Iolani homecoming celebrations started somewhat slowly following Punahou's 24-20 victory over the home team on Friday, October 28th. Punahou fans (and the band) were there in numbers (and some in costume) to cheer on the team as it fights its way toward the ILH title.

With the victory Punahou, currently ranked 3rd in the Honolulu Advertiser's week poll, moves to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the ILH. Iolani moves to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the ILH. The team's last regularly scheduled game is set for Aloha Stadium on Saturday, November 5th at 4:30 pm against Pac-Five.

View the photo gallery: Punahou vs. Iolani

Read the Honolulu Advertiser story: Punahou rallies past Iolani with 2nd-half surge, 24-20

For more on the ILH football chamionship title: Five teams still have shots at ILH titles

Ghosts and goblins have nothing on Punahou students, staff and faculty. Activities in celebration of this year's Halloween include pumpkin decorating by the junior class (they deliver the pumkins to seniors' centers in the neighborhood), pumpkin carving in fourth grade and the annual Academy costume contest held on the steps of Cooke Hall.

Punahou's costumes are featured in Mary Adamski's "Honolulu Star Bulletin" column (Saturday, October 29, 2005) Turning Fright Night Friendly.

Check out some of the many costumes and activities: Halloween Photo Album

If you have digital photos of your Halloween event, send them to connect@punahou.edu and we'll add them to the photo album.

Written by Robert Swift and directed by P. Brian Gilhooly, "The Paper Bag Bandit Rides Again: Or, Behind the Cheap Mask" was presented by Punahou middle school students October 7 and 8 in Dillingham Hall.

The play takes place in the Old West. The story is a classic battle of Hero against Villain, with a colorful cast of characters thrown in for good entertainment. Here's the plot: Villain Sludge Slyskull runs the Dew Drop Inn Hotel. In his spare time, he puts a paper bag over his head and becomes the notorious Paper Bag Bandit! While Sludge terrorizes the community, young Sheriff Buzz Saw (our hero) plans to capture the outlaw. Unfortunately, Sludge knows of the plan and manages to ensure that Sheriff Buzz, not Villian Sludge, is accused of the crimes!

Well-written and charmingly cast, the play features delightful roles like the Ladies Vigilante Committee, glamorous Diamond Dolly Rhinestone, journalist Hedda Lettuce, and Mademoiselle Fufu and her wacky theatrical troupe.

Punahou students are encouraged to explore their thespian interests beginning in fifth grade, where drama is included among the students' elective choices. Academy students are required to earn two Visual and Performing Arts credits prior to graduation. To fulfill the course requirements, students may choose from nearly a dozen elective courses, including acting, theatre performance, musical theatre, set design, and theatre technical production.

Performing arts events comprise an important part of the Punahou school year. In addition to a myriad of musical performances each year, middle school students present at least one major theatre production. Academy students perform in both theatre course plays and Dillingham Hall productions.

Enjoy the "The Paper Bag Bandit Rides Again" photo album featuring its talented cast: Nicole Chaffin '11, Amanda Scott '10, Kalia Medeiros '12, Phillip Kelsey '11, Jessica Hatch '10, Katherine Clifton '10, Riley Masunaga '11, Molly Johnson '12, Natalie Helper '10, Tiffany McTernan '10, Jonathan Santiago '11, Christa Sonido '10, Jordan Wakayama '11, David Rex '10, Chelsea Singlehurst '10, Elise Minkin '10, Allison Lim '12, Tae Keller '11, Victoria El-Swaify '10, Kanoe Kageyama '11, Kawehi Goto '11, Anita Goo '10, Jef Fujii '10.

Don't miss any of the Dililngham Hall performances this year; mark your calendar now for:

• in Dillingham Hall: Godspell (November 11, 12, 18, 19 at 7:30 pm); The Mikado (April 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 at 7:30 pm)
• in the Drama Workshop: The Importance of Being Earnest (December 8, 10, 12, 14 at 7:00 pm)

Photo above and in photo album provided courtesy of David Franzen. All rights reserved.

For the second year, the Friends of Italy Society of Hawaii brought to Honolulu the "Best of New Italian Cinema Events" (N.I.C.E.). The event presented five Italian films at the Academy of Arts on September 15-18. Film Director Marco Ponti from Italy attended opening night where Mr. Ponti presented his film "Adanta+Ritorno/Roundtrip," to Honolulu audiences.

While in Honolulu for the Academy of Art event, Mr. Ponti visited Paul Hamamoto's "Fiction & Film" English class to discuss "storytelling Italian style" as well as the creative process of filmmaking. "Fiction & Film" looks at storytelling using film from both a critical analysis and creative production perspective.

Mr. Ponti proved to be the perfect guest speaker. His wit and humor were well received by the students who enjoyed his use of film clips to support his presentation. Mr. Ponti showed excerpts from "The perfect Human" a Danish film that he thought was one of the best shorts ever made and the first scene from Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes."

