"Alana" makes the theme into a destiny. It is an "awakening". It is the "rising upwards". It's about how I look at my kuleana and how students look at their kuleana. How do we show respect and embrace our genealogy, our history, and our place? These are the foundational components of who we are as individuals that will allow us to move forward progressively. It is an awakening to constantly know who I am and where I come from as part of our past, our present, and our future. For a student, if you come to school, present knowing who you are and where you come from - that is Alana. If students come to school with such an "awakening" and knowing the importance of being present - academically, spiritually, emotionally, and socially - a clear pathway can be recognized and traveled.

We all have a kuleana, not only to ourselves but to our Akua, our Aliʻi, our communities, our families, our school, and the greater lāhui. I think about our discipline, what is being taught and learned, and more importantly, I think of why knowledge is important to me as a kanaka. This is what I hope our students will embrace continuously now and beyond graduation. Students will soon be on their own. Have we, as a school, provided our students with the tools and knowledge to move forward successfully? Hopefully, we teach our students to learn and to be advocates for their own learning.