2022 Charger Showcase delivers innovation, creativity, intelligence upon a bright future

I would like to thank Pearl City High School Principal Mr. Joseph Halfmann for the invitation to attend the second annual Charger Showcase last night at Pearl City High School’s “The MIKE” A&B Courtyard. Students from PCHS Academies participated in presenting extraordinary and innovative projects that they had been working on in their respective academies of learning throughout the school year. 21 teams made up of students from freshman to seniors presented their projects to the PCHS Ohana and the community.

I was so impressed with the talent, intelligence, and innovative minds of the students as I made my way to each project booth. I spent time talking with the students while learning about each project from its conceptualization, research and development, and overall experience through completion and anticipation along with the excitement while preparing for tonight’s unveiling and sharing of their work.

Every project was a hit, or should I say a “Homerun” from fashion design, satellite development (yes, building a satellite).to designing an amphitheater that will actually be built on campus. Also impressive was an automobile detail service company that has assembled a management team of marketing, financial, sales, and detail specialists that are very professional and friendly and seem years beyond their grade level that they each represent at PCHS.

Also, I was extremely impressed by the 2021-2022 PCHS yearbook with its creative design, layout, an d finished product that I have ever seen in a high school yearbook before today. The yearbook features amazing campus photos taken in the day and night and senior photos all shot outdoors. Beautiful!

The most fun I had was from the students who traveled to Barcelona, Spain on an 11 day trip in March 2022. They shared their experiences, Spanish gifts and memorabilia and even sang a Spanish song. The kids were amazing and so friendly.

The common denominator tonight was that each team has incredible teachers, academy leadership, and mentors that the students have bonded with and learned from as academy team members. They all have a very special bond that they will carry with them well beyond their time as students at Pearl City High School and into well into the future.

The quality of the student’s education, learning experiences and success begins with the highest level of professionalism from PCHS teachers, staff, and administrators who guide them from their very first day as incoming freshman. I was able to chat with Mr. Michael Sana, PCHS Academy Principal for Culinary Arts, Health Sciences and Leadership, and Mr. Herman Leong, PCHS Vice-Principal who are award winning administrators and have both been honored with the prestigious Milken Education Award. Both gentlemen commented about Thursday night’s successful debut of the student’s project presentations.

Michael Sana, PCHS Academy Principal for Culinary Arts, Health Sciences and Leadership

“Today is our Pearl City Chargers Showcase where we showcase many of the great things that are happening here at Pearl City High School. The students were able to present the learning that they endured this year and the growth that they went through. A lot of the projects were where students volunteered to come out and share what they did in their classes. During this COVID pandemic, our Chargers went above and beyond and today they were showcasing all the great things that are happening here. So, we had all the Academies and all the other programs that support our kids. It was really great to see the kids perform and talk about their passions and talk about the learning and experiences that they’ve had here at Pearl City High School as they came back from a pandemic.

It’s been weeks in the making and all the Academies took the time to really go out and ask their kids in their classes if they wanted to participate. This is really student generated, student voice, and teachers approaching some students about maybe coming out and presenting some of the projects that they’ve done. The kids were excited about it and really looked forward to sharing those really genuine projects.”

Herman Leong, PCHS Vice Principal

This is our second annual Charger Showcase where we want to give our students an opportunity to demonstrate their learning from this past school year. It’s a matter of giving the students a voice. Giving the students an opportunity to talk about their passion and what they learned and the excitement about learning.

The teachers wanted to be here to support their students in their presentations and in their speaking to the community. The teachers in a sense were proud parents. They’re seeing the good job that the students did in terms of discussing their learning and their projects and the enjoyment they had in their particular projects.”

Thank you once again to Pearl City High School for the opportunity to experience and amazing evening with the students. I’m really looking forward next school year’s Charger Showcase.

GO CHARGERS!