Below are some highlights of Mr. Ponti's visit:

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Student Shannon Mickelwait '06 shared these comments: "I found Marco Ponti's style of film to be very unique and interesting. He showed us one of his favorite shorts that was made very simply but was still able to say a lot.

It was a very strange film and, I'll be honest, it made me feel kind of uneasy because of it was so different than what I'm used to seeing on the screen. That uneasiness though is also a sign that I was learning something. Ponti exposed us to a form of art that I, personally, had never had a chance to really look at and analyze in the way that he asked us to. Being in a class like fiction and film where we are asked to make short's our selves, it opened up my idea of what a short could be-- which I realize now is really, anything!

And about the "Fiction & Film" course, which is open to 11th and 12th grade students, Shannon said: "I took "Fiction & Film" because in the last year I've realized what an interest I have in making movies. I love stories, both reading and writing them, and as Mr. Hamamoto has said, this class is about stories. It's a great course and I recommend it to everyone. The movie industry is such a big part of our culture that we should know how to analyze and discuss these stories that we love so much to watch."

Paul Hamamoto enjoyed the presentation as well: "He did a good job of stressing the importance of planning and preparing before shooting a movie. 'Everything happens BEFORE you push the red button,' Ponti said, referring to the button on the camera. And, he shared a very interesting way of thinking about how a movie goes from the page to the screen. He said that the screenplay uses words and space and the movie uses images and time. The artist's job, he implied, was being able to shape the story as it transferred from words and space to images and time. "

Mr. Ponti's biography: He was born in Avigliana (Turin), graduated in modern literature and became an assistant in Semiotics at the University of Turin. He mastered in narrative techniques with Alessandro Baricco and actually teaches Screenplay for the Cinema. He made screenplays for radio, television and theater. He wrote and directed shorts like Benvenuto a San Salvario, which was named best short film at the European Film Awards in 1999.

His first feature film Santa Maradona was awarded the David di Donatello Prize, for best upcoming filmmaker. This award is the equivalent of an Oscar. His second film "Roundtrip," opened the Italian Film Festival, at the Academy of Arts. Mr. Ponti is presently in L.A. directing a film which is being produced by the studio that produced "Million Dollar Baby."

Lauren Rigney
Editor, "Ka Punahou"

Students are adapting to their new schedules and classes as well as to the equally important adjustments to the academy's new attire policy also taking place.

Students and teachers have admitted to being anxious and nervous because of the new dress code on the first day of school. Teachers worried that students would not follow the policy as planned, and it was agreed that only warnings would be administered the first two days of classes. Many others shared concerns of uniformity - seeing the students dressed as though indeed uniforms had been required.

However, most in the Punahou community were pleasantly surprised. Describing the first day of school, junior class dean and current co-chair of ARC (Attire Review Committee), Mr. William Ouellette says, "I just looked around and thought, 'Wow, this doesn't look like there's a dress code here.'" He went even further to say, "It looks totally natural."

Many teachers agree with Mr. Ouellette that physically the new style of dress on the academy campus looks natural and even flattering on students. Though students were told multiple times on the first day of school, "You all look great!" do they agree? Allison Yoshida, class of 2007, comments, "Many girls agree with me that the boys are really nice-looking in their collared shirts. And the girls look good too because we're all less self-conscious since we're wearing similar styles as one another."

In response to the uniformity, "People have been wearing tons of accessories and sweaters to individualize themselves. Plus there are a lot of different colors and styles offered to students." Academy freshman, Spenser Hart, agrees with Yoshida when asked about the sense of uniformity, "Even the required shirts look like normal clothes. Plus you have your own selection of pants."

Despite all the positive feedback about the new dress code, it has had its fair number of complaints as well. Fellow ARC member, and Punahou Social Studies teacher, Dr. Kehau Kealoha-Scullion agrees with Mr. Ouellette that the primary concerns students and parents are having involve costs, vendor selection, and equality in the policy for males and females.

John Ito, Punahou senior feels that the school has made it "so much harder for girls," and remarks that Punahou should just "let both genders wear their own clothes." Inevitably, there have also been those that simply do not like the new dress code. Referring to student responses, Mr. Ouellette admits, "Some have been bothered."

While student reactions have varied, there has been a somewhat shared sense of confusion with the policy. For example, multiple students have been reported to their deans for wearing out of code articles of clothing over approved clothing. However, policy clearly states that no article of clothing may be layered over approved clothing aside from "jackets, sweatshirts, or sweaters."

