Hongwanji Mission
School
dolphin nEWS
Leaving our mark on the world
January 2015
Happy New Year!
A
loha HMS Ohana,
2015 is upon us, and we wish all of our HMS Ohana Happy New Year! HMS would
like to start the year off with gratitude. We are grateful for all of you, and we are looking
forward to a great year. We are grateful for the change that is occurring. You may have noticed
that our campus has been undergoing a transformation over the past year. Among other things,
the “green space”, preschool playground shade structure, and garden area have all been built.
We have installed LED lighting and made major and minor repairs throughout the campus. Our
buildings will soon be painted, and you will continue to see upgrades to the facilities. All of this
is being done to improve the learning environment for our students and the work environment
for our staff.
Our gratitude and appreciation goes to the men and women of the School Board and PTO
Board. The foresight and support of the these “behind the scenes” individuals have made all of
these improvements possible.
May you and your family have a wonderful 2015.
Mahalo, In Gassho,
David Randall, Head of School
HMS PTO Newsletter
Allison Toma, PTO Treasurer
Dear HMS Ohana:
Happy New Year! Hope your family had an enjoyable and memorable winter break. We kicked off the break with
the annual Winter Program. The children were thrilled to finally perform their songs after practicing for several weeks.
As usual, the Social Hall was crowded with excited families patiently waiting for each grade level to sing. The program
was entertaining, and the children and teachers did a wonderful job.
To show our appreciation to all of our families, the PTO board provided complimentary Starbucks coffee and
Kamehameha Bakery donuts outside the Social Hall during the program. We hope everyone enjoyed the coffee and
donuts. The donuts went fast, especially the strawberry glazed and poi glazed donuts!
The PTO is looking forward to an exciting 2015 with the HMS Fun Fair coming up on February 21st. We hope
everyone is able to attend to support the PTO and their classes. We wish everyone a safe and healthy 2015!
In Gassho,
Allison Toma
PTO Treasurer
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Dolphin News: January 2015
Second Grade Newsletter
Davin Miyamura & Jolene Tanaka
Important Dates
• Please CLICK HERE for the
HMS Calendar Dates
Second Grade is a very exciting
year for the students here at Hongwanji
Mission School! The students are
Menus
beginning to grow into independent
learners and become responsible for
The HMS Menu is located
their own learning. We also do a lot of
on the HMS webpage. Please
fun and memorable grade level activities
CLICK HERE to download
throughout the year. In October, we
the breakfast and lunch
had our annual Second Grade Halloween
menus. Mahalo.
Carnival following our school wide
Halloween parade. We also performed in our Winter Program just before we went
Accepting
on break, and the children had a blast singing a fun song titled “Santa’s Getting Fit
Applications for
for Christmas”. The students were then treated to a “ride” on the Polar Express.
the 2015-2016
They all arrived in school dressed in their pajamas where they boarded the train and
School Year
were treated to hot cocoa and donuts as we traveled all the way to the North Pole!
Over the Winter Break, the students took on a challenging project which would
For information go to
put their knowledge and imagination to the test. They were asked to create a car
www.HongwanjiMissionSchool.org
using just a kamaboko board and any other reusable/recyclable materials they could
or contact the HMS office at
find at home. A kamaboko board is the wood block found under the fishcake that
532-0522. Mahalo
could be bought in stores. Each child was given a board to begin their project with.
The children would also need to use any knowledge gained from the “Forces
and Simple Machines” unit covered in Science class to figure out how they were
going to build a car that would be able to roll. Upon returning to school after
the break, the students will give an oral presentation in which they would share
their car, and explain how they made their car. Once all of the presentations
are completed, our annual “Kamaboko Car” race will be held to see which
Second Grader’s car will take home this year’s trophy for the fastest car.
Social Studies is full of hands-on and cooperative learning projects. After
studying landforms, the students worked in small groups to create a model of
each of the landforms we studied. The next unit focused on the Pilgrims and
their voyage on the Mayflower. The students used their imagination and “boarded” the Mayflower. The students
were placed in families and planned what they would take with them to the “New World.” During the voyage, the students
experienced the foods the Pilgrims ate and the dangers of sailing in open sea. Everyone had a blast while learning the
history of our amazing country! The holidays were a perfect opportunity to learn about traditions and customs of people
around the world. We learned about Hanukkah and how the brave Maccabees reclaimed their destroyed temple. The unit
culminated with the students creating a poster about their own family traditions!
Second grade is a time to expand our minds, satisfy our curiosity, and reach our potential, and we are well on our way!
