The Graduation Gods smiled on the 'Iolani Class of 2007 Saturday as happy seniors strode to the stage on the Art Lawn to receive their diplomas from Board Chairman James Kawashima. The natural beauty of the scene was enhanced by the efforts of the junior parents who decorated the stage with monsterra and other Hawaiian foliage. 

The seniors added their own aesthetic element as they processed in their graduation attire.  The young men wore gray slacks, blue blazers and ti leaf lei. The ladies wore white holoku gowns and floral haku lei. 

The new Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii, the Right Reverend Robert Fitzpatrick attended to award the Bishop's prize, to offer the final benediction and to celebrate the graduation of his son, James. 

Before delivering his graduation address, Dr. Val Iwashita made several special awards to graduating seniors. 

The Alumni Medals honoring two seniors who combine excellence in academics and athletics went to Miyoko Pettit and Kevin Otsuka.  Miyoko, the daughter of French teacher Mme. Catherine Pettit, will attend Harvard; Kevin is bound for Stanford. 

  

The Bishop's Award saluted the unselfish service given to church, school and community by Heather Miki  who will attend Skidmore College next year.

The Class of 2007 includes twenty Valedictorians. Their average cumulative GPA was 4.32, and they took 116 AP classes.  Receiving scholarship medals were

Melissa Ardo - Santa Clara

Alexander Chun - Columbia

Kelsie Hirai - Brown

Chau Huynh - Harvard

Marisa Ideta - Brown

Andrew Inaba - UC San Diego

Evan Kam - USC

Karlyn Kurokawa - University of Washington

Daniel Lum - UC San Diego

Sean Matsuwaka - USC

Taryn Nakamura - Yale

Kevin Otsuka - Stanford

Miyoko Pettit - Harvard

Dillon Powers - Harvard

Lance Sakamoto - USC

Laura Woo - Johns Hopkins

Nathan Yang -  Pepperdine

Kellie Young - MIT

Jonah Yuen - Claremont McKenna

Tianzen Zhou - UC Berkeley

 

     

The Headmaster's Award recognizes the student who made exceptional contributions to 'Iolani School.  This year's winner, the son of English teacher, Ms. Carin Swanson, was Proconsul Dillon Powers, who, as noted above, will be at Harvard in the fall. 

 

Finally, the Headmaster named his "Unsung Heroes," people who may not garner the top awards, but without whom the 'Iolani community would be poorer.  According to Dr. Iwashita, they, "lighten our step, brighten our day and enrich us with their humor, positive attitude, character and community spirit." 

The Unsung Dozen:

Christine Chan	Kyle Fooks
Jade Look	Matthew Endo
Brett Johnson	Alyssa Calasicas
Jeremy Lawi	Alison Nishiyama
Alexander Chantavy	Sadie Yokota
Daniel Kang	Sala Sataraka

After making the awards Headmaster Val Iwashita, spoke to the class about the example set by Albert Einstein's life-long search for knowledge and wisdom. 

Click to read Headmaster's speech

Congratulations to all!