ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY is a Malama Honua school following the voyage of the Hokule’a in classroom lessons. The school’s association with that ongoing journey earned IPA students an exclusive spot on the tarmac to witness another amazing journey: the historic around-the-world flight of the Solar Impulse 2 (Si2).
Andre Borschberg, seated in the cockpit of the Solar Impulse 2, is welcomed to Hawaii by ki’ele members of Island Pacific Academy’s halau with an oli.
“Our students were invited to perform welcoming ‘oli for Andre Borschberg, the pilot of the Si2, when he landed the plane at Kalaeloa,” explains Michelle Bradley, Middle Years Programme (MYP) Coordinator, Science Department Chair, and Science Fair Coordinator for IPA. “Kalaeloa airport and our school are both located in the Honouliuli Ahupua’a so we were an appropriate choice to represent the landing site of the plane here in Hawaii.”
Requests for a “photo op” by the international audience were granted by the halau girls while both pilots, Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, are interviewed by the media.
Kristin Chun (‘22), Jayda Hatcher (‘21), Jessica Beasley (‘21), Ariana Lee (‘21), Piper Kennedy (‘22), and Meta Bradley (‘22). The girls are hula haumana of Island Pacific Academy’s Halau Na Pua o Kekoolani (under the direction of nā Kumu Kuumomialoha & Makana Kuahiwinui). The girls are former and current students attending Island Pacific Academy.
The flight of the Si2 from Japan to Hawaii, the eighth leg in its travel around the world, set a new record. The challenging 120-hour duration flight covering 5182 miles is the longest ever accomplished by a completely solar-powered plane.
Andre Borschberg is given a traditional ti lei by Ariana Lee (‘21)
The Solar Impulse airplane and its team objective to achieve the first around-the-world solar flight shares a message for a sustainable future with the Hokule’a and the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage. The message is one of renewable energy sources, taking care of our planet, and thinking outside of the box to solve our world’s environmental issues.
“Both the highly engineered solar-powered airplane in the sky and the “old-world” vessel on the sea challenge us to re-imagine what is possible for our future and our planet,” says Bradley. “Being here today…witnessing history…seeing the Si2 pilots with their team alongside members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society with Nainoa Thompson together in one place…incredible. Definitely a chicken skin moment.”
Si2 pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg (hat) celebrate after the successful landing in Hawaii
Among the young people of today—fascinated and intrigued by the solar-powered flight—are the world’s next generation of potential inventors, engineers, and pioneers. As they witness the engineering of today behind the Si2’s mission of sustainability, the hope is to inspire these adults of tomorrow to find ways to create and protect a more environmentally healthy world. A world with a renewable future.
View the video of Island Pacific Academy’s Halau welcoming Oli here:
