Parker Senior Receives $2K Foodland Scholarship
Parker School's Lucas Chavez-Pardini is just one of 100 students across the state to receive a $2,000 scholarship from the Foodland Shop for Higher Education program. Lucas, an exemplary scholar and athlete – he was the graduating class's salutatorian and the 2008 male “Athlete of the Year” - will use the money to attend Northern Arizona University. (West Hawaii Today, June 4)
Full Story - Photo

Parker Teacher to Head Out to Sea
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean there is a buoy, yellow and white and loaded with scientific instruments. This mini-laboratory, bobbing in a vast expanse of blue waves, is the destination of the Kilo Moana, a University of Hawaii research vessel; an elite corps of scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and Patricia Kassis, a physics and math teacher at Parker School. (North Hawaii News, May 29 - Honolulu Advertiser, May 30 - West Hawaii Today, June 4 )
Full Story - Photos

Parker Students, Faculty and Staff Reap Biking Benefits
Through rain, and vog, and occasional dark of night, the "envirobuggy" cycles on. For eight months, the yellow mountain bike with red trailer has been the sole mode of transportation for Parker School's Karen Shaw, providing health benefits and financial savings. Shaw is just one of a number of faculty, staff and students at Parker School to reap the rewards of two-wheeling it. (West Hawaii Today, May 28)
Full Story - Photos

Parker School Takes First at State Championships
Parker School debate team members ended an extraordinary debut year in April, walking away from the state forensic championships with two sets of trophies, including a pair for first place. Kimo Hon and Jenny Sanford won the junior varsity policy debate event. Fellow Parker School team members Annie Sturges and Mary Kamitaki placed third. (West Hawaii Today, May 14)
Full Story - Photo

Symbols of Hope: Parker Students Plant a Forest of "Recycled Trees"
The trees are colorful and beautiful, with trailing streamers and rainbow leaves. They are tall, thin symbols of hope, reminding those who see them that it is possible to live in harmony with our earth. Parker Lower School students assembled the trees as part of Earth Day celebrations using material collected from around campus in a week. (West Hawaii Today, April 30)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Community Lu'au Bids Three Teachers Good-bye
A community lu'au has been a Parker School tradition for 26 years. Art teacher Wendi Roehrig has been around for all of them; she joined the Parker School faculty in 1978, just two years after the school's founding, and has been part of the 'ohana for 29 years. She will retire this year. As the Big Island community gathers on campus April 25, for the 27th annual community lu'au, they will participate in a tribute to Mrs. Roehrig, Parker's longest-standing faculty member, and two other veteran teachers. English teacher Tana Hilliard and math teacher Seiichi Kaida also are retiring. (West Hawaii Today, April 16)
Full Story

Parker Adds a Colorful Seascape to the "It's a Honu World" Art Parade
According to Hawaiian legend, Kauila, a magical sea turtle who loved children, would turn herself into a girl so she could play with youngsters and keep them safe. Now, the children of Parker School are returning the favor. Pencils, markers, and paintbrushes in hand, they crouched, lay, and kneeled below a life-size fiberglass sea turtle, decorating it in vibrant colors. (West Hawai'i Today, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, North Hawai'i News, April 9)
Full Story - Photo

Parker Student Named National Merit Scholarship Finalist
Parker School's Erica Warkus recently was named a National Merit Scholarship Program finalist. The 12th-grader was among the highest scoring PSAT test-takers in the state, which qualified her as a semi-finalist last year. Her record of consistently high academic performance, as well as SAT scores reflecting the same kind of excellence displayed in the PSAT, propelled her into finalist standing. Finalists demonstrate "through distinguished performance high potential for future academic accomplishment," according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. (West Hawaii Today, March 19 - Hawaii Tribune-Herald, April 16)

