the speaker cover. He found that while the outer polyester layer did nothing more than smolder, the cotton interior burned easily. Both layers of cloth cover the speaker cabinet from the floor of the chapel to its roof.

However minor the damage,  security concerns have led to new precautions, including locking the chapel during the day for precaution.
“At around 4 p.m., I would be getting ready to leave,” said Chaplain Leatherman. “And once I leave, there’s no one else here – but the chapel is still wide open.”

The chaplains think the chapel should be left open to students as a quiet place to collect their thoughts, but students must also respect the chapel as a sacred place.

No word has been released yet about potential suspects, but the investigation is ongoing.

“It’s sort of painful that the chapel is closed,” Chaplain Leatherman said. “If there’s one place you should feel safe, it’s here; but we have to acknowledge the situation right now. We’ve sort of adopted a language of defiance; It’s important to remember that we cannot succumb to this.”

Nurse Shannon Yonamine organized the drive by the Blood Bank of Hawaii. Those who were 17 and older poured out their blood for a good cause. Of the 93 who signed up to donate, along with five walk-ins, 83 people were able to give blood, Mrs. Yonamine said.

Nurses advise donors to eat and drink lots of fluids before and also after the process. No strenuous activity is recommended, so taking part in after school athletics or activities isn’t good for your health.

“It makes me happy to help other people… and there’s good food. [The people taking the blood] were really helpful and friendly. It just felt like a really firm pinch,” said senior Kenton Nakamura.

Senior Kelsey Tasoe said, “It felt good to save lives, but my arm hurts a little.”

Senior Evan DeLuna said, “I didn’t really feel it. I was kind of looking away and then I realized, ‘Oh, it’s in’. As long as you don’t look, you’ll be fine. I think it’s a psychological thing.”

Mrs. Yonamine was happy to see students want to donate, even if they couldn’t give blood March 9.

“We didn’t meet our goals- historically our junior classes are ‘under weight’ so we didn’t really meet our blood goals,” she said. “For me, success is helping our juniors and seniors feel comfortable and to be motivated to donate in the future. I’m really proud of the people who came out and tried, and it’s amazing to see the support friends show. Also those who came to lighten up the atmosphere and talk story.”
Next year, remember to sign up to give blood because it’s a great way to show your love by helping to save lives!

“When a lease ends, it ends; however, to me there is a moral part of it,” said absentee Date-Laau owner Shea in an interview with Hawaii News Now.

‘Iolani bought 5.5 acres of land adjacent to the campus in June 2009. Under state leasehold law, ownership of the apartments on the land is separate from ownership of the land under the apartments. The Date-Laau co-ops’ effective 55-year lease on the land the apartments lie on will expire on Dec. 4, 2012, and thereafter the 11 buildings and 5.5 acres will be owned by Building Futures LLC, an affiliate of ‘Iolani School.

Left owning or renting apartments but not the land they stand on, the Date-Laau residents were understandably fearful about the future of their homes. Building Futures LLC, in conjunction with ‘Iolani, has developed a plan that balances owner and tenant concerns with the mission of ‘Iolani School.

The Date-Laau residents were classified into four groups: owner-occupants who live in and own their apartments, absentee owners who own their apartments but do not live in them and rent them out for income, long term renters who have lived on the property for at least eight years, and all other renters. ‘Iolani plans to meet one-on-one with each resident to decide on a plan that suits each best.

Because the 65 owner-occupants actually stand a risk of losing their primary place of residence, they have been given priority. They will either be allowed to continue to live in their apartments at a reduced rent equal to what they pay now for up to ten years or accept a $15,000 allowance to relocate. Many are choosing not to relocate.

Some absentee owners, such as Shea, are particularly disgruntled that the school will only honor their current rental status until the lease expires in December. ‘Iolani has offered to buy their in-apartment appliances for $1,000. The absentee owners are considered investors, and their choice to buy leasehold property was a conscious gamble, a gamble which carried with it substantial risk.

Long-term renters will be allowed to remain in their current units at 70 percent of market-rate rent for five years, and all other renters will be able to rent at market rate on a schedule to be provided. These renters will be able to keep their homes at these affordable rates, and the plan has met a positive response from residents.

The school’s long-term mission requires expansion, and this land will be used to increase facilities. As Mr. Glenn Ching, Director of Finances, told the Date-Laau community in 2009, although ‘Iolani has no plans to increase enrollment, Seto Hall can fit only half the student body, and the athletic programs are short one gym and one field.

In making the land purchase, ‘Iolani set its bottom line at the fact that the school’s expansion must not leave people homeless. Within budget limitations and the school’s mission, the school has done what it can to help the Date-Laau residents and in doing so has proved itself an institution with an apt balance of heart and forward-mindedness.

