La Pietra Celebrates May Day with Pāʻani Hawaiʻi
May 2nd, 2022
Kai W., Hawaiian Club President Olivia B., Hawaiian Club Advisor Alia Pan,
Dean of Students Gay Chinen, and Makenna Kinsler '21
You know what they say about May Day in Hawaii... It's Lei Day here in the islands! And there was no shortage of lei on the La Pietra campus. This year, students and faculty celebrated Lei Day by playing Pāʻani Hawaiʻi (or traditional Hawaiian games) on the Great Lawn. Students were even invited to don aloha attire instead of their every day blue uniforms to make the occasion even more festive.
Faculty members and members of La Pietra's Hawaiian Club helped facilitate a series of Hawaiian games around the lawn. In the Hau Arbor, students learned kōnane, a two-player strategy board game invented by ancient Hawaiian Polynesians. There were also yard games like ulu maika and moa pahe’e which were played by early Hawaiians. With ulu maika, students rolled a stone from a distance, aiming the disc between two goal posts. Moa pahe’e is a similar game, but requires a little more strength and skill to slide a blunt, wooden dart through some narrow goal posts.
Highlights from May Day 2022
Students also got to engage in some wrestling games including pā uma, standing wrist wrestling, and haka moa, a form of human chicken fighting. There was lots of laughter as faculty went head to head in friendly wrestling matches, and many even challenged Hawaiian Club Advisor Alia Pan at the haka moa circle.
The afternoon of games ended with huki huki, or tug of war! The series of matches pitted the grades against each other in friendly competition. While the 6th-graders were on a hot streak, beating first the 7th and 8th graders, their reign came to an end when the freshman class pulled out a win. The sophomores stole the lead, beating out both the freshmen and junior classes. But in the end, the seniors came out on top in a final match against the sophomores.
Junior Nina B. and Dr. Alia Pan face off in haka moa, or a standing chicken fight.
In a surprise final tug of war match, the seniors took on members of the faculty head to head, coming out victorious in the end. Congratulations to the Class of 2022!
During the May Day festivities, La Pietra was thrilled to welcome back alum Makenna Kinsler ’21, who just returned from dancing at the 59th Annual Merrie Monarch Festival with Halau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine. While at La Pietra, Kinsler served as president of the Hawaiian Club and May Day director. The small school environment made it possible for Kinsler to explore her passions for dance and Hawaiian culture and share it with her peers – things she may not have been able to do at larger schools. (Click here to hear more about her hula journey.)
Mahalo to the Hawaiian Club and all of the faculty, staff, and volunteers who helped put together such a fun afternoon!