Parker JV Policy Debaters Take First Place in Final All-District Qualifying Event
The Parker School junior varsity policy debate team of Mary Kamitaki and Annie Sturges took first place in the final all-district qualifying debate event of the season.  A second JV policy debate team, that of Kimo Hon and Jenny Sanford, qualified for states.
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

A Good Start in Art
Put twenty-three artists together with children from kindergarten through twelfth grade and what do you get? Inspired art and a day of fun and growth for Parker School students. Parker School's sixth annual ArtStart program was a time for students to take a break from their usual class schedules and work in-depth in a variety of art forms. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., under the direction of acclaimed artists from all over the Big Island, the students explored talents many didn't know they possessed. (West Hawaii Today, Hawaii Tribune Herald, Feb. 27)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Rocking with "The Durgas" - Multinational Musicians with Global Purpose
We are a world connected. In Hawai'i, the namesakes of an Indian goddess can tell you a lot about the lives of Burmese children living in Thailand, and much of it isn't good. The children of migrant workers aren't allowed to attend Thai schools, nor are they afforded basic rights for healthcare or education. So what to do? "The Durgas," an eclectic band named for the Indian goddess associated with the triumph of good over evil, jam on stage and support organizations that educate and feed these children.
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

FIRST Robotics
Cover Photo: (Parker School's) Daniel Bloom, 17, and Sarah Schleif, 17, program the software that will control their robot during competition. The software must work in an autonomous mode - without human control - and in a driver mode where the operator uses a wireless controller to steer and operate the machine. (West Hawaii Today, Feb. 19)

Kahiau: A Stunning Success!
Kahiau, Parker School's third annual auction gala for financial aid and scholarships, was a stunning success, raising more than $155,000 for students! (Honolulu Advertiser, Feb. 7 - West Hawaii Today, Feb. 13)
Full Story - Photos (courtesy of Tim Rice)

Powerhouse of Persuasion
Parker School's new debate team has reason to be proud.  Under the direction of coach (and headmaster) Dr. Carl Sturges, the team has entered the fray of policy and Lincoln-Douglas debate, emerging victorious against teams from Punahou, Iolani, and Kamehameha schools on Oahu, and qualifying for the state championships. (West Hawaii Today, Jan. 30)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Parker Junior Rips Hilo for 42 in Loss
Parker School's Djavan Cackley knew he faced a tough challenge against Division 1 Hilo on Thursday night and he wanted to do everything within his power to help the visiting Bulls play a competitive game. The 5-foot-10 junior then went out and did it, scoring 42 points in a 71-52 loss to the more talented Vikings before a small crowd at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Photo: Parker's Djavan Cackley drives to the basket Thursday against Hilo. The focus of the Vikings' defense all game long, Cackley, 5-foot-10, scored 23 points in the second half and hit 19 free throws for the game. (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Jan. 25)

Building a Robot from the Ground Up
Photo: Daniel Bloom, center, gets input from Zach Jewell, left, and Sarah Schleif while working on the control program for the robot being built on the Parker School Campus. The robot has to work both autonomously and via wireless remote control during the (FIRST) competition. ... Bloom is just one of nearly 20 Waimea-area high schoolers who are part of the NASA/Parker School & Earl's Garage Waimea Community U.S. FIRST Robotic Team. (North Hawaii News, Cover Story, Jan. 24)

Parker School Receives $25,000 in Grants
The financial support of foundations continues to bolster the work of Parker School. Grants totaling $25,000 recently were awarded to the Waimea institution from the LeBurta Atherton Foundation and the Alexander and Baldwin Foundation. Alexander and Baldwin awarded Parker School $5,000 to fund lower school building expenses, while the LeBurta Atherton Foundation provided $20,000 in support of Parker School's capital campaign. (West Hawaii Today, Dec. 26)
Full Story

