This year, Mele on the Lawn honored the Sacred Hearts Academy Class of 1976, celebrating its golden reunion of 50 years.
Now in its fourth year, Mele on the Lawn was created to bring the community together. The event reflects the work of many, including the Academy Parent Organization and a partnership with Mo‘olelo Studios, which has helped make the event possible.
The parent board saw this as an opportunity to bring the Academy community and its supporters to campus. Throughout the event, lower and upper school students performed hula taught by their kumu. In its first year, Saint Louis Hui o Nā ‘Ōpio also performed.
This year’s bands included Ekolu Makou, ‘Uhe‘uhene and Sean Na’auao. Two members of Ekolu Makou are graduates of the Class of 1976 and invited classmates on stage to perform hula.
Ekolu Makou, which means “just the three of us,” features sisters Francine Gora, Nohea Leopoldo and Imiola Gora-Aina, who share their love of music with others. The group has performed for more than 35 years. All three are 13-year students and graduates of the Academy: Gora, Class of 1974, and Leopoldo and Gora-Aina, Class of 1976, who are celebrating their golden jubilee this year. They have maintained close relationships with classmates and continue to gather for birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries, fundraisers and other occasions, a connection they attribute to their time at the Academy.
Music has long been part of their upbringing, influenced by their mother, Rita Gora, Class of 1946; her sister Kawehi Makini Keao, Class of 1944; and their cousin Margaret Mikini Dries, Class of 1962. The Academy helped shape their appreciation for classical music and other genres. When asked by members of the Congregation to perform at special events, they do so willingly, citing their deep connection to the school, which has been part of their lives since childhood.
They said it is important to give back, noting that the Academy has provided generations of young women with an education that has shaped their lives. At this year’s Mele on the Lawn, they performed alongside classmates and current students, sharing both music and hula on stage.
