Lahainaluna High School students were able to “showcase their talents” Saturday evening as they performed and hosted a dinner for the crew of the USS Daniel Inouye, the new guided missile destroyer, which anchored in Lahaina this past week. 

The event was even more special as COVID-19 sidelined shows and community events such as the annual David Malo Day Ho’olaule’a, but on Saturday students from the Lahainaluna Boarders Association and Hawaiiana Club got to perform and “give back to the community” once again. 

They have been able to finally “showcase their talents” on stage, practice public speaking, and work together in organizing a community event, said Lahainaluna Boarders Association President and 1971 Lahainaluna graduate Craig Murakami. 

“They haven’t had (large events) since COVID, so these seniors have never had the exposure of performing and giving back to the community, which is what it’s all about,” Murakami said Sunday morning. “So, I think this is something that’s really positive for them.” 

The students entertained an audience of about 150 with six songs, hula, and a traditional oli they’ve rehearsed for the past several weeks, as well as dinner in the Lahainaluna High School cafeteria. 

Also in attendance were the boarding students’ families, state and county council members, the crew’s families, and USS Daniel Inouye officers, including Commanding Officer Dave Haile, who also spoke at the event.

“It went pretty well, we got to meet a few of them. We talked about where they’re from and how we learned all our songs and what it meant to us,” said two-year boarding student Jesse Alconcel of Waihee. “Some of them have been to boarding schools themselves so they said that they really appreciated us and what we’re doing.” 

Alconcel said he was able to ask them about their reasons for joining the Navy, a little bit about their background, and some history of the ship.

Lahainaluna boarding student Mylei Kattil said “It was fun, it was a good experience.”

Kattil, who is from the Marshall Islands and is in her last year of the boarding program added: “A lot of the boarders interacted with them and it was a nice experience being able to talk to them.”

The opportunity for the students came about as the Daniel K Inouye foundation and the Navy League were looking for a venue to entertain the sailors and officers while the ship was anchored in Lahaina, but couldn’t find availability in West Maui, said Murakami so they, in conjunction with the Hawaiiana Club, were happy to help.

“These two wonderful groups have been working in conjunction to make this a memorable event for the crew,” said Lahainaluna Principal Richard Carosso on Thursday leading up to the event. “Both day students and boarders will be involved and I’m excited how this opportunity will showcase these students, the Hawaiian Club and Boarding Program, Lahainaluna, and the West Maui community.”

In just a few months, the associations put together the event, which “is pretty amazing,” Murakami said. 

“I thought it went well,” he added on Sunday.

The event is a bright spot for the boarding program after dealing with staff shortages and disruptions to the program last school year. 

Hawaii Department of Education communication specialist Derek Inoshita said that staffing is back up, which currently consists of one vice principal of boarding and six dorm attendants — three for boys and three for girls. 

There are 48 total borders this year — 25 girls and 23 boys. This is an increase of two students from the last school year, Inoshita said. 

Founded in 1836, the Lahainaluna boarding program has housed hundreds of high school-aged students from across the state, the U.S. and other regional islands so that they can earn an education and life experiences while living on the historic campus.

Throughout the week, students participate in project-based work studies, study halls, community meetings and collaborative dinners, according to the program. On some weekends, they get to explore recreational, cultural, and historical activities on Maui.

Overall, Alconcel said it’s been “pretty fun to be around my peers” as he takes lessons and attends extra credit courses after school, like culinary and business class. After finishing the boarding program, he hopes to start his own landscaping business. 

“It’s really nice. It’s really different from our freshman year, but a lot has changed and I’m liking it a lot so far,” added Kattil, who is currently looking at colleges to attend. “I was there freshman (year), sophomore year we did online school, but I was there junior year and now senior year.”

The USS Daniel Inouye which was named after the late U.S. Sen.  Daniel K. Inouye, arrived on Friday and was scheduled to depart Sunday. 

On Saturday, the crew members volunteered for a day of service at the 49th annual Maui County Senior Fair. 

The 509-foot ship, which is the Navy’s newest guided missile destroyer, arrived at its home port on Oahu at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in 2021. It was commissioned on Dec. 8, 2021, one day after the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Commemoration. The USS Daniel Inouye will join the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the Indo-Pacom joint team. 

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.