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Faculty and Staff Team Building Day

IPA faculty and staff were back on campus Friday gearing up for a new school year.   The morning began with a fun team-building activity organized by Secondary Vice Principal Micah Banton.  After breaking up into teams of 5-8 faculty and staff members, each team was given 12 plastic straws and a yard of masking tape.  Using only those materials, each team had to create a vessel to catch and contain a golf ball dropped from above.  Various caveats were inserted into the competition as teams struggled to complete their project.  Teams were given the chance to trade the number of “drops” in exchange for either more materials or more time in which to complete the project.

blocksSome structures worked better than others, but in the end, all of the teams cheered for and supported each other.

 

power_up
The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat!

“The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenge and to have the team members work together, communicate and problem solve,” explained Banton.  The last part of the challenge was for each team to create and perform a “team chant” to earn extra points! “That part was really just for fun, but it was great to see our faculty and staff members really get into it and be creative!”said Banton.

groupNew Secondary faculty member Nick Hall fit right in with his team and led the cheer.

After the activity, it was off to Hawaii’s Plantation Village in Waipahu for a tour through plantation homes and other buildings from the plantation era in Hawaii. Hawaii’s Plantation Village is an outdoor museum that tells the story of life on Hawaii’s Sugar Plantations.   “Some of our students, faculty and staff have family members that lived on plantations so it is important to learn about and appreciate this significant part of their history,” explained Elementary Principal Steve Ross.  “As we welcome new teachers to Hawaii and to our campus, this experience offered an opportunity for the faculty and staff to reflect on our own ethnic and cultural diversity and sharing,” added Gerald Teramae, Head of School.

 

waipahu memorial stone

The Waipahu Memorial Stone is dedicated to the immigrant workers of Oahu Sugar Co.who had no families to tend to the graves

 

ipa_facultyIPA Faculty and staff enjoyed a day of learning, collaboration and fun.
Banton summed up the day: “Problem-solving, communication, collaboration, risk-taking and reflection are all skills we ask our students to practice every day. There are many ways to learn and develop skills that we all need to practice, students and faculty alike, to be able work together effectively.  This was a good day.”