Punahou, HI - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Punahou, HI Index / Locations Transcripts Neil Abercrombie ...with Little Barry. He came up, went to Punahou and all the rest of it. I went on m... ...my way of various. So he was not in Punahou when you saw him? No. I didn't kno... ...me. I didn't know those guys. They were Punahou guys. You're always his friends. ... ...establishment – if we were in Hawaiʻi, Punahou , right? I mean, you've got – you'v... ...sitting here today speaking, you know, Punahou just announces that its tuition i... ...But no question about that and his Punahou experience but he never emphasized tha... ...when I was in Iowa, his friends from Punahou were in the stands, when he comes ou... Show more... Kēhaulani Lum ...and intermediate school? Oh, I was at Punahou from kindergarten til 12th grade. Oh... ...me--they applied me to Kamehameha and Punahou , and they sent me to Punahou. I wa... ...and Punahou, and they sent me to Punahou . I was fourth generation there. The... ...my grandfather said, "She should go to Punahou ." So I was sent to Punahou, other... ...should go to Punahou." So I was sent to Punahou , others were sent to Kamehameha. ... ...French and so I was made to stay at Punahou . But I'm glad they did that. Becaus... ...have that kind of relationship at Punahou except maybe one or two. But then i... .... My world was very small. It was like Punahou , home, church. Punahou, home... ...It was like Punahou, home, church. Punahou , home, church. What religion or wha... ...before me. You're talking about your Punahou counselor? My college counselor... ...she asked to come home. So she went to Punahou . Uh huh, and graduated already? ... ...already? Then she graduated from Punahou and ended up staying here. Yeah... ...yes. Yeah. Are there other friends from Punahou that you know and he knows as well tha... ...told me. But when he came to speak at Punahou school after he had delivered tha... ...honors him. So how much do you think Punahou prepares their students to achieve a... ...at their highest level? What in the Punahou --you were his classmate--what migh... ...people who couldn't afford to come to Punahou . So they definitely taught us that... ... Definitely, definitely. I mean, Punahou even today, there's tuition--okay, fin... ...people to know there are students at Punahou who don't have food. That i... ...you were athletic, they were clicks at Punahou , right? so the athletes were tended t... ...asked me to write about it for The Punahou Bulletin. Oh, oh okay. I think it'... ...passed. I mean, that's the thing about Punahou . It has that reputation, right... Show more... Dan Hale ...at pictures from when you were at Punahou that's online, so I think I kind o... ...who knew the president when he was at Punahou and I see that you've been interviewe... ...Pal Eldredge before the COVID--from Punahou , anyway. Then of course, we'r... ...in school. Oh, okay. They all went to Punahou , too? Yes, they did. So where hav... ...did you go to elementary school? Punahou . I started in I started in firs... ...the highlights of going to school at Punahou ? I know athletics, you're a basketbal... ...not someone that was--going to Punahou , I really enjoyed. I mean, it was ... ...little rough for me when I was a kid at Punahou , it wasn't the greatest o... ...go? I'm sorry. After high school, after Punahou . Sorry, after Punahou where did yo... ...school, after Punahou. Sorry, after Punahou where did you go? So I went to UH. ... ...I actually was assistant coach at Punahou when I first got back from Los Angeles... ...Los Angeles. I was assistant coach for Punahou for about seven years. Mm, okay. ... ...much. Trying to get from Moanalua to Punahou at 3:00 or 3:30 in the afternoon--tha... ...at Moanalua and then that's when the Punahou job opened up. That's when I coache... ...job opened up. That's when I coached Punahou for three years before I left. I see... ... Oh. Yeah, but you didn't go to Punahou . Where did she go to school? Sh... ...High School, and I played for Punahou , and back then they were pretty bi... ...yeah--at what point then in your--at Punahou did you meet Barack Obama, or he wen... ...I wonder--I want to understand how Punahou might have influenced Barry. But fro... ...experience, how do you think going to Punahou influenced your life? Well, I thin... ...throughout high school, throughout my Punahou experience. I think the biggest thin... ...president that he became, do you think Punahou had any kind of role in preparing hi... ...things were very fundamental to that Punahou education at that time. I'm not jus... ...rise was happening--I was coaching at Punahou at the time. Oh, right, right. The... ...right, right. They would come to Punahou and then they kind of pop in and say... ...kind of done because I was coaching at Punahou so they had kind of access to me--th... ...got elected, then he actually came to Punahou and