FEBRUARY 11th, 2022

IMPACT NEWSLETTER #5

Aloha,

With only a little over three weeks to go, I-Term is fast approaching. As we conclude another week of planning in the high school, we are reminded of the value of student-facilitated planning and organization. Practicing important skills that will serve them throughout their lives, our students have been hard at work crafting their course itineraries, developing risk assessments and mitigation strategies, and reaching out to community members. Course leaders and students alike are incredibly excited for the weeks to come; if you are a high school family, we encourage you to speak with your child(ren) about the I-Term course they have chosen.

Please contact our Dean of Experiential Education and Community Partnerships, Christina Hoe (christina.hoe@lejardinacademy.org) — and copy Community Impact Coordinator Avery Filer (avery.filer@lejardinacademy.org) — for any inquiries about I-Term. They will endeavor to answer your message as soon as possible.

Mahalo for your support!

David Hays, Experiential Education Intern, Class of 2022

STUDENT LEAD SPOTLIGHT: ARWEN REVERE

Sophomore Arwen Revere (class of 2024) is our student lead for the revived Wild Kids Activism Team. Pre-pandemic, our LJA high schoolers would often give oral testimony to the state legislature during each legislative session. Notably, several of our students testified for Hawaii’s Bill 40 — one of the strongest single-use plastic bans in the country — prior to its passage. With COVID-19 came a halt to most in-person testimony, but since last year, Arwen has persisted in her dedication to the issues she’s passionate about; at times, she submits written testimony for five bills in a single night.

Re-founding the Activism Team under Wild Kids and LJA’s Impact programs, Arwen now teaches others how to submit their own testimony and make a difference in their community. The Activism Team’s goal for this legislative session is to submit testimony pertaining to at least 40 bills. Arwen works closely with junior Massimo Flumian and seniors Anika Boyden and Danicka Sailer in leading the Team.

With State Representative Chris Lee, Arwen has also recently written a bill of her own: SB2518, seeking to end gender-discriminatory pricing practices. Arwen’s “Letter to the Editor” about SB2518 was featured in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser earlier this week — read it below! Arwen also encourages you to follow @supportsb2518 on Instagram if you want to learn more about her bill, or to follow its progression through the legislative process.

FEATURED IMPACT PROGRAM: SURF TEAM

The Office of Experiential Education is excited to announce that the surf team has joined our Impact program offerings. Read this quick message from head coach Ossian Nichols, class of 2017 alumnus: The LJA surf team is back! This past weekend, we surfed against Kahuku High School and Kamehameha Schools - Kāpalama at Maili, on the west side. The waves were pulsing throughout the whole day. For our combined totals, we beat Kahuku 56–49 and lost to Kamehameha 43–56. We had several LJA surfers who won their individual heats: