During the days of January 29, 2024-January 31, 2024 Honoka’s clubs competed in Oahu in various competitions. The clubs that went up were FCCLA, Family Career and Community Leaders of America,  HOSA ,Health Occupation Students of America, and DECA, Distributive Education Clubs of America .  I was able to interview people from the different clubs about their time up on Oahu. Tyra Matsumura, a first timer competing in the HOSA competitions says, “It was the best time of my life”.  The clubs were up there for about three days and during that time they were able to experience many new things. 

First the clubs visited Chaminade, a college campus located on Oahu. They were able to see what Chaminade has to offer giving them the opportunity to consider attending. Next The night before competition, the clubs practiced their presentations, finished projects, and tried to get their nervousness out.  Zaylen Miyasaki and I, members of the FCCLA club, did a project on sports nutrition, testing out a three day meal plan on a student athlete to see how the different foods affect physical performance during practices and games.

Tyra Matsumura and Bryanah Castro created and presented a poster board explaining a career in the medical field.  They explained the job of a pharmacist and included different facts and details about what a pharmacist’s responsibilities are and how they help us. “I think we rocked our presentation, it was the best presentation  Bry and I have ever done!”, said Tyra.  Tyra and Bry weren’t the only ones celebrating success;  Kamaha’o Kanekoa and Caleb Kaniho also rocked their FCCLA presentations in their culinary categories.

Finally, the stress was over! Everyone was so relieved that the presentation they had been working on for months was finally over! Now it was time to see the results of the competition. For HOSA,  Jhacyee Queja won third place in medical reading. For DECA in the category of Principles in Business Management Ed Kristain Augustin placed first, Brandon Gonzales laced second and Soren Lison bee placed 4th. I the Principles of Business Management Written Test Category, Jerilee “Maka” Agee placed second overall and Makenzie Mizuba placed third in the Business Service Marketing category. Lastly in FCCLA, five students qualified for Nationals; Brandi Hoopai, Kamaha’o Kanekoa, Caleb Kaniho, Zaylen Miyasaki, and myself, Kalihiwai Cantor.

 To celebrate, the clubs went out to eat at a restaurant of their choice. HOSA went to the Olive Garden and FCCLA and DECA had a great dinner at Gens Korean BBQ.  The night wasn’t over yet; everyone had to participate in a social night, you could either do a dance party, board games, or have a movie night. We chose the dance party – I believe that if the party had some food, it would’ve easily beat Winter Ball or any other dance I’ve been to. 

“This trip provided me with so many opportunities and it made me way closer with the people in my club” Tyra said. “Getting to learn and experience new things, and also meeting new people from different schools was cool.” Zaylen explained, “For me, being part of a club like FCCLA just provides so many opportunities and new learning experiences like no other. I made so many new friends not only in the club but from other schools on Oahu!” Overall, the competition was a huge success