Mid-Pacific Institute

Mid-Pacific Institute is a private, co-educational college preparatory school for grades Pre-K and K-12, offering programs of study in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and the Mid-Pacific School of the Arts (MPSA). Mid-Pacific Institute is located on 34 acres (140,000 m²) in Mānoa Valley, near the University of Hawaiʻi, close to downtown Honolulu. The college was established through the 1908 merger of [[Kawaiahaʻo Seminary for Girls]], founded in 1864, and Mills Institute for Boys, founded in 1892. Epiphany School, established as an elementary mission school by the Episcopal Church in 1937, merged with Mid-Pacific Institute in 2004.

About MidPac

Mid-Pacific Institute is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades preschool through twelve with an approximate enrollment of 1,500 students, the majority of whom are from Hawai'i(although many also come from other states and other countries, such as Japan, Korea, China, Canada, Australia, Marshall Islands and countries in Europe and Africa). Mid-Pacific's beginnings date back to 1864, but the present Manoa was established in 1908 with the merger of Kawaiahao Seminary and Mills School for Boys. Epiphany School merged with Mid-Pacific Institute in 2004. In November 2003, the school decided to terminate is on-campus dormitory (which has been on-going since 1908).^[1]

The school's athletic affiliation is with the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Mid-Pacific participates in intermediate, junior varsity and varsity level soccer, cross country, track & field, golf, softball, baseball, basketball, canoe paddling, tennis, bowling, volleyball, swimming and kayaking. Mid-Pacific Institute is one of nineteen smaller private schools that make up a larger unified team called Pac-5 Wolfpack, that allows the students to participate in certain high school athletic competition. Pac-Five began 35 years ago to allow smaller institutions (of 1000 or less students per school) to form a football team and compete at a varsity level with bigger schools.^[2] Now, Pac-5 competes in football, wrestling, judo and water polo.

Mid-Pacific School of the Arts (MPSA)

The Mid-Pacific School of the Arts offers a preprofessional certificate program in dance, instrumental music, drama, and fine arts. The MPSA is the only certified program of its kind in the state of Hawaii. Students who complete their studies often move on to professional conservatories and other schools of performing and fine arts. MPI is unique in requiring all of its students to take a number of arts electives.

MPSA students receive arts training in dance, hula, instrumental music, media, musical theatre, theatre, visual arts, and voice. Students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in art - its technique, theory, history and, of course, performance.

The Mid-Pacific School of the Arts, which was formally established in 1991, is a member of the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts Schools. It was among the first six schools in the nation to be recognized by the organization as a Network Star School. Among its many notable accomplishments, the School of the Arts has earned the Arts Excellence Award from the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education. The acting program at Mid-Pacific is currently run by Linda Johnsen. For grades 9-12 the High School division of Mid-Pacifi Institute.

The International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a widely-recognized and highly regarded two-year pre-university educational program that emphasizes rigorous, internationally based curriculum standards and promotes awareness and appreciation of global issues and perspectives.^[3] Students must take six subjects, and must also pass 3 extra requirements, for example, Theory of Knowledge (ToK), a 4000-word Extended Essay (EE), and a requirement of at least a total of 150 hours in CAS (Creativity, Action, Service). Mid-Pacific Institute was the first school in the state of Hawaii to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. The IB is administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization, which was founded in the 1968 in Geneva, Switzerland. In the year 2011, the orchestra program of MPSA honorably performed in Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Alma mater

Written by: John L. Hopwood

High above thee Mid-Pacific
Mountains greet the sun,
And Leahi watches o'er thee
When the day is done.
Cradled 'round by sea and mountain
In Manoa's lands,
So within our hearts safe cherished,
Mid-Pacific stands.

Sons and daughters of all nations
Meet within thy halls,
Bound by ties of deep affection
For thy vine clad walls.
Out among the world's great peoples
May thy children go,
Bearing forth thy kindly spirit
Brotherhood to show.

Chorus

Mid-Pacific, Alma Mater
We thy banners raise,
Mid-Pacific, Alma Mater
Loud we sing thy praise.

Notable alumni and faculty

• Keiko Agena ('91) — Actress, Part of the cast of Gilmore Girls
• Daniel Bess ('95) — Actor, appeared on 'ER and 24
• Janelle Fujita ('84) — Founder of Cinnamon Girl Clothing Stores in Hawaii
• Rob Fukuzaki ('84) — First Japanese-American TV anchor for ABC7 in Los Angeles, CA^[4]
• Ayaka Kimura ('00) — Former member of Coconuts Musume in Hello! Project
• Maxine Hong Kingston —Novelist who served on the faculty in the 1970s^[5]
• Lia (Young) Hunt ('90) — Pro-volleyball player, model & owner/entrepreneur of Alo2ha^[6]
• Rob Letterman ('88) — American film director, writer and voice actor
• Lisa Matsumoto — Author and playwright
• Sharon (Komata) Narimatsu ('62) — First female president of the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce
• Ronald Moon ('58) — Chief Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court
• Peter Steigerwald ('92) — Comic book artist for Top Cow and later Aspen Comics
• Fortunato Teho ('23) — Horticultural writer and broadaster; first Filipino graduate, University of Hawaii, 1927; first Filipino in Hawaii to become a naturalized US citizen, 1948; Mid Pacific Man of the Year, 1975.

References

1. ^ DePledge, Derrick (11/03/2003). "School To Move Students To Hotel". Honolulu Advertiser. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Nov/15/ln/ln04a.html. Retrieved 14 March 2011. 
2. ^ Stinar, Jamie (April 8, 2004). "Pac-5 more than a game to its dedicated athletes". Hawaii Star Bulletin. http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/04/08/editorial/studentunion.html. 
3. ^ "MPI Family Handbook". http://www.midpac.edu/hs/09-10%20Family%20Handbook.pdf. 
4. ^ Fukuzaki, Rob. "Rob Fukuzaki". ABC7 Eyewitness News. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/bio?section=resources/inside_station/newsteam&id=5744051. 
5. ^ VG: Artist Biography: Kingston, Maxine Hong
6. ^ DelaCruz, Linda. "A Natural Way To Save Your Skin". MidWeek. http://www.midweek.com/content/columns/entrepreneurs_article/a_natural_way_to_save_your_skin/. Retrieved 14 March 2011.