HBA’s freshmen took part in their first grade-level service project on April 9, 2025. Each homeroom was assigned to go a different organization in the Nuʻuanu neighborhood, including the American Cancer Society, Partners in Development (Tūtū and Me), and Nuʻuanu Baptist Church.
Arlene Huster, high school librarian and freshman advisor, explained that the Freshman Service Project Day has been part of HBA’s 9th grade advisory curriculum for many years. It has grown in scope through the years, from helping with small campus-improvement projects at the high school to going out to the surrounding community. “A goal at Hawaiʻi Baptist Academy is to develop leaders with servant hearts, people who see the needs of others around them and take action to help. It lines up with our Expected Schoolwide Learning Results of ‘love’ and ‘commitment,’” she said.
One of the project sites this year was Tūtū and Me, an early childhood education organization. According to Jade Guess, Development and Communications Manager at Partners in Foundation, the parent organization that runs Tūtū and Me, the freshmen helped by cleaning and painting a base coat on rocks that will later be decorated and designed with messages as well as cleaning and organizing supplies for teachers. “Their help made a big difference and we’re so grateful for their time and energy,” she said.
Over at Nu’uanu Baptist Church, the freshmen cleaned windows and walls, and decorated “Grace to Go” bags, which are filled with food, water and personal items and distributed to the houseless community on Oahu by River of Life Mission. Johnny Hom, pastor at Nuʻuanu Baptist, said, “They also played a little ping pong, pool, and foosball at the end.” He also offered an encouragement to the students, saying, “Trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and commit to following his example of servanthood in all things as Philippians 2:5-11 tells us.”
Keira Liew, freshman class president, was at Nuʻuanu Baptist and said that the day was memorable because she was able to serve the community with her friends. “At first, I wasn’t that excited to work, but I realized that helping others makes me happy and gives me a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. Even though we were only there for a few hours, I enjoyed learning more about the church. It was also super fun to play games at the end and bond as a class,” she explained.
The staff at the American Cancer Society were also grateful for the freshman group at their office and shared this note via email: “[They] were very helpful in creating partner portfolios and organizing our wig closet which supports important functions of our organization. We also appreciate the students’ hard work in beautifying the inside and outside of our office. The students had a good attitude, were ready to jump in wherever needed, and looked like they had fun in the process. I was impressed with those that stepped up to ask thoughtful questions about the organization and our mission to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.”
Sophia Tung, who worked at the site, was glad to learn more about what the organization and how each staff person there had a unique story about how they were led to their job. She said, “None of them set out to work at a non-profit but it was as if they were led to a career there. It really shows that God has a plan for you; sometimes it’s not something you expect, but it is always what he thinks is best for you.”
