April 17, 2002
Contributed by Kekoa Paulsen
Competing in the Blue Division contest for ninth and tenth graders, Kaniho placed among the 26 highest-scoring students in the country. Freshman Eva Dayton-Smith and senior Adrian Martin achieved commendable results in their respective divisions. The premise behind the WordMasters Challenge is that attentive reading and sensitivity to language are among the most important skills students acquire in school. Similar to questions on the verbal SAT and Advanced Placement exams, questions posed by WordMasters Challenge ask students both to recognize the emotional and/or rational logic of a piece of writing and to notice the ways in which a writer's style shapes and shades his meaning. Since the WordMasters Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, it can be a learning experience. After completing a challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the texts and the answers to the multiple-choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/or written response.
Kamehameha Schools’ policy is to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law.
