competitions in paradise ( final draft )

Brianne Sumida

Pd.4

11/26/13

Competitions in Paradise 

           

Everybody thinks Hawaii is all about the beaches, paradise, & vacations, but there is a lot more to it than that.  Hawaii can be a very competitive State.  There are many different competitions that Hawaii has that most people just don’t know about.  For example, there are canoe paddling and surfing competitions, which were founded by the early Hawaiians. There is the famous Merrie Monarch festival, that is a hula competition held in Hilo.  Finally, there is the Kamehameha song contest, which is a singing competition between the different grades.  The Kamehameha song contest is the most unique competition.  It is the only competition that takes the contest so seriously that it is shown on television around the State of Hawaii.      

There is great history behind the Kamehameha song contest.  The Kamehameha song contest has been a big tradition for many, many years.  They just had their 93^rd annual song contest earlier this year.  The director of the song contest from 1926-1947 was Miss Laura Brown.  She stated, "“the objectives of the song contest are to build up the repertoire of the best in Hawaiian music for the cultural heritage of any student who attends Kamehameha; to develop leadership, cooperation and good class spirit; and to give students the use of their singing voices and to give them pleasure in singing as a means of expression.”    By having the Kamehameha song contest, the students are able to work together to learn more about their own native culture and language.

 The Kamehameha song contest has been a tradition for the past 92 years.  An important part of the Kamehameha song contest for the students is learning about the culture of Hawaii.  Culture is very important to the native Hawaiians because at one point the Hawaiians couldn’t speak their native language and dance hula.  That’s why the Merrie Monarch is also a good example of the Hawaiian culture.  The Kamehameha song contest brings back the culture because  all the songs that they choose is sung in the Hawaiian language.  The students also dress in aloha attire and wear leis that were made from flowers that were gathered from around the State.  After the song competition, the entire student body participates in ho'ike.  At the ho'ike, students sing Hawaiian songs and dance the hula.  The song contest helps Kamehameha students appreciate the Hawaiian culture.

Hawaiian language is a big part of the Kamehameha song contest because it brings back how the Hawaiians really spoke through songs.  The Kamehameha song contest helps teach the kids their own language and helps keeps the language alive.  The students also learn how to sing the language by singing every song in Hawaiian that is given to the different types of groups.  The Hawaiian language is a big part of the Kamehameha song contest because students learn the words of the song.  That helps them understand the Hawaiian language.  For example, students last year performed a song called "Pua Hinano".  They learned that this song was about a flower called the hinano and its great beauty. That’s why the Kamehameha song contest is a big part of the Hawaiian language.

The Kamehameha song contest has been a part of Hawaiian history for many years and is important to the students of Kamehameha School.  It is something that the students look forward to every year and is a tradition that hopefully continues for many years.   The song contest is a big part of Hawaii because it brings back culture, language, and history.  That’s why the Kamehameha song contest is important to Hawaii.