{"id":20241,"date":"2026-05-27T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=20241"},"modified":"2026-05-27T11:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:14:28","slug":"2026-student-voice-the-first-graduating-class-kulanihakoi-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/2026-student-voice-the-first-graduating-class-kulanihakoi-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Voice: The first graduating class of K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nolan Quinn, K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I came to this school as a sophomore and I am proud to represent the first graduating class of K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s one thing you should know about me, it\u2019s that I don\u2019t like change. I prefer things to be planned out and predictable. Since the sixth grade, I\u2019ve walked into Famous Footwear and bought the same exact pair of tennis shoes, just in ascending sizes, all because I didn\u2019t want to try something new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So as you can imagine, when I walked onto this campus for the first time in sophomore year, I wasn\u2019t exactly stoked. I think I can say that K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi wasn\u2019t a \u201cnormal\u201d high school experience. This senior class were guinea pigs, the test batch for what this school will become. Any time an event or milestone was crossed, we were the first. This school gave me the rare opportunity to grow with the campus, and it challenged my mindset on change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nolan Quinn, left, delivered the valedictorian address at K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School\u2019s inaugural commencement ceremony on May 23. K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School opened to ninth-graders at the beginning of School Year 2022-23 at a temporary site at Lokelani Intermediate School. The high school\u02bbs new campus in K\u012bhei welcomed its first students in Aug. 2023. Photo credit: Kimberly Yuen \/ HIDOE Communications Branch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While it had its ups and downs, I can confidently say that these last three years were the most fun I\u2019ve had in school. And I think a large reason for that is because I took a chance and embraced my new surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first got here, I recognized some faces from elementary and middle school, people who in the past I\u2019d never thought I would be friends with, and decided to reach out. I had never been close with school friends\u2014surface level conversations and occasionally texting outside of school is what I had gotten used to. But this time was different. This group was full of people who genuinely want to support and spend time with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi has been full of new experiences for me, the things I’ve learned and the people I’ve met here have changed me for the better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as I may have dreaded it, change is inevitable. And as this school year comes to a close, we will all be facing huge changes to our lives. Some of us will be going off to college, others entering the workforce, moving to the mainland or shipping off to the military. And at least for me, I\u2019m terrified. But I also know that with the right mindset, these next steps in our lives will open doors for us that we never thought possible. So no matter what you are pursuing after high school, I believe that all of us can and will be successful. Being a part of the first graduating class was really special, and I am so grateful to have shared it with you all. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>
\n

Nolan Quinn recently graduated as part of K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School\u2019s inaugural graduating class and will attend the University of Hawai\u2018i at M\u0101noa this fall. This essay is adapted from the valedictorian address he delivered at the school\u2019s first commencement ceremony on May 23, 2026.<\/em>
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nolan Quinn, K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School I came to this school as a sophomore and I am proud to represent the first graduating class of K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi High School. If there\u2019s one thing you should know about me, it\u2019s that I don\u2019t like change. I prefer things to be planned out and predictable. Since the sixth […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":20255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,888,893,1022,1619,1622","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hoohaaheo","category-student-voice"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":22,"label":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo"},{"value":51,"label":"Student Voice"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Kulanihakoi-HS-Class-of-2026-1024x512.jpg",1024,512,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kim Yuen","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/author\/kimberly-yuenk12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":22,"name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","slug":"hoohaaheo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":80,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":22,"category_count":80,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","category_nicename":"hoohaaheo","category_parent":0},{"term_id":51,"name":"Student Voice","slug":"student-voice","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":51,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":51,"category_count":22,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Student Voice","category_nicename":"student-voice","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-03 13:31:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20241"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20265,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20241\/revisions\/20265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}