From left, Kai Godwin, Margaux Perchard, Izzy Perchard and Josie Vasquez survey tidepools as part of their whale research during Maui Preparatory Academy’s Interim Week Learning Fair.

NAPILI — On Tuesday, April 12, Maui Preparatory Academy hosted the Interim Week Learning Fair, a showcase of the students’ experiences during their recent Interim Week.

Held annually, Interim Week allows sixth through 11th grade students to pause their regular academic classes and engage in extended experiential learning beyond the classrooms.

The Maui Prep faculty and staff curated an eclectic collection of Interim Week offerings.

Dr. Chris Moylan and Vania Jerome immersed a group of 19 middle and upper school students in art, fashion and theater in New York City. The students wandered the corridors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Museum of Modern Art in between taking in the Broadway musical “Come From Away” and experiencing the history, architecture and innovation of the city.

The group trudged through midtown Manhattan during a spring snowfall that blanketed the city.

Seventh-grader Isaiah Sucher chose this experience “to hang out with his friends,” but found that he connected with the art in the museums, particularly works by Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky.

The abstract art took on new meaning for Sucher as he learned of the artist’s methods and inspiration.

“I never knew art was so interesting and had a back story,” he said.

Junior Hailey Chang was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Met, and had to pre-plan her visit with her group in order to see their “bucket list” of art pieces.

Lahaina Yacht Club and Maui Community Sailing Foundation offered their introductory sailing course, training student-sailors to maneuver the LYC’s open Bics through an ocean buoy course along Front Street. At the Learning Fair, freshman Lola Doherty demonstrated the knots she mastered to a group of third-graders, while seventh-graders Anna May Stoops and Kaia Reader presented a proposal for a school-sponsored sailing team.

They were elated at how quickly they gained the skills and knowledge to gauge the wind and adjust the rudder to intentionally guide their vessels across the water. The girls recognized the confidence and resilience that the sport could develop for their peers.

Megan Riffe and her “pod” of students accompanied researchers from Pacific Whale Foundation as they explored solutions to the five big threats to humpback whales.

The students began the week collecting and examining plankton samples, and cataloging tidepools. As the students observed the ocean and beaches through a biologist’s eyes, their eyes opened to the trash littering the beaches, the traffic and noise of marine vessels, and the impact of changing sea levels, ocean temperature and tides.

Freshman Kai Godwin quickly connected this experience to the topics covered in his ninth grade Biology class at Maui Prep.

“I like to see that it relates to what we are learning in Biology,” he mentioned, as he pointed to a hand-drawn map of the humpback whale migration pattern, “We are experiencing ecosystems, food webs and chains that we learn about in class.”

Some of the Interim Week offerings were more hands-on. Technology educator Chris Van Dyke’s Break It-Fix It students dusted off old or broken laptops, desktops and phones to troubleshoot and repair.

Eighth-grader Keiki Dahmann resurrected an old MacBook and upgraded it with a Linux Mint operating system. It was not the immediate fix she hoped it would be, but is now equipped with skills and confidence to continue to tinker with the operating system and the hardware.

Maui Prep educators Nadine Lloyd and Jessica Lung gathered their students at different West Maui locations each day to sketch and paint in Plein Air style. Beyond expressing themselves through a different medium, the experience encouraged adaptability, especially that “part of developing as an artist is learning how to be kind to oneself and find ways to utilize mistakes.”

Junior Mia Merrill, a self-proclaimed “non-artist,” realized that beyond a new skill, she gained the ability to “slow down and be okay with an element not turning out how I wanted it to.”

Painting was not the only medium in laboratory mode, as Joe Lee led expeditions in Kapalua and Olowalu for Outdoor Photography students to experiment with light, composure and shutter speed.

The prospect of exploring Japanese anime and trying new foods attracted many middle school students to Ray Parnell’s Japan Week.

Sixth-grader Abby Rogers had previously visited Tokyo with her family and was eager to learn more about Japanese pop culture, particularly the “unique and distinct style of manga and anime.”

Spearfishing enthusiasts were given a tailored experience by Rob Lloyd. Using tools in the school’s Narayan Design Lab, the students designed and built their own custom speargun from scratch, using wood, a trigger mechanism and handle. They tested their designs in the open ocean and enjoyed the fruits of the labors with a fish fry.

Maui Prep students were free to design their own Interim Week experiences based on their hobbies and interests. Sophomore Danna Hernandez devoted her week to throwing pottery pieces, a hobby she started in seventh grade with artist Stacey Coon.

Juniors Yuna Lee, Niko Banto and Emerson Flores traveled to the Mainland to tour college campuses. The soon-to-be-seniors in the Class of 2023 are just a few months shy of submitting their applications to schools across the country.

The thoughtful reflections in the displays and presentations at the Learning Fair were testament that students realized the experience was more than just a week’s break from academic learning.

“The Learning Fair allowed our students and the rest of our community to get glimpses of what students learned,” Head of School Dr Miguel Solis noted.

“I witnessed students awakening to a sense of what they may pursue in their future. It’s a pivotal moment for our youth, and we were pleased to be able to nurture them with these experiences.”