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Punahou School cheers new president

By Alexandre Da Silva

POSTED: 08:34 a.m. HST, Jan 20, 2009
Victoria Eliazar watched her school’s most famous alumnus take on the toughest assignment of his life this morning.

The eight-grader joined an overflow crowd of Punahou School students, parents and staff who packed an auditorium to watch Barack Obama, a 1979 graduate, be sworn in as the 44th United States president.

“It’s an interesting inauguration because he is our first African-American president,” said Eliazar, 13. “It is making a difference in my life because he is from Punahou and now I just want to do better in school.”

Shari Smart came with her husband Jim, a humanities teacher, and their 7-year-old daughter, Sierra, to watch Obama’s inaugural address broadcast on a giant screen. The audience, which applauded about a half-a-dozen times as Obama promised to fix the economy and launch a diplomatic administration, gave him a standing ovation.

“We wanted to watch it live,” Shari Smart said after the speech.

Her daughter had an American flag hanging from her neck with the words “The Obamas are awesome” written on it.

“I like him because he went to Punahou,” Sierra Smart said.

The school planned a day filled with festivities and lessons centered around Obama’s inauguration. Sixth graders and faculty were scheduled to hold an assembly at 10:30 a.m. to watch clips from the ceremony in Washington, D.C., while children from kindergarten through fifth grade would join teachers in a parade starting at 1 p.m.

“I’m going to be dressed as the statue of liberty,” said a teary-eyed Lauren Buck Medeiros, the school’s chaplain. “The last three days I’ve gone from laughing to crying to laughing to crying. It’s been such a depth of emotion, not just for our country but just for the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.”

Punahou eight-graders were set to learn about different aspects of the election and the inauguration in social studies, science, math and English classes.

Just last month, Obama visited the campus for a pick-up game of basketball. He attended Punahou from fifth grade until his 1979 graduation, playing eighth-grade football, high school basketball, singing in the choir and writing for the school’s literary journal, Ka Wai Ola.

“It is very inspirational to see a graduate of Punahou become president and lead our nation to a better time,” said Kalen Chong, 14, an eight grader. “I liked how we are going to work together to make our nation a better place. We are going to work together with other nations to be a better world.”

Victoria Eliazar watched her school’s most famous alumnus take on the toughest assignment of his life this morning.

The eight-grader joined an overflow crowd of Punahou School students, parents and staff who packed an auditorium to watch Barack Obama, a 1979 graduate, be sworn in as the 44th United States president.

“It’s an interesting inauguration because he is our first African-American president,” said Eliazar, 13. “It is making a difference in my life because he is from Punahou and now I just want to do better in school.”

Shari Smart came with her husband Jim, a humanities teacher, and their 7-year-old daughter, Sierra, to watch Obama’s inaugural address broadcast on a giant screen. The audience, which applauded about a half-a-dozen times as Obama promised to fix the economy and launch a diplomatic administration, gave him a standing ovation.

“We wanted to watch it live,” Shari Smart said after the speech.

Her daughter had an American flag hanging from her neck with the words “The Obamas are awesome” written on it.

“I like him because he went to Punahou,” Sierra Smart said.

The school planned a day filled with festivities and lessons centered around Obama’s inauguration. Sixth graders and faculty were scheduled to hold an assembly at 10:30 a.m. to watch clips from the ceremony in Washington, D.C., while children from kindergarten through fifth grade would join teachers in a parade starting at 1 p.m.

“I’m going to be dressed as the statue of liberty,” said a teary-eyed Lauren Buck Medeiros, the school’s chaplain. “The last three days I’ve gone from laughing to crying to laughing to crying. It’s been such a depth of emotion, not just for our country but just for the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.”

Punahou eight-graders were set to learn about different aspects of the election and the inauguration in social studies, science, math and English classes.

Just last month, Obama visited the campus for a pick-up game of basketball. He attended Punahou from fifth grade until his 1979 graduation, playing eighth-grade football, high school basketball, singing in the choir and writing for the school’s literary journal, Ka Wai Ola.

“It is very inspirational to see a graduate of Punahou become president and lead our nation to a better time,” said Kalen Chong, 14, an eight grader. “I liked how we are going to work together to make our nation a better place. We are going to work together with other nations to be a better world.”