Christmas Our Way: A Guide to Hawai'i-style Holiday Events
Kindergartner Ryanne Doherty graced the cover of Big Island Weekly, showing off the candy and graham-cracker house she built at Parker School's Gingerbread Bazaar. Several photographs from the Parker School event appeared in the paper, including one featuring Maia Dale's hula performance and another of Marilyn Fitzgerald, an Parker PTSO member, standing among a virtual forest of red poinsettias. The student-coordinated event was Dec. 1, and raised money for school organizations. (Big Island Weekly, Dec. 12)
Photo Slideshow

Preventing Wildfires: Parker Students Work to Reduce the Threat
Grass-fueled wildfire used to be rare on the Big Island. Now, the spread of invasive alien grasses provides fuel for blazes that threaten every suburban and rural community on the dry, leeward portions of Hawai'i. Fuel breaks can offer a level of protection for island residents ... Living fuel breaks, made up of fire-resistant plants go further, offering protection wildfires while restoring native plants, improving water quality, re-establishing habitats and minimizing erosion. Parker School students recently worked with the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization to establish such a living fuel break, and organizers hope the 1-acre pilot project will be replicated in other fire-prone areas. (West Hawaii Today, Nov. 28)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Parker, HPA Students' Work on Display in Waimea
Commemorating Parker Ranch's 160th anniversary, the final art show for 2007 at the Parker Ranch Historic Homes' Puuopelu Gallery will be a display of works by students from tow of the ranch's beneficiary organization -- Parker School and Hawaii Preparatory Academy. ... Parker School art teacher Wendi Roehrig is the longest-standing member of the Parker School faculty, having been with the school since 1978. In the early years of her employment there, until Richard Smart's death in 1992, she and her students had the privilege of private annual Puuopelu tours lead by him. To this day, her visual arts classes take their final exams at Puuopelu, critiquing the home's extensive art collection. (West Hawaii Today, Nov. 23)

Parker School Students Among Top Players Named to All-BIIF Cross-Country Teams
(West Hawaii Today, Nov. 8)

Making a Difference: Parker Students Lend a Hand to Help Out Their Community
Parker School students donned work clothes, gloves and positive attitudes, ready to make a difference on their campus and throughout the Waimea community. They scrubbed buildings, washed cars, and picked up trash. They visited hospital patients, hung holiday decorations, and cuddled homeless animals. Students from lower school to high school labored in observance of Make a Difference Day, the nation's "largest day of doing good." (West Hawaii Today, Oct. 31)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Creative Creatures: Parker Students Preserve Endangered Animals in Clay
The focus was intense as Parker Lower School students worked with Heidi Buscher-Simmersbach to create endangered animals from clay. Eyes opened wide and fingers twitched with anticipation as they watched the highly regarded artist – and Parker School parent – cube the small blocks of clay that would be theirs to mold. (West Hawaii Today, Oct. 24)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Parker School Presents "Rebel Without a Cause"
Anthony Mangione's no rebel, he just plays one on TV. No, make that the stage of the Parker School Theatre from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27. The 10th-grader is Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause, the infamous character portrayed by James Dean in the 1955 film on which the play is based. Twelfth-grader Kalehua Shamel, plays Judy, the female lead, following in the footsteps of Natalie Wood. (West Hawaii Today, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Oct. 24)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Parker Students Visit USS Missouri
On the last of the great battleships to be built by the U.S. Navy, Japan officially surrendered to the United States in 1945, ending the single deadliest conflict in human history: World War II. Parker School eighth-graders visited this historic vessel, the USS Missouri, to learn what life was like aboard a warship of that era. (West Hawaii Today, Oct. 17)
Full Story - Photo Slideshow

Parker School Hosts Hawaii Premiere of "King Corn" Oct. 12
(West Hawaii Today, Oct. 17)

Parker Receives $30,000 Grant
(West Hawaii Today, Oct. 10)

Parker's Fall BBQ & Potluck Goes Green
(West Hawaii Today, Sept. 12)

Parker School Opens with Record Numbers
(West Hawaii Today, Aug. 29)

Parker School is Expanding: College Preparatory Completes $2M Campus
(Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Aug. 11)