Returning to Kanaloa: Maui High School's PAAC Club Year in Review
Before stepping onto the sand at Honokanaiʻa Bay, nine students stopped. They offered an oli kahea — a chant of entrance, asking permission and protection — before setting foot on one of the most sacred, restricted, and historically wounded places in Hawaiʻi. This is how Maui High School PAAC's year began: with reverence.
A Club That Doubled
MHS PAAC enters this year with 63 members — double last year's count — led by President Naomi Tokishi and a full officer team including Vice President Darra Sasai, Secretary Kaylee Yagi, Treasurers Ian Payba and Jamaeia Espanol, Historian Brixter Garcia, and Representative Cadenze Famorca. Growth came not from a single recruitment push but from visibility: an active presence in the community showed students what PAAC actually looks like in practice.
Kahoʻolawe: Three Days, One Kuleana
The Kahoʻolawe Service Trip (August 18–21, 2025) was the year's defining moment, and Naomi Tokishi's account of it deserves to be read in full.
Nine members traveled to the island through the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC), whose mission is to restore the kino of Kanaloa — returning land and sea to health until Native Hawaiian governance is established. Over three days, the group planted 1,500 ʻakiʻaki and akulikuli succulents to protect beaches from erosion, filled road divots carved by decades of ranching and military bombardment, cleared invasive buffalo grass from a native wetland, and visited sacred sites including the Navigator's Chair at Puʻu o Moaʻula Iki, where they offered an oli mahalo at the rain koʻa shrine.
They also stood at Sailor's Hat — a crater left by a 1965 U.S. Navy test detonation of 500 tons of TNT — where KIRC researchers have since discovered endemic shrimp and algae thriving in the blast water. Even the wound is healing.
"This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, something that I will hold in my heart for all my life. Being able to help Kahoʻolawe and experience giving back with PAAC was the most fulfilling of all."
Naomi reflected: "There is a special type of bond that Kanaloa creates for those who go to Kahoʻolawe, which is the connection I felt to my friends throughout the trip."
A Year of Showing Up
Beyond Kahoʻolawe, MHS PAAC built a remarkable volunteer record rooted in their Maui community. They greeted performers with lei and supported food vendors at the Okinawan Festival for the second consecutive year — a growing partnership they clearly intend to keep. They ran two Maui Humane Society events: a drop-in volunteer day and the Chip and Chill community pet health fair. They sold teriyaki chicken plates at Saber Family Fun Night to fund future club endeavors. And at Santa's Workshop in December, members played elves, watching children choose their gifts. "I got to see a lot of children's happy faces as they chose their gifts!" one member shared.
They also participated in the Rinzai Zen Mission Obon in August — selling drinks, dancing in the circle, and for some, playing taiko drums for the very first time.
PAAC Programs
LEAD Summit (October 4–7, 2025): Two members attended the four-day leadership camp, coming home with new friends, refined skills, and a clearer sense of the leaders they want to become. "I can't wait for next year!"
Global Vision Summit (December 6, 2025): MHS PAAC joined clubs statewide to debate AI policy in the Pacific. "I really liked how everyone got together to try and solve the problem."
Academic WorldQuest (March 7, 2026): Officers prepared topic presentations, hosted weekly study sessions with potlucks, and sent all teams to the virtual competition. One team won the Maui county award. The Wisdom Warriors.
Sister-State Study Tour – Jeju Island (March 14–25, 2026): Treasurer Ian Payba represented MHS PAAC on the 10-day tour, connecting with Seogwipo Girls' High School students and visiting the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park — a sobering reminder of the lives lost between 1947 and 1954 and the peace that followed.
National History Day Silent Hero (April 2, 2026): PAAC members commemorated Major Jay Leonard Anthony Lembeck. "Recognizing those who have been overlooked and sharing their stories helped me see the importance of research and speaking out. History is essential to remembering heroes."
What They're Building
MHS PAAC is a club that has figured something out: when you give students meaningful work — work that connects them to their land, their culture, and their community — they show up, and then they bring others. Membership doubled. The calendar filled. The relationships deepened.
Kahoʻolawe is still healing. So is every place these students touched this year.
Maui High School PAAC Club, led by President Naomi Tokishi, participated in the Kahoʻolawe Service Trip GAP, Okinawan Festival, Maui Humane Society, Rinzai Zen Mission Obon, LEAD Summit, Global Vision Summit, Academic WorldQuest, Sister-State Study Tour to Jeju Island, and National History Day Silent Hero during the 2025–2026 school year.
