Kapālama educator marks 45 years of nurturing haumāna

Caption: Alyssa Braffith (left) and Sandy Nolan (right) are honored for their 45 and 40 years of service, respectively, to Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.

Aug. 19, 2024

Alyssa Braffith KSK’70 sums up her legacy at Kamehameha Schools with the ʻōlelo noʻeau—aloha aku, aloha mai.

“You give aloha, you receive aloha. It's cyclical reciprocity,” said Braffith, a grade 11 vice principal at Kapālama.

This cyclical reciprocity manifests in the thousands of haumāna, colleagues and community members who have been shaped by Braffith’s aloha over the course of her 45-year career at KS.

Braffith is one of 348 limahana who were honored this month for their contributions to uplifting Princess Pauahi’s legacy as a part of our annual service awards, which recognizes employees marking five-year work anniversaries. This year’s honorees represent more than 4,500 years of combined service to our organization, 60 years of which belong to our awardee with the longest tenure, librarian Dani Gardner of Kapālama.

Kapālama librarian Dani Gardner embraces fellow librarian Kuʻulei Reyes at the service awards celebration where Gardner was honored for her 60 years of service to Kamehameha Schools.

Following Gardner with the next highest years of service is Braffith who began her career with KS in 1979 as a summer school clerk. She would go on to hold a variety of positions — educational assistant, lifeguard, language arts teacher and dean to name a few — and earned a master’s degree in counseling along the way.

Braffith witnessed many changes at KS over the decades. The most notable, in her opinion, is KS’ evolution into honoring our Native Hawaiian identity through ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi and E Ola! learner outcomes.

“I love E Ola! because it is life and that’s our life. We are Hawaiians and to cultivate that identity and maintain the essence of who we are,” she said.

Reflecting on her contributions as an educator, Braffith points to the growth and success of her haumāna.

“You feel accomplished when you see your students doing what you saw them developing to be. I think many of our leaders and kumu here feel that when they see our kids come back [to Kamehameha], whether to teach or be on staff, it’s amazing. I even had one of my students who became my boss,” Braffith said.

That student is Jacob Pacarro KSK’97. They first met when Braffith hired Pacarro as student aide for Kūlia i ka Pono, a leadership program for Native Hawaiian students.

“She always looks for the best in people, and she saw something in me that maybe others didn’t and gave me a chance,” Pacarro said. “That experience opened my eyes to the impact we have on kids, and it is a reflection of the impact that she had on me.”

He credits this experience and Braffith’s mentorship to leading him to pursue a career in education.
Twenty-seven years later, the pair work together as vice principal partners for the Class of 2026.

“If we talk about a daughter of Pauahi, she is one of the first people that comes to mind,” Pacarro added. “She is a fierce advocate for haumāna and our lāhui; she symbolizes what a lifelong learner is.”

“She embodies everything I believe Pauahi wanted for a Pua a Pauahi but also as a kumu who has a kuleana to continue that legacy.”

It is a legacy that Braffith lives every day and encourages those around her to uphold.

“Pauahi gives us far more than we can ever give back,” Braffith said. “It’s our responsibility to understand how we fit into the bigger scope of what our Hawaiian people need to succeed and have a bright future.”

Service awards celebrations were held across the pae ʻāina over the past few weeks, honoring awardees with lei, mea ʻai ʻono and pilina with their colleagues. Stay tuned for a gallery on Ka Ipu O Lono sharing photos from these events.

As a part of the Mālama O Ke Ola program, Braffith welcomed the Hōkūleʻa home off the shores of Kualoa, after the vessel returned from a second voyage during the 1980s.