The Kahuku Class of 2008 graduation ceremony on May 29 provided a good opportunity for some of those in the audience to reflect on their own graduations. For example:

• Renee Ahuna Cabrinha of Hauula said her Punahou 1974 graduation was "fabulous. We have a tradition at Punahou, which is kind of similar to what they do now with Project Grad: Our whole class celebrated together right after. There were 416 of us. What sticks out in my memory, probably, is that we were all together. We had our prom the night before, then after graduation we had breakfast together in the school cafeteria."

"My son, Kanawai Cabrinha, is graduating. Kahuku's graduation is very unique. There's no other school like it. It's not boring, it's fun and I love it." She added that three of her other children have graduated from Kahuku, and one more coming next year.

"I just want to add, congratulations to all of the grads. They're so fantastic."

— Photos by Leilani Miller

• Jay Akoi of Laie, whose son Makana Akoi is in the Kahuku Class of 2008, recalled when he graduated from Hilo High in 1968, "I think we had better students. We were more obedient and didn't answer back to our parents," he said with a grin. Makana's grandma, sitting next to him, was also smiling.

He recalled after graduation he and his family had a party at their old Keaukaha LDS chapel. "There was no such thing as Project Grad. I think that's the way to go."

• Harry Brown of Kahuku graduated among a class of 324 from Baldwin High on Maui in 1969. "We had a family-oriented ceremony — Maui wasn't that big in those days — in the War Memorial gym just below the campus. I still remember my class song. After, everybody would have parties, and we would go from one to another. We didn't have Project Grad, but it really was safe and fun for the kids. I'm looking forward to my 40th reunion next year."

"There is no other type of graduation like Kahuku," Brown said, "not just the ceremony, but the whole production." He added his foster daughter, Ann Ortloff, was graduating and planning to study medicine at UH after working with foster children in Oregon for the summer.

• HPD Officer William AhSue of Laie — whose daughter, Erin AhSue, was among the Kahuku graduates — recalls that at Westmoor High in Daly City, California, his approximately 300 classmates graduated in the school gym. "There were only about six of us Polynesians. We all had thick carnation leis. After, a lot of them went to Disneyland, but I never got to go; I just went home."

"I like Kahuku High graduation the best," said AhSue, adding that his daughter plans to attend BYU-Hawaii and, hopefully, work at the PCC.

• George Kaka, who is originally from New Zealand and graduated from Kahuku in '84, remembered there were 187 in his class. "We held our graduation in the Polynesian Cultural Center, right in the main theater. After, we didn't have anything like they have now. We just went with our own families and did our own thing, then went around to other parties."

Kaka, whose son Conway Kaka just graduated from Kamehameha as well as niece and nephew from Kahuku, said he thinks Kahuku's ceremonies have gotten better over the years. "They're a lot more organized and enjoyable. There are a whole lot more people turning out also." He added that graduation ceremonies he attended in New Zealand were "nothing like the graduations here. It wasn't as big as it is here, and we didn't have any leis; but Kamehameha's ceremony was awesome. Everything was done in Hawaiian, so that was different for me, but there was a really nice spirit. They had a Project Grad right after."

• Kahuku Athletic Director Joe Whitford said his 1976 graduation from Kamehameha was "very formal. They always graduate on a Sunday afternoon — that's the tradition — and they do a lot of singing. It was not as exciting as Kahuku. We had 376 in our class, and after we just went to dinner and went home."

"Kahuku High graduations are one of a kind. I've been to several others, and I think we do a very good job," he said.

• Conley Gali, a former school administrator at Kahuku who's now vice principal and athletic director at Snow Canyon High in St. George, Utah, described his 1981 graduation from Kau High on the Big Island as "very small. I believe there were 63 of us, and that was a good number. Because it was our 100-year-celebration, we moved outside the gym for the first time. It was windy and short, but for me it was memorable. Afterwards, there were a number of graduation parties in the area. I remember going to about six of them, until I was tired and heavy with food."

Gali said graduation at his current school was "very formal. They had a class of 318, and it was done in the Burns Arena in the Dixie State Center. There were lots of people, but it was not like Kahuku." He added after the parents changed the whole school into an Indiana Joes theme party. "My wife and I were in charge of feeding them, so we had Hawaiian food."

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