Pre-K Japanese Newsletter
Tamayo Matsumoto Sensei
December 12 marked a special day as Kindergarten classes eagerly walked to Hale Pulama Mau for the winter /
holiday performance. Ms. Ellis led the students in performing holiday songs in both English and Japanese language such as;
“Jingle Rocks”, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”, “Musunde Hiraite”, and “Kutsuganaru” for 45 minutes. The hall filled
with Ojiichans and Obaachans as they gathered together to commemorate this special event. Joyful tears filled the eyes of
many as everyone soaked in this festive occasion. Special thanks to Muraki sensei for planning this annual event and bonding
together our students with the members of the Kuakini hospital community.
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Dolphin News: January 2015
Taiko Newsletter
Jay Toyofuku Sensei, Taiko
December 19th marked the debut of this year’s HMS Performance Taiko group at the annual Winter Program. The
group gave a rousing performance of two pieces, “Wa” and “Miyake Daiko”. In the coming months, we plan to perform
at the HMS Fun Fair on February 21st, and also at a commemoration dinner at the Pacific Club on May 9th. We will be
training hard to expand our repertoire for those performances, in addition to practicing hard to improve the quality of our
present set.
In the meantime, Middle School Taiko classes continue as usual within the guidelines of the following structure:
The course is intended to introduce students to the art of taiko. Students will learn the proper rules of etiquette
common to most taiko dojo and learn to develop the proper attitude for training necessary to achieve success in taiko.
Students will gain a brief history of taiko and develop a basic vocabulary of commonly used terms. Students will begin to
develop keen listening skills as well as a sense of creativity. Finally, students will actually learn how to physically play the
taiko.
1. Rules of Etiquette
Development of proper attitude and spirit
•
•
•
•
Entering and leaving the Classroom (Dojo)
Formal opening and closing of class (Aisatsu)
Placement of footwear
Care of equipment
•
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•
History of Taiko
Common Vocabulary
Uses in performing arts, religious settings,
historical and cultural significance
2. What is Taiko? 3. Technical Skills and Practices
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•
•
Basic stances and forms (Kata)
Basic rudiments (Renshu Taiko)
Basic under beats (Ji-Uchi)
Meditation
• Centering
• Balance
• Posture
• Breathing
• Concentration
4. Development of listening skills
•
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Verbal transmission of drumming
patterns (Kuchishoga)
Ensemble playing (Kumi Daiko)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• Courage
• Awareness
Self Discipline
Patience
Perseverance
Sense of interconnectedness
Respect for self, others, things
Enthusiastic spirit
Technical proficiency
Save the Date
HMS Fun Fair
Saturday, February 21
9a.m. to 1 p.m.
Join us for fun and games.
Goals:
*What do we want to achieve from this course?
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the positive acceptance of our taiko program here at
HMS and humbly ask for your continued support in the future.
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Dolphin News: January 2015
Winter Program 2014
Barbara Ellis, Music
The Winter Program at H.M.S. was held in the Social Hall on Friday, Dec.19. All the students participated in this
special annual event. The program this year was titled “Sing of Christmas Time!” It was a wonderful morning full of
delightful performances.
The first program featured our preschool and kindergarten students. The students from P21 and P22 started out
by ringing jingle bells as they sang “Ring Those Bells.” They also sang a song that describes Santa that ended with a
surprise appearance by the man himself! P4 and P5 also started out their performance with some jingle bell playing in
“Christmas Bells.” They also had a surprise visit by Santa at the end of their song, “A Gift for Santa.” The three kindergarten
classes rocked the house with their opening song, “We Will Jingle.” They learned how to spell “Christmas” in their second
song, “C” is for Christmas” and ended with a song that describes all the yummy foods we eat at Tutu’s house during the
holiday season.
The second part of the morning started the middle school students. Jay Toyofuko led the middle school elective
Taiko Ensemble in two impressive taiko pieces. The middle school students led by Mrs. Carolyn Lee did an awesome
job displaying various dance styles. The 6th grade danced swing style to “Sing, Sing, Sing. The seventh grade dance was
choreographed by Otomi Tochika and Alex Harman to the song, “Happy.” The 8th grade danced and sang a song from the
musical, “Grease.”
The final part of the morning featured the first through fifth graders who began all together on stage with our theme
song, “Sing Of Christmas Time” followed by “We Are Thankful.” This was followed by each grade level taking the stage for
a song. The third grade did a great job ringing bells in” Hear Those Bells.” The fifth graders played recorders in “Fantasy
on an Old French Carol.” The second grade pleased the crowd with a song about Santa getting fit for Christmas and our
HMS Santa joined them at the end! The fourth grade sang and played an old English carol called “The Holly and the Ivy.”
The final grade level song was performed by the 1st grade and featured hula moves in the song, “A Hawaiian Christmas.”
Our performance ended with another group song, “Keep the Candles Going.” Lights were dimmed and the children
blended their voices while holding candles. It was a perfect ending to a morning of celebration in song!
A very special thanks to Santa for joining us this year!
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