One major problem Punahou teachers have encountered is defining what exactly is a "jacket, sweatshirt, or sweater." The way Mr. Ouellette handles this dilemma is by asking the student what the jacket, sweatshirt, or sweater's purpose is. If its purpose is to keep the student warm, and assuming there is nothing explicit or offensive about the item, there is no reason why it should need to be removed. However, if a student wears a questionable outer layer of clothing, they run the risk of being reported to either of their deans. As Mr. Ouellette says, "If you're dancing on the edge, you may get called in."

Another major confusion has been the topic of girls wearing non-vendor, collared shirts which boys can wear. While the original policy handbook's phrasing made the collared shirt regulations unclear, it should now be known that the only collared shirts girls are allowed to wear are the vendor - offered polos and any Punahou - approved collared shirts. Furthermore, neither boys nor girls may wear any non-vendor tank tops - even if it is a Punahou top.

To ensure that the Punahou attire policy continues to run smoothly, a new committee (appropriately titled ARC - Attire Review Committee) is being formed. Headed by Mr. Ouellette and Mrs. Ashford, the committee has four main goals:

• To evaluate additions to Punahou-approved clothing (i.e. club shirts)
• To monitor other issues relating to attire (i.e. performing routine evaluations of attire policy)
• To work with vendors to update and expand the offerings
• To communicate changes to the Punahou community

Many concerned students have expressed an interest in being part of a student branch of ARC.

Though the new dress code has been received with different levels of enthusiasm and support by students, teachers such as Dr. Kealoha-Scullion feel that there is "an understanding of why we changed the dress code." For the most part, student compliance has been even better than anticipated, with the number of violations at a minimal. Hart claims, "Everyone seems to follow it, because everyone has gotten used to it."

Those who have concerns about the new policy are encouraged to speak with their deans or any ARC members, and their concerns will be taken into account. For the moment, however, Mr. Ouellette says, "We have felt encouraged by the number of students that are in dress code."

This story was printed originally in "Ka Punahou" the Academy newspaper. Coming soon: Watch ePunahou News for a link to issues of "Ka Punahou."

The day was sunny and then rainy and then sunny again. However, the mood in the Class of '61 reunion tent was not influenced at all by the weather. The air there was bright and jovial as 13 athletes from Punahou's 33-member "all time greatest football team" celebrated a team reunion and enjoyed reminiscing about good times, great plays and fond memories.

Wanna see just how good these guys were? Check out some highlights:

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The reunion, organized by Donnie Neves '62 and Wayne Williams '62, included a dinner at the Ilikai Hotel, arranged by Alan Cambra '62, and a private house party following golf on Saturday.

The reunion weekend kicked off on Thursday evening as the 1961 champions met with Punahou's current varsity team. Current players very much appreciated a chance to hear from Punahou's legendary team who shared wit, wisdom and humor.

Friday, the group attended the Punahou vs. Damien game at Alexander Field to cheer on the next generation (currently ranked #1 in the state) as they defeated Damien (a rather convincing 42-12). The score and the event were perfectly matched celebrations of sport and athletic achievement.

Attending the weekend of activities were:

From the Class of 1962

• Gerry Gilbert
  
• Walter Harrington
  
• Buzzy Joao
  
• Walter Macfarlane
  
• Donnie Neves
  
• Donald Parker
  
• Alan Robinson
  
• Hardy Spoehr
  
• Wayne Williams
  
• Jackie Neunzig Scott
  
• Patsy Wilcox Sheehan
  
• Willa Abbott Romanchak
  
• Anne Sloggett Hamilton
  

From the Class of 1963

• Clint Albao
  
• Alan Cambra
  
• Nathan Paco
  

From the Class of 1964

• Pal Eldredge
  

Strawberry Shortcake!
Huckleberry Pie!
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!
Are we in it?
Well, I guess!
Punahou! Punahou!
Yes! Yes! Yes!

It's here. It's here. Punahou's annual celebration of school spirit. This Friday, don't miss the Flaming "P" Ceremony, a tradition at Punahou for over 30 years to honor and celebrate all of our athletic teams.

The evening will begin with a chili and rice dinner. Here, we renew old friendships and make new ones. Then our students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and friends will gather in Hemmeter Fieldhouse for a pep rally as the "P" is illuminated. It is a vision that symbolizes the pride we have for this great school - our Punahou!

This fun event includes entertainment, balloons and other fun stations for the keiki. Join us for this festive and spirtied celebration.

Date: Friday, October 7th

Time:

• 3:15 pm: Punahou vs. Damien (Alexander Field)
  
• 5:15 pm: Dinner (Dole Hall)
  
• 7:30 pm: Ceremony and Pep Rally (Hemmeter Fieldhouse)
  

Menu:

• $3.50: chili, rice, salad, caramel cut and drink
  
• $3.50: vegetarian chili, rice, salad, caramel cut and drink
  
• $2.50: salad, caramel cut and drink only
  

For a printable version: Flaming "P"

Want to see the pep rally highlights?

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