The middle school student council held its first Leadership Camp on Friday, Nov. 16. Members of the 8th grade executive council suggested having one to get to know their fellow council members in the 6th & 7th grade. The 8th graders had attended a similar leadership camp in August with the high school SGA and class officers. They found that experience very rewarding, as they participated in various games and team building activities alongside other student leaders.
As a community service project, the student council also used this opportunity to share their holiday spirit with some soldiers in Iraq. Shaun Marie Aquino, an 8th grader here at MPI and her mother Kalsie and brother Jaron joined us as the council members packed boxes of gifts and aloha to send to her dad, SSG Maurice Aquino. He has been there since April and will not be home until August. Council members brought macadamia nuts, Hawaiian calendars, li hing mui, and all kinds of goodies to help their holidays go a little smoother. The 16 boxes should be arriving in Iraq any day!
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Staff Sergeant Maurice Aquino is with the Task Force XII, 12th CAB Combat Aviation Brigade. The Brigade’s mission while in Iraq is to move troops safely. Most flying is done while everyone is sleeping with no lights on, flying very low and very fast.
A big “thank you” to council members Kimberly Weeks, Jessilyn Lizama, Summer Shigetani, Kaitlin Hunter, Dyani Chock, Annette Lee, and Nicole Sato for planning the evening full of activities. We also appreciate faculty members Dr. Priester, Mrs. Ikeda, Mr. Muramaru, Mrs. Lee, and Mrs. Kurashige for spending the evening with us.
Mrs. Aquino also sent us a thank you note….
I wanted to thank you so very much for the special evening. We were all touched by the generosity and kindness from each child. You have a special bunch of future leaders for Mid-Pac and the community. I know my husband will be so touched by all this aloha. He expressed to me a couple of weeks ago that lots of the guys from his unit (about 70) feel as if they were forgotten by the people of Hawaii. There is no media coverage or recognition about them, so they were feeling a little down. With these boxes from Mid-Pac, I know this will turn their emotions around and give them a very important feeling of encouragement and love, especially during the holidays away from family and friends.
Please thank everyone there last night and I am sure the troops will be thanking them once they get the boxes.
Kalsie
Information on Staff Sergeant Maurice Aquino:
Maurice Aquino joined the Hawaii Army National Guard as a senior in high school in 1980. He is a Staff Sergeant, a Crew Chief as well as a Crew Chief Standardization Instructor. He has been in the National Guard for 27 years. He has over 2,000 hours of flight time. As a Crew Chief his duties include organizing and performing maintenance of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, performs pre-flight, post-flight and flight inspections of the helicopter, working the machine gun on the helicopter and being in charge of the crew on board the helicopter during flight. Normally he is with the Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 207th Aviation Regiment based at Hilo, Hawaii. After being activated in April 2007 they were attached to the 2-147 AHB Assault Helicoper Battalion which is from Minnesota and they are now called Bravo Company 2 – 147 AHB. While in Iraq the Battalion is attached to Task Force XII, 12th CAB Combat Aviation Brigade. The 12th CAB is stationed in Germany.
While in Hilo there are 8 UH_60L helicopters and their mission in Air Assault. They carry troops where ever they need to go, they can carry up to ten combat troops with a crew of four. They also have State missions when called upon by the Governor of Hawaii. If they are activated by the Governor, they support situations such as hurricane relief, earthquake relief, or fighting brush fires. They also assisted with the Koloko dam disaster a year ago. They have also provided air medical transportation to the island of Oahu while the active duty MEDEVAC unit was delayed to Iraq.
Their mission while in Iraq is to move troops safely. Most flying is done while everyone is sleeping with no lights on, flying very low and very fast.
Maurice left Hawaii for training in April 2007 and arrived in Iraq August 2007. He will be in Iraq until August 2008 hopefully if not extended for a longer tour.
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Mid-Pacific Instituite Language arts teacher Maile Chow was recently awarded a grant through the U.S. State Department and the Eurasia/South Asia Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA) to travel to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
