On Friday, Chaminade invited Hawai’i Literacy’s Family Libraries to campus for its annual Christmas party. Families from Mayor Wright Homes and Towers of Kuhio Park came to Chaminade, where the party was held in the Clarence T.C. Ching Conference Center.
The Kalihi guests were greeted by Christian Raquepo and fellow Silversword staff writer Noelani Tugaoen, who dressed up as elves to get the kids in the Christmas spirit. Tugaoen and Raquepo opened the celebration with a greeting, and before the party officially started, Father Chris Wittman led a prayer.
After prayer, Lissett Yamase and Innocenta Sound-Kikku, a.k.a Mama Inno, approached the front and presented storytime for everyone. The story for the night was “Mwa Machang,” a Chuukese story that translates to “Hey Birdy.” Mama Inno is the author, and Yamase, a Chaminade alumna, is the illustrator of Mwa Machang. Both author and illustrator gathered the kids around for the story and even had a few of their own kids from Towers of Kuhio Park to show us some moves that go with the story.
“It was a good storytime for the kids,” said Kercy Michael, a Hawai’i Literacy Family Library Tutor and Mayor Wright Homes resident. “The kids were shy at first to do the dance moves, but they loved it afterward. I’m glad they incorporated a cultural book this year. A lot of the kids here rarely see books in their own language, so it was nice seeing them get excited about it.”
Once dinner was served and everyone was finished, Chaminade Residence Life provided four Christmas activities for the kids. There was “I am a Scientist,” ornament decorating, unwrapping the avalanche, and a photo booth. Throughout the night, raffles were called to receive a wrapped present.
The kids played with Christmas-colored liquid density for the “I am a Scientist” activity. The ornament decorating table had many options for the kids to pick from to create their own ornaments to take home. Unwrapping the avalanche was a saran-wrapped ball full of prizes within each layer, and during a 30-second time limit, the kids won the prizes they unwrapped. Lastly, the photo booth had a Christmas-themed Chaminade banner as a background; everyone could take a copy of a polarized photo home.
“This party was fun,” said Johrilina Alvear, 10, from Mayor Wright Homes. “This year was way better than last year’s party. We got to bring home a lot of presents.”
As the night went on, it was finally time for a visit from Santa Claus. The kids got to take photos and mingle with Santa until it was time for presents, and every child received a present from Santa.
“Chaminade always takes care of us, and tonight was great,” said Rina Moefu, manager of the Hawai’i Literacy Family Library. “The kids always look forward to the Christmas party, and I’m happy with how it turned out tonight. They went above and beyond this year with the activities, and I loved that a couple of the students dressed up as elves. The kids looked like they really enjoyed it, and we can’t wait to come back next year.”