| Dragons Return from the Big Island and a Great Speech and Debate Tournament
Dear readers of the What's New,
When we touched down in Kona last Friday, I saw the familiar sprawl of lava field and long tufted brown sedge. I returned as chaperone for the Dragons Speech and Debate Team – one senior, two sophomores, one freshman excited to compete in the 2026 Neighbor Island Tournament of the Hawaiʻi Speech League at Parker School. For the freshman, it was her first neighbor island trip. I looked at her and wondered if she had the same reaction to the landscape I did when I first arrived to the Big Island in 2002, shocked somewhat at what seemed its barrenness, not having experienced the rolling pastures or windswept forests of Kohala, or the lush jungle lowlands of Hilo, or the upcountry coffee pastures, or the active volcano.
| | | We took the lower road along the coast, then up the mountain on Māmalahoa. I worked at Parker School as an English teacher my first full year in Hawaiʻi, hired by PBA’s founding head of school Pieper Toyama. He recruited me to join him in founding PBA. The return to Parker was sweet. I enjoyed telling the students about my carless Big Island adventures, living on the dry side, biking a few miles up the hill to Parker in the mornings on the way to teach, how strong my legs got. | Parker’s grown since I left it – added an elementary school building, and more recently, a gym and performing arts complex. There’s a lot of room to grow on Big Island. I greeted old friend Eric Sills, who still works as Parker’s Maintenance Director, and ushered my students inside to lock in for the tournament. Five rounds, maybe fifty miles, some thirty hours later, we would have our results: team co-captain Maddie would capture a second place showing in the Original Oratory event and a berth in this year’s state championship tournament. Our other team captain, sophomore Amy, had a rougher go in the Lincoln-Douglas event, winning three of eight ballots, but she’s growing into the tougher competition of the championship level, so I’m not worried, she will adapt and flourish. Sophomore Jonah is still finding his way in Lincoln-Douglas, great potential and a lot to learn, he will get there. And freshman Aleigha ventured into a speech event for the first time (she’s already formidable in Lincoln-Douglas), competing in Informative Speaking, where we hope she will carry on PBA’s great tradition of success. | The Sunday after the tournament, the students and I drove to Kohala Hongwanji Mission just past Kapaʻau to participate in Rev. Dojun Baba’s temple service. He shared with us a little of Shinran Shonin’s life story, leaving his Mt. Hiei monastery after more than 20 years of study to innovate a new, more inclusive path of awakening. Following the service, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch with Rev. Baba, his family, | | and the Kohala Hongwanji temple members who kindly packed macadamia nut omiyage for us and adorned us with ti leaf lei.
The trip has me thinking of histories and legacies. When alumna Naho Umitani (’22) pitched me on launching a speech and debate program in 2019, I had intended to bring a different teacher in to run it. We had sent a previous alumna, Shala McKee (’18) up the mountain to train at Kamehameha School, which worked fine, but a school wants its own programs. Six years and a few championships later, we have a tradition at PBA and a growing program, one of several significant programs at the school. What sorts of programs will exist at the school 20 years from now, and longer? This weekend I will lead a throng of PBA teachers, parents, and students on our annual Walk/Run for Peace, the 12th annual, along with PBA's Advancement Director Megan Lee. This spring we will host the 20th annual Taiko Festival. These milestones are dwarfed by the legacy of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism – the temple service at Kohala Hongwanji was their annual Hōonkō observance, which is a traditional memorial service in honor of Jodo Shinshu’s founder Shinran Shonin that began 33 years after his death in 1263. But our school nestles within that tradition. As all the activities of our teachers, families, and students nestle within the legacy you have helped us erect and carry on. As my Dragons Speech and Debaters boarded the flight homeward on Sunday evening, tired but satisfied with everything we’d experienced together, I looked out the window into the darkness and whispered a few words of gratitude. We had done good work and intend to do even more.
| Warmly,
Josh Hernandez Morse
Head of School | | Sponsor a Participant at the Walk/Run for Peace!
This Saturday, January 24, at 4 p.m., the PBA community will walk a 5-mile route around Diamond Head for the annual Walk/Run for Peace fundraiser. Interested in donating to support financial assistance for families in need? Visit our website linked below to register to walk, sign up for a potluck item, or donate on behalf of a student or staff member. Please see additional details below for more information. We hope to see you there!
Schedule: - 4:00 p.m. Meet-up
- 4:15 p.m. Walk and potluck start
- 5:45 p.m. Walk and potluck finish
| | PBA's 20th Annual Taiko Festival | | OFFICE HOURS
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM | | |
