From Nuuanu to Hiroshima: St. Andrew's Priory PAAC Club Year in Review
Twenty students from Hiroshima Jogakuin High School arrived at The Priory not knowing how to braid ti leaf lei. They left knowing how. In exchange, they shared their school's history, taught origami, and presented to the PAAC Club about what education looks like in Japan. By the end of the visit, both groups knew something they didn't before.
That's the kind of global exchange St. Andrew's Priory PAAC Club built its year around — not abstract, not performative, but actual.
One of the Largest Clubs at the Priory
Co-Presidents Reina Chia and Anna Gregorio led 18 members through a full year of biweekly in-person meetings, Gold-level Distinguished Club participation, and a project calendar that ranged from campus garden beds to the Ronald McDonald House kitchen. Engagement — keeping members genuinely invested across a full school year — was the year's honest challenge, and the club named it directly. The activities themselves seem to be doing the work of solving it.
Hosting Hiroshima
The Hiroshima Jogakuin exchange was the year's signature moment. When the Japanese students visited Hawaiʻi, Emily Morinaka and Anna Gregorio led them on a historical campus tour centered on the legacy of Queen Emma Kaleleonālani, the Priory's founder, and Queen Liliʻuokalani — the ali'i whose stories are embedded in the school's buildings, flowers, and founding mission.
Meanwhile, Reina Chia, Emma Maluo, Emily Morinaka, Anna Gregorio, Ariella Lima, and Sienna-Navai Dung taught the visitors to braid ti leaf lei. The Japanese students later hosted an origami session in return. At a club meeting, they presented about their school — giving Priory members a rare chance to compare education systems not through a textbook, but through conversation with peers their own age.
One Jamboard response said it simply: "I enjoyed listening to the Japanese students that visited and learning about their culture." Another: "I learned about the Hiroshima attack." The exchange worked in both directions.
Projects Rooted in the Campus and Community
Garden Bed Painting: Over three club sessions, at least ten members repainted every garden bed on campus. Five members designed the motifs — a lokelani lei for Queen Emma, a butterfly for Queen Liliʻuokalani, crown flower lei in tribute to the hoʻokupu offerings Priory students once gave to the queen. The paint got on the grass. Next time: more newspaper under the beds.
Ronald McDonald House: In partnership with the National Honor Society, club members cooked a full Thanksgiving meal for the Ronald McDonald House Nuʻuanu location — chili, mac and cheese, cornbread, salad, cookies, and drinks. One Jamboard response: "I enjoyed cooking at the Ronald McDonald House." Another: "I gained hands on cooking experience."
School Supplies Drive: Tied directly to the SDG 4 lesson on equal access to education, members collected books, writing utensils, and folders for Hawaiʻi Literacy, which distributes to public schools across the state. Nicole Jiang reflected: "While we often think of educational disparities being international... it is also important to recognize the disparities just within Hawaiʻi." Jirlynne Pekelo-Agpaoa connected the lesson to action: learning about unequal access "made me more passionate about conducting the school supplies drive."
WorldQuest
Emma Maluo, Kaianna Stella, and Mia Lepis competed as the club's single WorldQuest team, studying immigration, tariffs, the Belt and Road Initiative, and — the crowd favorites — FIFA and coffee and chocolate. The club plans to use available coaching resources more intentionally next year, and hopes to field more teams.
What the Year Built
The Jamboard captures it in three columns — Enjoyed, Gained, Learned — and the entries add up to something more than a checklist. Friendships. Cooking skills. A deeper appreciation for teachers. Knowledge of the Hiroshima attack. Understanding of education access. New people met at PAAC events.
The Priory PAAC Club painted their history into their garden beds this year. The patterns — lokelani, butterfly, crown flower — will still be there when next year's members arrive.
St. Andrew's Schools – The Priory PAAC Club, led by Co-Presidents Reina Chia and Anna Gregorio, completed three GAP projects (Garden Bed Painting, Hiroshima Jogakuin High School Exchange, and School Supplies Drive for Hawaiʻi Literacy), cooked a Thanksgiving meal at Ronald McDonald House, and participated in Academic WorldQuest during the 2025–2026 school year.
