Statehood 50th Anniversary
Tevin Togami, Staff Writer
September 1, 2009
Filed under News
On August 21 students and teachers at Le Jardin Academy celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hawaii Statehood by wearing Hawaiian inspired shirts, and playing Hawaii trivia games.
Hawaii became a territory of the United States on August 21, 1959. The U.S. overthrew Queen Lili’oukalani and annexed the state causing some conflicts among Native Hawaiians and the American government. Many celebrated the holiday on Friday with happiness despite mixed feelings from Native Hawaiians.
Ms. Isaack’s, our high school Algebra Two and Statistics teacher, vaguely recalls when Hawaii was declared a state. Despite living in Texas at the time, she “remember[s] the government talking about having to rearrange the stars on the flag to fit the 50th star.”
Many students and teachers celebrated at school with games and local clothing. A few even celebrated after school hours. Libby Cleghorn, a senior at LJA, could not participate in the in school celebration because she had to wear her team volleyball shirt, but she still found time to celebrate after school. “My sister’s boyfriend and his family celebrated by cooking with an imu [underground oven]” said Libby. “My parents also invited Larisa Ing’s parents over to our house.”
Inspired by Hawaii’s 50th Anniversary, Eli Jennings, a senior at LJA, created a Facebook group called “Tacky Aloha Tee Friday”. The group wears aloha shirts every Friday and is currently recruiting people to join them in their weekly routine. If you would like more information about the group please contact Eli Jennings at ejennings@lejardinacademy.com .