The Parent Faculty Association (PFA) honors select parents and/or guardians as yearly Above and Beyond recipients. The volunteers selected have their last child graduating from Punahou, have served multiple terms on the PFA Board, and have held significant leadership roles in the PFA and Carnival. These volunteers have shared their leadership skills, time and commitment with the larger Punahou community.
Meet our Above and Beyond 2024 recipients, Dayna Even, Lori Fujimoto, Lori Ann Tam and Michelle Van Rafelghem.
Dayna Even
Dayna Even has one child, Maximilian ’24, who started Punahou in fourth grade.
Dayna has played an active role with the PFA Leadership Board as Communications VP for two consecutive terms and as a PFA Leadership team member with the Communications Committee for five straight years as Social Media Chair, a new position she was instrumental in executing. Before joining the Communications Committee, Dayna was a Homeroom Parent, lead Team Space Parent, and Grade Representative. She has also been a member of the Long-Range Planning Committee for three different school years and a member of the 2024 Graduation Committee as the planning team for the Post-Graduation Event.
Dayna shared a few comments about her proudest accomplishments at Punahou. “I’m proud that I was able to work closely with the school to showcase the depth of parent and guardian involvement with the PFA and school community. It’s a joy to share positive social media posts, weekly postings of pictures of engaged volunteers, and monthly articles that provide connections and applause for families who work hard to support this community.”
Dayna has also taken an active role in Carnival. She was a lead Carnival Booth Sign Painting Chair and Shadow Chair the previous year.
Dayna expressed fond memories as a Carnival Booth Chair: “It was weeks of great fun, bonding with both parents and students and watching our kids and parents make a mess, be silly, and creative and relish in their accomplishments.”
Lori Fujimoto
Lori Fujimoto has two children who attended Punahou. Dylen ’20 and Camden ’24, both of whom started in kindergarten at Punahou.
Lori is an experienced Carnival volunteer. She took on the monumental task of being the 2023 Parent Carnival Chair. Before that, she was the shadow Carnival Chair, a Parent Worker Booth Co-Chair for two different school years, an Arts & Crafts Co-Booth Chair, and a Variety Show Costumes volunteer.
Lori shared that her proudest moment was being the parent Carnival Chair for the Class of 2024. It was the first full-two-day Carnival after the pandemic. She expressed joy at “having the entire community back enjoying Carnival like it used to be! My favorite memory of Carnival was having my son Dylen fly back home to surprise and support his brother Camden with Pun Prix 2023!”
Lori started her volunteer work with the PFA as a Room Parent. She was a Room Parent for three different school years and a lead Room Parent for two years. Lori was also a Grade Representative for two different years and grades. She served on the PFA Leadership Board as Administrative VP, Volunteer Membership VP, New Family/Admissions VP, and Grade Chair and Academy Chair. As part of the PFA Leadership team, she was a Canteen Coordinator. Lori also served on multiple committees, including the Post-Graduation Event, K – 5 Admissions Support, Recognition, New Families Receptions, and Office Support.
She added, “Through the past 17 years, I’ve made lifelong friends that my boys call aunties and uncles, and together we bettered our communities, our children, and each other. Thank you to Punahou for providing us with a safe and memorable journey.”
Lori Ann Tam
Lori Ann Tam has one son Aidan ’24, who started Punahou in kindergarten.
Lori has been instrumental in PFA Leadership, particularly in welcoming new families. She has served on the PFA Leadership Board as the New Family/Admissions VP and on the K – 5 Admission committee for four years. In addition, she served on the PFA Board as Volunteer/Membership VP and Academy Chair.
Lori was also part of the Leadership Team as a Grade Representative. She has been a Room Parent and Advisory Parent, including as Lead Advisory Parent for four years. She has served as a member of the Long-Range Planning Committee and Graduation Committee co-chairing the Graduation Oahuan Signing event.
Lori was also active in Carnival as a Specialties Division Head and shadowed that position the year before.
She shared that her proudest PFA accomplishment while at Punahou was “supporting the Class of 2024 for Carnival 2023, Pun Prix ’23, Pedal to the Metal, where students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff worked together to hold the first two-day Punahou Carnival since the pandemic. It was amazing to feel the support of the Punahou Community and the community at large.”
Lori volunteered with the Carnival Variety Show the following year.
She shared her Variety Show 2024 experiences. “A favorite recent memory was working in the Dillingham Costume Shop alongside many Class of 2024 parents to assemble the costumes and accessories for the Variety Show 2024, “24,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Whether we were sorting and labeling clothes, pinning and sewing costumes, gluing accessories, or folding laundry, there was such a wonderful camaraderie among the Dillingham Theater team and parent volunteers. And it was special to see the costumes come to life on stage.
Michelle Van Rafelghem
Michelle Van Rafelghem has two children Luke ’24 who started Punahou in kindergarten and her daughter Erin ’26 (currently attending Assets School).
Michelle took on a prominent leadership role as Graduation Committee Chair for the Class of 2024. She has been active in the Academy as a College Previews Committee Co-Chair, Grade Representative and Advisory Parent. Michelle was also both a Lead Room Parent and Room Parent in the Junior School. She was a member of the PFA Leadership team as a Grade Representative for two different school years. She served on the Leadership Board as the Grade Chair and the Volunteer Membership VP. She was also an active member of the Long-Range Planning Committee for three different school years.
Michelle wrote that her proudest accomplishment was “working with Heidi Okikawa to launch the Mid-Year Mingle, the aim of which was to engage more families in the PFA.”
During Carnival, Michelle was a Malasada Ewa Booth Co-Chair and Shadow Chair the previous year.
Michelle also shared a favorite memory of volunteering at Carnival, “Co-chairing the Ewa Malasada Booth with my high school classmates while my son was a student co-chair of the Waikiki Malasada booth.”