Fourteen students will travel to China to participate in a foreign exchange with Tsinghua High School from March 17-26 during spring break. Seventeen Tsinghua students visited ‘Iolani in January and February.

Band 4 and four members of Band 3 will travel to New York City and play at the New York International Music Festival in Carnegie Hall over Spring Break. They leave March 16 and stay for about a week. The band auditioned last February and filled the last of six high school slots available in the festival.

Two Science Olympiad teams are heading for Orlando, Fla., to represent Hawaii in the national competition. Both the B team (grades 6-9) and the C team (grades 9-12) won their respective competitions earlier this year. The C team is led by co-captains Erin Main ‘12 and Amane Morigami ‘13. Team B is led by founder Iris Kuo ‘12.

The Iolani Dramatic Players will move on down the road to New York City over spring break. Trip highlights includes watching four plays and musicals on Broadway – War Horse, Jesus Christ Superstar, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Jersey Boys.

VEX Robotics travels to Anaheim to participate in the World Competition April 17-23. They qualified for at the 2011 Pan Pacific VEX Championship by beating 104 participants in the field. These ten students will be led by their coach, Mr. Winston Dang.

The History Bowl and History Bee winners will go to Washington, D.C., at the end of April and return at the beginning of May. Ten students from both competitions qualified when they won the first statewide History Bowl and History Bee on Dec. 17, 2011.

French students from all levels pack their bags for France to teach English to children there. They will also be participating in an archaeological dig of a town more than 1,000 years old. French students will leave at the start of summer in June.

The ‘Iolani Fair is an annual event which depends upon the generosity of students, faculty, and ohana, but few can surpass the amount of time, effort, and resources which go into making Tawahara’s chutneys and jams, which sell out early almost every year at the Fair’s General Store. Since 1972, Tawahara has donated 600 to 900 jars to the Fair each year.

With this year’s ‘Iolani Fair right around the corner, Tawahara will have donated more than 25,000 jars of chutney, jams, and jellies over the past 30 years. Among this year’s selections: mango-pineapple, pepper, and original mango. Sure, you could say cooking is her passion, but what about her motivation?

Simple. “I do it because I love ‘Iolani,” she said with a smile.

And indeed she does. Tawahara’s love for ‘Iolani runs deep, and her connections to the school date back more than 50 years. Two sons, three grandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews have graduated from the school. Her husband is a first cousin of math teacher Mrs. Kathleen Goto. To top it off, she is best friends with Ms. Jo Okumoto, who has been watching ‘Iolani sports with Tawahara since 1967.

“’Iolani has had a lot to do with my family’s success,” she said, “and I feel very blessed to be able to give back to the school– family which has given so much to me.”

Tawahara begins the months long process of preparing her chutneys and jams for the April fair in February. She sterilizes hundreds of bottles, buys the necessary ingredients on her own budget, and puts them all together in the labor-intensive process which takes place the kitchen of her Palolo home.

“Sometimes I work for hours each day,” she said, “but I just say to myself, it’s worth it for the parking pass at the Fair.” She laughs jokingly.

Tawahara’s labors aren’t just devoted to ‘Iolani, she is also an avid member and generous donator to her church’s food fairs, where her cooking is not surprisingly a popular sell- out. Revered by many for more than her cooking and friendly personality, Tawahara has made a lasting impression among those who have worked with her.

“In addition to her hard work, she’s a warm and caring person whose generosity is beyond measure,” said ‘Iolani Fair Chair Cheryl Wong.

Tawahara’s motivation remains unfaltering despite receiving kidney dialysis three times per week. “I can tell I’m aging, and every year is a question of whether I’ll do it again,” she said, “but I tell people that I’m still healthy, except my kidneys, and I end up doing it anyway- for ‘Iolani.” She smiles.

This year, ‘Iolani Fair runs from noon to 10:30 p.m. on April 20 and 21. The theme is Global Getaway, and you’ll be sure to find Tawahara’s preserves (for a short time, of course) on sale in the Parisian Vive Le ‘Iolani Country Store, located in the Marketplace Tent.

“Hey, if you do things, you do it because you want to. It’s your heart that moves you, you know?” she said. With 25,000 jars of chutney to her credit, her words ring true.

Established in1982, the Keables Chair was the first endowed chair of both ‘Iolani and the state of Hawaii. “What is an endowed chair?” one may ask. Well, a college norm, endowed chairs are teaching positions that are supported and sponsored by people who voluntarily donate to it because they believe in what’s being done. Friends of ‘Iolani, alumni, current and previous teachers, and many other people have contributed to the chair for thirty years to produce a chair that is worth over a million dollars. Free of charge to the students and their families, the Keables Chair is a benefit to the school in that it brings in brilliant people, like this year’s chair, Taylor Mali.