we played and-- Oh! Yeah, yeah... ...neat. Was it because you were with Punahou or was there a Punahou contingent o... ...you were with Punahou or was there a Punahou contingent or how did that work? ... ...There was definitely [people] from Punahou there. But there was differen... ... Yeah, really! Did Jack Johnson go to Punahou also? No. Kahuku. Oh, Kahuku. Oh... ...and such. But anything else about the Punahou experience or the basketbal... ...A lot of that does go back to what that Punahou experience was. I'm not saying i... ...was. I'm not saying is because of Punahou , but I'm saying certainly being ... Show more... Maya Soetoro-Ng ...before coming to Hawaiʻi to attend Punahou . What have been your occupations an... ...Hawaiʻi. When I was in high school, at Punahou , we lived in stark contrast in a 45... ...apartment that was located across from Punahou because she couldn't drive. We ha... ...about his father going to the school to Punahou to give a talk there. Everyone bein... ...between 1984 and 1988 where you were at Punahou - but you also got to spend two summer... ...from Central Union on the corner of Punahou and Beretania, the same place where sh... Show more... Pal Eldredge ...Then in the sixth grade, I went to Punahou [High School] and graduated in 1964... ...In July of 1970, I got the job at Punahou as a fifth grade teacher, elementar... ...Dealing with eligibility because Punahou is a tough school. So we had to mak... ...graduate] for Roosevelt. I was 1964 for Punahou . Of course, Sid Fernandez, Shan... ...me, Joey Meyer, who played for me at Punahou , those two were in the big leagues... ...Sorry. So you would have started at Punahou in September of 1970. As a teacher... ...teaching, no experience whatsoever. So Punahou took a chance on me. Hopefully I'v... ...if he had any trouble transitioning to Punahou ? No, no trouble that I knew of... ...eight, which were the lower students at Punahou 's standards. If they went to anothe... ...and the lower students, again, by Punahou 's standards. Low, you know, isn'... ...know then. She graduated in 1988 from Punahou . So I knew she was there, but I neve... ...and he's actually working there at Punahou now. But he was Barack's teammate i... ...turned all of that over to the [ Punahou ] archives and they pulled everythin... ...You don't get into the fifth grade in Punahou if you're not a good student. So, ... ...State archives? No, our archives. The Punahou archives in our library. So you ha... ...you had mentioned a little bit about Punahou , could you expand on the teachin... ...for 13 years, but unemployed from Punahou for my full retirement for 10 years... ...not been getting grades, I think, at Punahou . They have evaluations. When they ge... ...is a former student of mine. Now, at Punahou if you're an athlete, you are called ... ...and his homeroom teacher. In Punahou , you have a homeroom where you mee... ...music at all of them. We had a big Punahou thing at Dan Case's house. It was th... ...a whirlwind trip. Were they all Punahou people that were invited to th... ...What are you going do? So I went to Punahou and I said, "Hey, I'm interested i... ...when I got called for interview for Punahou , there were 50 applicants for thi... ...and say I'm going to be a teacher at Punahou . So that's what happened. My brothe... ...there other Native Hawaiian teachers at Punahou ? Oh, yes. Yes, there are. Even mor... ...bridges between us as an institution. Punahou , and the greater community. So ... ...years after I left. One of the problems Punahou had at that time, the president, Ji... ...been. Just curious, is it common for Punahou to bring in cultural experts lik... ...So how did his presidency influence Punahou and its students? You know, again... ...day I said to him, hey, OK. We have a Punahou guy that is a player in the LPGA. W... ...The head of Guantanamo Bay is a Punahou graduate. We have a U.S. senator as ... ...graduate. We have a U.S. senator as a Punahou graduate. We have judges on TV that ar... ...graduate. We have judges on TV that are Punahou graduates. Let me see, I forgot on... ...The president of the United States is a Punahou graduate!" Then he goes, [raise... ...a person mainly from Hawaiʻi and from Punahou has been the president. Punahou peopl... ...from Punahou has been the president. Punahou people like me - The Judd family, we'v... ...we've had a member of our family at Punahou . The school is founded in 1841, I... ...1841, In 1842, the classes started at Punahou with fifteen kids in the class. Ever... ...One hundred seventy nine years now. Punahou means a lot to us. What's reall... ...Because I always tell our kids, we're Punahou , we're held to a higher standard. S... Show more... Related Topics go to the Black Politics Black Politics go to the Republican Opposition Republican Opposition go to the Atlantic Relations Atlantic Relations go to the LGBTQ Policy LGBTQ Policy go to the Veterans Veterans