February 2025

• 2/3 - PTA Meeting @ 3:00 PM (Virtual)
• 2/7 - Waiver Day (NO SCHOOL)
• 2/8 - Speech Festival from 7:30-11:00 AM @ Aliamanu Middle School
• 2/10 - Spring Picture Taking Day (No uniforms required)
• 2/14 - Valentine's Day & Teacher's Institute Day (NO SCHOOL)
• 2/17 - President's Day (NO SCHOOL)
• 2/24 - School Community Council (SCC) Meeting @ 2:30 PM (Virtual)
• 2/28 - Epic Jenga Throwdown @ 5:00 PM in the cafeteria

Hi Makalapa Families!

It is finally nice to introduce myself. You might know me as the lady in the front office or the person who answers the phone but I am Tiera or Ms. T for short and I am one of the Office Assistants. If you registered your child/children at Makalapa within the past two years, I most likely assisted your family. I hope I was able to make the transition as easy as possible. It makes me happy when some of the children see me around campus and say “Hey, I remember you when I first came to the school.” I do my best to remember all 500+ students. I may not interact with them as much, but being the registrar, I almost can’t help having their names etched in my memory. With a few more months left of SY 2024-2025, let’s continue to have a great school year!

Sincerely,

Tiera Abe

Valentine-Gram's are on sale now, order one for your child, their friends, or the whole class! Each Gram costs $1.00 and it will have a lollipop, Smarties, and Hershey's Kisses in it. If you need another form you can stop by the front office or you can email Melissa McCain at melissa.mccain@k12.hi.us.

Time for spring pictures! Students are not required to wear uniforms on this day, it is a free dress day. Parents have the option to buy pictures if they want to.

On Sunday, December 15, 2024, the Makalapa Roborams participated in the First Lego League Robotic State Competition. They competed with 49 other teams from across the island of Hawaii. Our Roborams demonstrated perseverance, critical thinking, and teamwork as they challenged other teams.

There were 4 separate events that the Roborams had to prepare for and present. First, the Robot Game. The teams were provided with various missions to be completed. The students then had to design and build a robot using Lego pieces to complete as many missions as they could. Second, the teams had to plan and prepare a presentation about their robot design and game strategy. Third, the teams had to plan and prepare a presentation about a problem and solution regarding underwater exploration. Last, the teams were judged on the core values of First Lego League.

Congratulations to Team 57089 for earning First Place in the Robot Design presentation. All Roborams had fun and represented Makalapa Elementary with pride and respect. Please congratulate the following students for a job well done!

Romeo Baez, Garrett Dobbs, Trystan DeMeo, Henry Madson, Alex Le, Cambria Robinson, Jackson Garcia, Macy Malosh, Lisa Ruhnke, Andrew Soria, Evan Brady, Joseph Harris, Ailana Hetrick, Scarlett Williams, Sevyn Blackthorn, Alexander Castillo, Ryson Kim, Xenyah Salanoa, Emily Soria, Auden Spitler.

Big shout out to the PTA! Thank you for funding our students' entry fees for this awesome competition! We appreciate all the work you do!

Job well done to all of our students who earned certificates in the following award categories: Junior Ram, GLO, Choose Love, and Most Improved. Your good choices, teamwork, and integrity have paid off!

Our Military and Family Life Counselor, Carly Ikuma, is a great resource for our school. Her signature activity is called 'Lunch Bunch.' Small groups of students get to dine together, talk, and play games. Discussions can be focused on military deployment and transition to new places or they can be free form. These short activities help our students to develop interpersonal skills, self confidence, and community.

I'll be on campus and available to meet on Jan 31 and Feb 7 for our Waiver Days. Please give me a call (808-265-0715) if you’d like to schedule an appointment! Hope to see you on Bingo Night, Jan 30! For more MFLC info, please visit my website via the link at the bottom of this newsletter or on the PCNC webpage.

Mahalo, Carly (Ms. I)

Makalapa Elementary has had a J.P.O. program for many years. It's primary purpose is to provide pedestrian safety on campus. Ideally students will be exposed to roles in leadership, civic responsibility, and teamwork. Each day starts with raising the flags. J.P.O. is open to 5th and 6th graders, teacher selection starts the process of recruitment. Thank you J.P.O.'s for all of your hard work!

Bring your empty soda cans & water bottles down to the school, no need take em' to Reynolds! We take them to the recycling center, collect the $0.05 container deposit and put the proceeds towards school activities and supplies for the service clubs, like the J.P.O. Program. You can bring them on any day of the week, and there are 2 places on campus where you can put them. Your support is appreciated!