Though the Chair was established to honor our great teacher, Mr. Keables, the position doesn’t always have to be held by a teacher; if you’ll recall, last year’s chair was a cartoonist. The point of the Keables Chair is to be able to teach art, politics, writing, etc. in a way that’s interesting to students. As revealed by Mr. Proctor, a former member of the Keables Chair Committee, the goal is to help students and teachers with a breath of fresh, intellectual air and an outside perspective.

The next question, naturally, is “Who is Harold Keables?” Ask any Upperschool student and they’ll most likely say, grudgingly, that he’s the wonderful man that the school’s lovely grammar code is also named after. Furthermore, the great inquirer might ask, “What’s so special about him?” And thus the story begins. . .

When asked this very question, Mr. Proctor replied, “He was what was so special; he was a great teacher.” Harold Keables’s dream job of becoming a teacher started at South High in Denver, Colorado in 1935, much later in his working career than he cared for. According to TIME magazine, who named him Dedicated Teacher of the Year in 1960, he was able to get the best students (due to his teaching of South High’s stiffest English courses) and get the best out of them. He was, no doubt, one of the only teachers in the late 1950′s and early 1960′s to have championed creative writing as a very rigorous and disciplined kind of course. In 1965 at the age of 65, Keables was forced to quit his job by the city’s public school system. It was that same year that the ‘Iolani Headmaster of that time, Burton McClain, who saw him in TIME magazine, asked Mr. Keables to teach at ‘Iolani.

In his time here, Keables continued to turn out prize-winning writers. Among some of his students are faculty and staff we see daily, such as: Coach Look, Mr. Won, and Mr. Masunaga. Reminiscing on his past, Mr. Masunaga, once called a slave to his own ignorance by his former teacher, recalled that Mr. Keables was most definitely not a “warm and fuzzy kind of guy.” He said that Mr. Keables was no stranger to screaming students’ heads off and even more brutal, that “if you lost your grammar code book, you had to get the codes from someone else. . .or die.” Although these methods were most unconventional, they expressed one of his most renowned characteristics— passion.

Mr. Masunaga, remembering Mr. Keables walking purposefully to class and pushing his limits on a physical therapy bike, described him as: “Passionate. . .about absolutely everything he did, whether it was teaching, the Brancos, sports, his wife, music. . .everything.” Though he enjoyed all of these things, don’t be fooled; Keables’s true passion was for creative writing and its writers. His passion elicited passion.

Another one of his students, Doug Anderson, said, “If he’d been a chemistry teacher, I’d likely be a chemist instead of a writer.” That’s how influential Mr. Keables was. He dedicated his entire life to his students. Anderson further divulged, “He loved them [his students], and he loved knowledge, to the point of being possessed. Teaching=Life. And nothing else above it except God Almighty.”

Though he didn’t always know their names, Mr. Keables cared for his students and understood them, sometimes more than they understood themselves. As TIME magazine wrote, he treated “each student as a kind of novel in progress.” His dedication to his job as a teacher and to his students was unfailing. In both Denver and here in Honolulu, he never lived more than a few blocks and a short walk away from his workplace. He didn’t want to waste time commuting when he could be teaching, so he lived nearby and never got a driver’s license.

In a Honolulu Advertiser article in 1976, Mr. Keables stated, “As long as my voice is firm, I’ll continue to teach.” And that’s exactly what he did. He taught and taught until a stroke and its effects in 1980 took him away from our school’s tight grasp. Mr. Proctor wrote in an article shortly after Mr. Keables death, “Students either make you old or keep you young, and certainly his teaching had kept Mr. Keables young.” As Mr. Masunaga said, “He was vigorous until the end.”

When talking about the unspeakable topic of retirement, Mr. Keables always said, “They’ll have to carry me out!” Ironically and against his own harsh assumption, we have managed to do the exact opposite by creating a position that will carrying his legacy on into the foreseeable future of ‘Iolani School.

Harold Keables was a champion of creative writing nationwide and even more important to us, an irreplaceable figure in our school’s history. Without him, there would be no AP writing classes and the caliber of ‘Iolani’s studies would not nearly be as great as it is today.

So, back to the original question: “What is the Keables Chair?” Well, in a nutshell, the Keables Chair is a way to honor a great teacher, Harold Keables, who gave more to this school than most people will ever know.

*There is an actual Keables chair in the archives that Mr. Keables used to sit in and correct papers.