With the first quarter coming to a close, the Class of 2020 enjoyed their first social of the year on the evening of September 13 with their friends and family.
The family-themed social, called Ohana Night, was organized by the senior class advisors to encourage seniors to spend quality time with their parents, especially as the students head to college in less than a year.
With the busyness of senior year, the class advisors thought it would be beneficial for the seniors to take some time away from the stress of college admissions and school work. Senior adviser Katherine Moriyama described Ohana Night as a time for students and parents to commit to one another as they navigate the last year of high school together, and to pray for each other in the process. She said the ultimate goal of the event was “keep the communication lines open” between students and their parents as they take on senior year responsibilities and requirements.
Ohana Night had no shortage of activities that families could participate in: Students could take pictures at a photobooth, decorate picture frames, glaze ceramic plates, write prayer requests for each other on bookmarks, play board and lawn games, or play a trivia game. Cobi Pimental’s father, Bill Pimental, attended Ohana Night with his wife not knowing what to expect. “I didn’t know what it was about, but since I’m here, I‘m really impressed… I hope this carries on throughout the years,” he said.
Ohana Night was sponsored by HBA’s Parent Teacher Fellowship (PTF). Every year, each grade level is given $1000 to use on an activity or event to encourage parent-student fellowship.
Ohana Night, the first of its kind, is actually a modified version of what was called High Flight, a chapel service for the graduating class. Since the 1980’s, HBA has hosted a senior chapel where students and their parents make a commitment to each other and pray for one another. Though this year’s senior advisors wanted to continue the tradition of High Flight, they decided to make a few adjustments. “The class advisers thought of bringing High Flight back and making it a little bit bigger, so we decided that we wanted to have food and we wanted to have games and crafts,” explained Moriyama.
Senior Ashley Masuoka appreciated the time she got to spend with her parents at Ohana night. “Since we’re going to college, I think it’s good to bond with your parents before that because you’re going to start to lose connection with your family if you go away for college. So, I guess it’s good because I started talking to my mom more.” Masuoka thought that Ohana Night was successful in bringing students closer to their parents. When asked to think ahead to his son leaving for college, Bill Pimental said, “I think I’m going to be happy for him, but I’m going to miss him.”
