Ke Kula ʻo ʻEhunuikaimalino Students Perform in Washington D.C.

Four Big Island students performed at the Teach For America 25^th Anniversary Summit in Washington D.C. last weekend.

The students, from Ke Kula ʻo ʻEhunuikaimalino, performed in front of 15,000 attendees opening the main event stage at the Verizon Center, headlined by Janelle Monae.

Following a traditional oli, the students – sixth grader La’akea Foster, eighth grade student Kukamaehumakakoaokalani Inaba, ninth grader Kainoa Fernandez, and eleventh grader Andelen Olelo Losalio – performed a hula written by Keala Ching and co-choreographed by Inaba.

All four students were selected to represent Teach For America’s Native Alliance Initiative at the summit.

Their teacher at Ke Kula ʻo ʻEhunuikaimalino, Lihau Godden, accompanied them on the cross-country journey.

Godden joined Teach For America-Hawai’i after graduating from Kamehameha Schools – Kapālama and Lewis & Clark College.

To review the on-stage performance and the Teach for American Summit in its entirety, click here.

Teach For America–Hawai‘i works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunities for children facing the challenges of poverty. The program was founded in 2006 on O‘ahu and in 2009 on the Big Island. Teach For America–Hawai‘i recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity.

Teach For America courtesy photo.

Teach For America courtesy photo.

Teach For America courtesy photo.

Teach For America courtesy photo.