Living the Lancer LIFE Day experience

Gennellea Amasol, Lindsey Dimaya, and Paige Lum • March 6, 2024

LIFE Day celebrates Catholic and Marianist traditions and is meant to build a community of faith through a day of worship and fun outdoor activities. This year, for the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Sacred Hearts Academy Lancers experienced a traditional LIFE Day instead of a virtual one from behind a screen. LIFE, which stands for Living In Faith Experience, is a national faith-based program that only a few Hawaii schools participate in. Globally, there are about 40 institutions actively involved in 10 states, Puerto Rico and Ireland. At the Academy, LIFE Day signals the end of Catholic Schools Week.

The day begins in the campus gym, where pairs of LIFE Team members (left of photo) Jetaime-Tihani Tajiri and Reagan Beissel and (right of photo) Jayna Amasol and Keira Iwamoto lead the school in the gospel song, “Gloryland.” The liturgy brings together the Lower and Upper School students for Catholic Schools Week. The LIFE Team, or worship team, has a reputation of lighting up every mass or religious event with much enthusiasm for God. LIFE Day is at the forefront of these events, as the student members plan the day’s activities. (Lindsey Dimaya)

Following the liturgy on campus, Upper School students briskly walk to Kapaolono Community Park in the cool, cloudy weather for a day filled with outdoor activities, like basketball, flag football, dodgeball and tug of war. In this photo, counselor Annaliza Miyashiro cheers on the class of 2025, as they walk the one-mile route from the Kaimuki campus through the uphills and downhills of houses lining the block. “It was awesome to see the girls out of the classroom,” Miyashiro said. “The smiles as they walked by made my day.” (Gennellea Amasol)

Senior LIFE Team members Kaiulani Ferrer (left) and Hayden Reese Lave put their color guard flag-waving skills to use, as they greet students arriving at Kapaolono Community Park. The brightly-painted flags signal the start of the day’s events on the community park’s field and courts. While it was a day for class bonding, more than 200 Lancer students and teachers participated in this year’s LIFE Day. Many parent volunteers made sure that the Lancer participants were safe while journeying to the park. “It was important to hype up LIFE Day because their energy going into it would motivate them to have an even better LIFE Day experience,” Ferrer said. (Paige Lum)

(Front, left to right) Juniors Alyssah Desroches, Priscilla Carlock and Annabelle Haines celebrate with peace signs and high fives after arriving to Kapaolono Community Park. (Middle, left to right) Classmates Misha Watanabe, Tehya Ordonez and Sadie Joy Takaki join in on the fun. (Back) Freshmen from the class of 2027 get ready to challenge each other in a game of basketball. “I just wanted a photo, so I could remember this,” Desroches said. “It was my first LIFE Day, so that’s what made it special.” (Gennellea Amasol)

Over on the field, sophomore Carlee Lomavita eagerly awaits the whistle and prepares to snag the flag in a game of flag football. After spending about 20 minutes throwing the football and chasing each other around, the sophomores rotated to a different game, giving the other grades a chance to try their luck at every activity. Flag football was one of the five field games played throughout the day. The games encouraged class bonding and team work but most importantly, participants say, it was a time to get out of the classroom. “It was a good time,” Lomavita said. “We didn’t know there was going to be football, so we enjoyed it a lot.” (Lindsey Dimaya)

Senior Hanny Lipai wears her game face, as she throws the ball during an exciting match of dodgeball with classmates. “I felt like a kid again,” she said. “Overall, the others and I had a great time…it was one to remember!” Each grade designed their own shirts to wear on LIFE Day. The seniors sport a lavender-colored shirt. They enjoy each other’s company for one of the last opportunities as a class before graduating, as well as a scenic view of Diamond Head Crater. (Paige Lum)

Seniors compete in a tug of war match to see which advisory is the strongest. (Photo on the left, from left to right) Hayden Reese-Lave, Angelina Castaneda, Madison Iwashita, Isailah Alvaro and Kana Barlag pull with all their might. They challenge (photo on the right, left to right) Blaiz Lee-Saavedra, Nikki Kaahanui and Malaika Ssebayiteko’s team, which can’t help but laugh with each other, as the rough rope slips from their grasp. While Lee-Saavedra’s advisory did not win the match, they agreed that tug of war is always a favorite at the Academy. Kaahanui said she laughed so hard just from “seeing (her) friends fall down and start laughing.” For the senior class of 2024, this was the last match of their high school careers, and with one final tug, they pulled themselves together and into life beyond high school. “Since we are a divided class, it was nice to see us working together to try and win,” Lee-Saavedra said. (Lindsey Dimaya)

(Left photo) The freshmen from the class of 2027 played a thrilling game of dodgeball. They wait for the countdown before dashing to snag a ball to then hurl at the opposing team. Though they are the newest members of the Upper School, they get right in on the action. The freshmen not only learn how to dodge and defend themselves against obstacles but also learn how to make the most of LIFE Day. (Lindsey Dimaya)

Senior and LIFE Team member Keira Iwamoto surprises the juniors with a spray of her water gun. Many agreed that although startling, it was a nice way to cool off after a long day of playing in the sun. “It felt good because I was hot,” said junior Anna Casupang, pictured in this photo (left). The LIFE Team, which plans the event, decided to use water guns because it related to this year’s LIFE Day theme. The theme was water scarcity, bringing awareness to the importance of water. Following the water play, everyone walked back to campus and arrived to warm delicious bento lunches; they savored not only the flavor but also the last moments of this year’s Catholic Schools Week (Lindsey Dimaya)

For more LIFE Day coverage, check out this article.

About the Contributors

Gennellea Amasol, Reporter

Gennellea is a second-year Journalism student and a junior at the Academy. She hopes to improve her writing skills and sharpen her ability to talk with others. Gennellea also hopes to conduct smoother interviews. At the end of the year, she would like to learn the mechanics of news reporting and Journalism. In her free time, she enjoys talking with friends, reading, writing online short stories, and listening to music. One fun fact about her is that she loves posting her work through websites, such as Wattpad, her primary reading source.

Lindsey Dimaya, Reporter

Lindsey is a first-year Journalism student and is a junior at the Academy. Lindsey is also a part of the Chaminade Early College Program. Lindsey hopes to be able to learn more about the Journalism aspect of media since they already love the video and editing aspect. Besides that, Lindsey also performs for the Pacific Academy of Performing Arts. Because of the program, Lindsey now can do the splits and an axle.

Paige Lum, Reporter

Paige is a first-year Journalism student and a senior at the Academy. She hopes to strengthen her writing skills through this class and to share her thoughts to the world. She has always wanted to expand her skills and knowledge of different types of Journalism and can’t wait to share her voice to the community. She enjoys spending her time editing videos and photos and participating in air riflery. Fun fact, she wants to be a communications major in college and wants to pursue film and video editing as her career.

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