Teamwork and cooperation were key during Friday’s Pili Paʻa event, a school-bonding activity organized by senior Aydan Lopes.

“ I really thought that today [Friday] was awesome and amazing,” said an enthusiastic Mrs. Brandy Cajudoy, green team adviser.

“Most of the students in my group I didn’t know, and it was a cool experience to meet them through this activity,” said Mrs. Cajudoy.

For the 70-minute activity, also known as The Amazing Race, twelve 40-member teams  were formed, comprised of 10 of each of the four different class members: seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen.

The teams were classified into colors, and Lopes selected high school teachers and faculty to be advisers.

In the week leading up to the event, teams planned, separating into different categories specific to each student’s strengths. The categories were based on the different academies of the high school. There were also miscellaneous categories such as athletics and dance. A student of every class was placed in a mini-team for each category of the race.

The actual race began with specialized events. Mini-teams were sent off to accomplish tasks as fast as they could and were then reassembled with their main team.

Some of the specialized tasks were, for art, constructing a balloon tower taller than Ms. Abe; for health, identification of the bones in the human body; and for logic, solving a Sudoku puzzle.

After the initial challenges, the teams had to work as one unit to complete other tasks.

A scavenger hunt throughout the campus led the students from the counseling center through Pākī and  Konia and down to the practice field. Creative tasks along the way forced the teams to think creatively.

In order to complete the scavenger hunt, teams were required to chant, sing and pose as well as create formations and pick up trash. All the while, team members were required to hold a single rope as they ran, hopped and jogged their way around campus.

“The goal of this whole thing was to create school unity, not ‘Kamehameha classes,’ but ‘Kamehameha School,’” Lopes said.

He said that the inspiration for this event came from getting in trouble during an ʻAha Mele practice as a junior.

“I didn’t get any detention, no consequence, but I did get a talk from Kumu Lōkahi, and the disappointment killed me. I hated it, and I decided I’d do something with it,” he said.

The black team came in first place, and the red team came in second, but according to Lopes, all participants were winners, and everyone got Otter Pops as a prize.

Getting closer as an ʻohana was just as important to some of the students as winning. Lopes said he also designed the event with this year’s school theme, He ʻOhana Kākou, in mind.