Island Pacific Academy’s 19th annual Lā Mei Celebration filled the campus on May 1, 2026, as students, families, and faculty settled onto the grass together in colorful aloha attire and fresh flower lei to honor Nā Mea ʻAi Hawaiʻi — the enriched foods and provisions of Hawaiʻi. Through oli, hula, and mele, nā haumāna of every age traced the full arc of Hawaiian sustenance, from the upland forests of kou kula uka to the open waters of kou kula kai.
Over its 19 years, the Lā Mei celebration has grown into one of IPA’s most beloved traditions, a day when the whole school community gathers to learn, perform, and celebrate Hawaiʻi together. This year’s theme invited that community to think about provision and continuity — what the ʻāina gives, and what each generation passes forward. On the field, that idea took on new meaning.
The celebration opened with the royal May Day court processing down the center aisle, with students from Grades 5 through 12 dressed in the colors and flower lei representing the eight main Hawaiian islands. Mōʻī Wahine Thayleah Hall ’26 and Mōʻī Kāne Brennan Lester ’26, attended by Leianna Babas ’26 and Lowell Chappell ’26, took their place on stage as kindergarten twin sisters presented hoʻokupu to the king and queen. Later in the program, Thayleah danced a solo hula, Pua Kiele, composed by Josh Tatofi, moving through the crowd and up the center aisle with quiet grace. By the celebration’s close she was visibly overcome with emotion — holding it close, but unable to hide how deeply the day had moved her.
Brennan, meanwhile, took his place leading the senior boys in the Laupāhoehoe Hula, carrying forward a tradition that longtime, now retired, science teacher Stan Vincent established with IPA’s very first senior class. Every senior boy who has walked IPA’s campus has cast a net, flexed his muscles, and rubbed his ʻōpū on the Lā Mei stage. And this year, for the first time, the senior girls performed their own hula alongside them.
The idea came from Student Activities Coordinator Ruby Fernandez, who had been watching the senior class all year. “I think for the class of 2026, one of their strongest attributes is their presence,” she said. “They’re always willing to serve and show up.” She saw in that quality an opportunity. “Traditionally, we always only had the boys, the senior boys, doing Laupāhoehoe,” Fernandez said. “And I said, for this class, why not honor our girls who always show up just as equally as the boys by having their own hula?”
Fernandez asked senior Rory Pulawa Yadao ’26 to lead. “I just asked one of the people who ran for court if she’d like to lead the girls, and she said, ‘I would love to.'” Rory brought something close to home. She asked for a weekend to talk story with her ʻohana, and her family guided her to He Uʻi, a hula composed by Danny Kuaana carried down through generations. She taught it to her classmates, and on May Day, the senior girls performed it together as one group across the field.
Whether the tradition will continue is an open question, and intentionally so. Fernandez sees the girls’ hula as something living rather than fixed. “We’ve already created Laupāhoehoe as a tradition for the boys, and there’s already a standard dance,” she said. “But the girls’ is fluid. It’s not a standard dance that they’re doing. It’s going to change because it has to be led.” Each year, it will fall to a senior girl to step forward, and the hula she chooses will reflect her own manaʻo and the knowledge she carries with her.
The theme of Nā Mea ʻAi Hawaiʻi wasn’t only about food. It was about what sustains us all: the knowledge, the practices, the relationships passed from one generation to the next. IPA’s Lā Mei celebration has long been a living expression of that idea. This year, nā haumāna didn’t just perform it. They added to it.
2026 Island Pacific Academy Lā Mei Court
HAWAIʻI
Prince: Torin Jack ’26
Princess: Kalia Keaulana ’26
Kahili Bearer: Rory Pulawa – Yadao ’26
NIʻIHAU
Prince: Peter Cornthwaite
Princess: Amelia-Rose Kekumu
Kahili Bearer: Lexi Hammond
MAUI
Prince: Ronan Aragon
Princess: Adelynne Banquil
Kahili Bearer: Mason Lambert
KAUAʻI
Prince: Kennedy Oshiro
Princess: Dejah-Lyn Faletusi
Kahili Bearer: Gabriella Pack
KAHOʻOLAWE
Prince: Shazer Kelii
Princess: Bailey Steele
Kahili Bearer: Hannah Hoffman
OʻAHU
Prince: Kainoa Souriolle
Princess: Iolani Kekahuna
Kahili Bearer: Ashton Bugarin
LANAʻI
Prince: Rhys Okimoto
Princess: Vivienne Arvman
Kahili Bearer: Lilly Richardson
MOLOKAʻI
Prince: Jacob Okimoto
Princess: Katryna Pupillo
Kahili Bearer: William Cornthwaite
QUEEN’S ATTENDANT
Leianna Babas ’26
KING’S ATTENDANT
Lowell Chappell ’26
MŌʻĪ KĀNE
Brennan Lester ’26
MŌʻĪ WAHINE
Thayleah Hall ’26
PŪ KANI
Yurijah Yurong ’27
Evan Rife ’27
Noah Chapman ’27
Kainoa Meacham ’27
HO’OKUPU
Alex Sophia Vallejo-San Agustin
Casey Alivia Vallejo-San Agustin
See more photos on Facebook.
