College officials, military recruiters, and business representatives will descend on Lahaina tomorrow, to attend the annual Pu’u High School Fall Showcase. It may be early in the school year, but this is the night many of the young Blue Wolves have been preparing for their whole lives. Every year, the event connects promising students with those eager to meet, and cultivate the newest promising talent. In a world where acquiring skilled young people is at a premium, the Fall Showcase has become one of the most important events of the year for students. This year is no different, with two promising young people in particular, garnering a lot of attention.
“Things have changed a lot since I was a kid,” says Pu’u Principal Pa’ani Mahelona. “Thanks to Veil travel, these kids have the widest job market available that any generation has ever seen. Companies, schools, and governments from around the globe are looking to find the next Hank Gaud, Adler Walters, or Eric Oeming. They’re starting to track these kids earlier and earlier every year. The Empire of Equatorial Guinea for instance, has a very aggressive young talent recruiting program that focuses on children in elementary school. It’s a lot of pressure, and I’m amazed at how well our students handle it. Nothing seems to shake them. If the world were to end tomorrow, I’m not sure I’d want to be anywhere else, but surrounded by these remarkable young people.”
While all students participate in at least one event throughout the day, and have a chance to meet with recruiters, two of Lahaina’s brightest stars are getting a lot of attention. Mahelona says that Junior Rachel Driscol is one of the greatest minds he’s ever seen pass through the halls of Pu’u. Rachel has already been recognized by her school, the state of Hawaii, and Veilcorp for her achievements. Her wearable echolocation system has piqued the interest of many, and she is sure to have a busy day. Tap prodigy Kaholo Mae will have fine art schools, and entertainment reps dancing at a chance to meet the young man who has been called “grace given flesh.”
“It’s going to be hard having two famous people in the family,” says Rachel’s father and local celebrity John Driscol. He says that his daughter has been amazing people with her knowledge and inventions since she could ride a bike. “She built this electric motor for her bike before we took off the training wheels. Man that thing was fast!” John says he’s proud of his daughter’s accomplishments, and jokes that he didn’t have anything to do with cultivating her intellect. “There’s quite an age gap between Rachel and her siblings, I hadn’t really planned on being a dad again this late in my life. Honestly, she interfered with a lot of my beach time. On top of that she was a disagreeable baby. There were days that I thought she’d never stop crying, and I couldn’t wait to hand her off when my wife came home. Then one day, I was trying to listen to the audio directions to restart our smart home monitoring system, and she stopped crying. I had her listen to all kinds of instructions that day. It turned out she loved listening to textbooks, and anything else long and boring. It just goes to show you how tricky kids are. I spent way more time with her siblings, and there’s nothing special about them; but the one I leave in a room listening to a robot voice reading a dictionary all day turns out to be a genius.”
Kana Mae, mother of Kaholo Mae, on the other hand says she worked hard to cultivate her son’s love of the fine arts. “He was dancing in the womb,” she says. “Seriously, he’d kick his feet in time with the rhythm of whatever I was listening to, and he made his taste in music known even then. He seemed to love jazz, and the old standards the most. I could feel him shim sham and boogie drop whenever I’d listen to one of his favorite records, and he’d hitch kick me right in the ribs if I was listening to anything too loud or aggressive. As soon as he could walk he was dancing. I glued taps to the bottom of his footie pajamas, and when he got older he spent every penny of his allowance on outfits, hats, shoes, and canes. There was a point a few years ago that I thought I’d never get all the sequins and glitter out of the carpet.”
Kaholo blushes when listening to his mother’s stories about his early passion for dance. “It’s kind of embarrassing, but it’s all true,” he says. When asked about how he and the other students feel about the showcase, and the pressure Mae says, “I just try and back shoulder roll with it. Everyone says my Bandy Twist is amazing, but what is really amazing is my dance crew, and all the other talented kids showing off what makes them special. With the student leadership conference in town this week as well, I’m really looking forward to letting off some steam at the dance this evening, and meeting kids from all over. I think if everyone had a chance to see what we are bringing to the stage and table, they wouldn’t worry about the future. When I look around Pu’u, and the leadership conference, I know that my generation is more than capable of handling anything that gets thrown our way.”
