Related: Have Class, Will Travel
Student travel is getting back on track through Punahou’s Wo International Center after pandemic-related interruptions. This February, seventh and eighth graders embarked on one of the first international trips of the school year to Japan. The two-week trip revived an exchange program between Punahou and Tamagawa School in Tokyo, which has been ongoing since 2001 except for a hiatus from 2021 – 2022 due to the pandemic.
The 18 students, led by Punahou faculty Gentry Hirohata and Lisa Asakura, spent time with host families, toured the Tamagawa campus, learned how to ski, and visited museums, art exhibits and other Tokyo highlights.
This is the first of three middle school trips planned by the Wo International Center this school year. In March, a group of sixth graders will visit Italy to learn about ancient Rome, and seventh and eighth graders will visit New Zealand to focus on about Maori culture and service projects.
This past summer, trips through the Wo Center resumed with Academy students visiting the Grand Tetons, El Paso and Geneva, Switzerland. Coming up this summer, trips include senior Capstone class visits to Thailand and Bhutan, language immersion trips to France and Spain, and a Net Zero Symposium that takes place in Switzerland.