Hikina Rising is a Kamehameha Maui podcast series that features KS staff, current and former students, and interesting members of the community with a goal of enlightening and uplifting the schoolʻs lāhui by tapping into the talents and expertise of its human resources.
Meet the Kamehameha Schools Maui song leaders for the 2019 ʻAha Mele.
Hosted by former song leader Madison Vaught (ʻ14), we take a look at ʻAha Mele through the conductor’s eyes.
With the student conductors, we’ll gain some perspective on what it takes to be a conductor and lead a class through the ups and downs of ʻAha Mele.
Featured in this cast are:
Brennan ʻIkaika Mendez (ʻ19), senior song leader
Kaylee Zimmermann (ʻ19), wahine song leader
Jayden “Tosh” Tanaka (ʻ19), kāne song leader
Mia Symonds (ʻ20), junior song leader
Malina Mossman (ʻ21), sophomore song leader
Lindsey Kawena Espania (ʻ22), freshman song leader
In the end, this year was a sweep for the seniors, who won both the overall award and the language award, and their director, Mendez, also won the director’s award.
In this first year of the combined-grade kāne and wahine songs being a competition, the judges chose the wahine as the winners, and the ladies were privileged to be released for first lunch for the rest of the year.