The Hawaiian Language has been engraved into the Kamehameha system from the very beginning, but for the class of 2017 and every class following after them, they will be tested on how well they really know our ancestor’s native tongue.

Recently, a Hawaiian language proficiency test was established to test  students on their understanding of speaking, reading, writing, and listening of the Hawaiian language. This proficiency is now a graduation requirement for the class of 2017 and beyond.

“Since the Hawaiian proficiency is a graduation requirement, the Administration have made a decision to give more of a flexibility to the Kamehameha students’ schedule,“ said class of 2018 vice principal Erin Regua. The new requirement for the Hawaiian Language proficiency is to either take and pass the assessment or receive a C- or higher in the first level of Hawaiian language. Administration announced this information during the Freshman Orientation; this will be the new system that will continue for the following classes.

“This new requirement was talked about in the previous years with the principal, and Kumu Hailama Farden was encouraging this idea to start the year after the Hawaiian proficiency came out,” said Regua. With the new requirement having to pass Hawaiian one, it allows the students to take an easier route to completing their graduating requirement of not only the two years of language, but also being proficient. Kamehameha Maui and Hawaii also have a similar graduation requirement in their school system, where it is mandatory for all students to take the Hawaiian language. The administration’s next goal is to have all three campuses be linked to having the same graduation requirement.