In celebration of the work of Trustee J. Douglas Keauhou Ing, students in grades K-12 gathered in Kahekili Gym Friday morning, November 30.

The students assembled in their designated seats while waiting for Kahu Kalani Wong to say the code word “umbrella,” which was the cue for the entire student body to yell “surprise” as Trustee Ing arrived.

“I was very surprised. It was a huge honor and blessing,” he said.

Trustee Ing is a 1962 graduate of Kamehameha Schools and has been a trustee since 2002. He has also served on the Board of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Board of Land and Natural Resources as well as many others.

The assembly began with a few songs, and then an oli while elementary students honored Trustee Ing with many lei.

Following the elementary, the middle school presented Trustee Ing with a hula called Aia Ka Wai ʻO Keola.

The Hawaiian Ensemble then sang He’s the Only Reason, and high school student body president Kaleihoku Kubota presented Trustee Ing with a framed picture, a gift from the high school.

“I rarely get to see all the students at one time. It was very special. Seeing their voices and hearing their voices, they are very talented. They will have a tremendous background in Hawaiian. That is what Pauahi wanted. She wanted there to be Hawaiian,” Trustee Ing said.

In order to make this happen, Headmaster Lee Ann Delima had to arrange for a special schedule that took an hour out of the regular school day for the assembly.

“The Maui Kamehameha Schools ʻohana believes that there is always time to say thank you” she said.

In her speech she shared her experiences with Trustee Ing. She later shared “he made me study harder, work harder to produce quality work that would meet his expectations.”

After the assembly Trustee Ing was escorted to the Ulu Koa Grove where he planted a koa tree, thereby leaving his legacy on the Maui Campus. Trustee Ing was instrumental in the approval and overseeing of much of the construction and expansion of the school itself.

Kahu Kalani Wong started the tree-planting ceremony by quoting from the Bible, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

After a hectic morning of receiving gifts and visiting with campus staff and students, Trustee Ing left the campus. He retired from the KS board of trustees in June when his term expired, having accomplished much in his tenure.