Think Locally, Act Globally: Kealakehe High School's PAAC Club Year in Review
Sixty students from five schools filled a room at Kealakehe High School on August 30, 2025. Some were middle schoolers debating whether the G20 should contribute 1% of their GDP to global education. Some were high schoolers who had written the topic primers, designed the simulations, and were now running the floor. By the end of the day, resolutions had passed, awards had been given, and students who arrived as strangers had argued their way into understanding each other.
This is what Kealakehe PAAC does. It doesn't just participate in diplomacy — it teaches it.
A Club That Builds the Stage
Kealakehe's PAAC Club meets weekly, 23 active members strong, under the guidance of advisor Justin Brown. The structure is intentional: current events discussions, technical writing, public speaking practice, MUN prep, and student-led events. The club has been sending students to the National High School Model United Nations in New York for 16 years. CEPF — the Civic Engagement & Policy Forum — is their own creation, now in its 11th year.
Lucy Cameron, a four-year PAAC member, put it plainly: "Being a PAAC member has made me consider local issues on a global scale and the things I've learned have stayed with me and helped me in other classes, competitions, and conferences."
CEPF: The 11th Annual
The club wrote the background materials, structured the debates, and hosted over 60 participants from West Hawaiʻi middle and high schools for the 11th Annual CEPF. Topics ranged from the consequences of fast fashion to government spending on invasive species removal to global education tax policy — the same kind of substantive questions that appear at GVS and MUN, now accessible to students who had never debated before.
"So fulfilled with the outcome of our hard work and effort put into this year's CEPF. We will try to make a much better event next year, by closing on some of the gaps within the event. This yearly GAP project is extremely special to us, and we are so happy to continue to do it every year." — Autumn Brown
The CEPF also created a bridge moment: officers who had attended the previous year's GVS on fast fashion got to watch middle schoolers engage with the same topic from scratch. The perspective shift, the report notes, was "particularly interesting."
On the National Stage
NHSMUN — New York: Eighteen students traveled to represent Vietnam at the National High School Model United Nations, earning the Award of Excellence for research and preparation. Bianca Brooks, a three-year NHSMUN veteran, reflected: "Each conference pushed me further out of my comfort zone, helping me build confidence in speaking and connecting with others." Andy Chen called it "like having a conversation with a best friend except academic."
IPPF — Sweet Sixteen: A five-member PAAC team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the International Public Policy Forum, an international written debate competition beginning with 2,800-word argumentative essays. They received a cash prize. Ailani Cruz described what it meant: "IPPF was a vehicle that enabled me to project my understanding of the world — shaped by today's political landscape and my Kailua-Kona community — onto the international stage."
Academic WorldQuest: Five teams competed, with the Golden Plovers taking first in Hawaiʻi County. First in the state no longer belongs to Kealakehe — a fact the report acknowledges directly — but Jerry Jiang captured the spirit well: "Unfortunately we did not receive our desired outcome, but the journey to second place was memorable. Being able to learn, grow, and communicate globally through WorldQuest was an honor, and the passion going into next year is quite high."
New Traditions Taking Root
Poetry Out Loud: In just its second year as a club tradition, Kealakehe's Poetry Out Loud competition produced a winner. Freshman River Coviello-Dejournette won the school competition and advanced to compete statewide. "Poetry Out Loud is a unique experience that encourages an element of artistic liberty, and healthy competition... It reframes from shying away forms of expression, and allows students to pay homage to their poem's authors — with both their emotions and words."
American Legion Oratorical Contest: New this year, the competition challenged members to deliver up to eight-minute oratoricals on constitutional themes. Two students advanced to the statewide competition. Colten Clarke, who pushed to bring this opportunity to the club and then won first place regionally, reflected: "It was also rewarding to see the development of this competition, seeing that I pushed for the implementation of it into our club and then went on to win 1st and represent Kealakehe at the regional competition."
LEAD Summit & Workshop: Nathan, Autumn, and Jerry attended Camp Erdman. Nathan later won the virtual Workshop scavenger hunt. The report lists the highlights: "Networking with interisland students, establishing great connections with PAAC staff, participating in valuable workshops, being educated in lectures, brainstorming ideas for clubs, making instagram reels, having a blast in the water, climbing towers, the list goes on."
Global Vision Summit: Four members flew to Oʻahu for GVS, engaging with AI's impact on Pacific island sovereignty. "Engaging in diplomacy — particularly as a small island country — that challenged the idea of big corp setting up in the Pacific was intriguing, challenging, and fun."
What Four Years Builds
Takumi Landi, a sophomore, is already thinking about the community ahead of him. Gayatri Rossman, a freshman, said her first WorldQuest "provided context for what the world is trying to achieve." And Lucy Cameron, closing out four years, wrote something worth reading twice:
"PAAC continues to make learning engaging and exciting and I am forever grateful for the opportunities they have provided for me."
River won Poetry Out Loud as a freshman. Colten built a competition and then won it. The 12th Annual CEPF is already on the horizon.
Kealakehe High School PAAC Club hosted the 11th Annual CEPF and participated in NHSMUN, IPPF, Academic WorldQuest, Poetry Out Loud, American Legion Oratorical Contest, LEAD Summit and Workshop, and Global Vision Summit during the 2025–2026 school year.
