EVERYONE WAS SWEATY, yet smiling, rainbow-colored pompoms were raised up high and lively cheers filled the air as everyone tirelessly enjoyed the exciting events of the day. This was the atmosphere at Kailua’s spring sports day attended by almost all of the students, siblings, parents, grandparents and friends.
We started the event with a short generic prayer, led by two children. The singing and dancing of “Kailua Is Your Home”, our school song, followed this. For warm-up exercises, everyone participated in “Radio Taisou”, a five-minute callisthenics exercises that Kailua children do every morning at school.
The Little Angels Team of toddlers and pre-kindergartners broke the ice with “Swim, Swim in the Ocean”. Gamely joined by a parent, every child got in a turtle-designed hula-hoop and pretended to swim or wade in the water. Every pair was a winner.
The kindergartners from three homeroom classes Kuahiwi, Makani and Lani formed the Active Kids Team that did the “I Am a Crab” event. Showing well-developed gross motor skills, they picked up plastic balls with their “pincers” made of plastic shovels and carried them from start to finish. Not a single “crab” dropped a ball.
Elementary school children attending Saturday school and after school programs formed the team “Powerful Juniors”. Their event, “Bring Me ___”, tested their English reading skills and ability to follow directions. They took turns in batches to pick up a card placed face down on the floor and searched for something following the instructions on the card.
The Little Angels Team came back for the third event, “Go, Go, Rainbow”. They shot multi-colored balls into a basket of upside-down umbrellas. It was surprising how the toddlers shot all 50 balls into the basket in less than ten minutes.
All children, teachers and staff provided the intermission numbers of lively songs and dances. The first was “It’s Alright” followed by “TEAM”. It was a very colourful sight as the children waved and wiggled their colourful pompoms as they sang and energetically danced.
Four obstacle races (Great Hawaiian Adventures) participated in by the Active Kids Team, Super Juniors and the Super Dads concluded the events. The most interesting stage of these races was carrying an egg (fresh or boiled) using a small spoon or chopsticks. It was indeed a day of shared Kailua Aloha Spirit!
