(Brandon Galarita) This is sacred grounds.

There's just so much history here, and this building doesn't look like it did 100 years ago.

But I still see the palace in all its grandeur here.

To be able to hear her name Keʻelikōlani instead of Central, it really brings a sense of pride for the place instead of just “Oh yeah, I teach at Central” and having Keʻelikōlani, it's like, a, it's really is like a breath of fresh air and like I can teach and walk in the presence of a really grand and loving woman, knowing that this place is named after her.

I hope that it will allow me to teach to the extent that she had loved the keiki herself.

(Holly Gates) It's really important that we know the history of Keʻelikōlani Middle School and why the name was changed to Keʻelikōlani Middle School.

Because this is where the palace of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani used to stand.

Many people did not know that there was even ever a palace here.

And by renaming it, we were able to honor Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani in a way that she had not been honored for a very long time.

She was the wealthiest person in the kingdom of Hawaiʻi and I really wanted her to be known for the powerful woman that she was.

(Brandon Galarita) Early on and in the name change I, I, I still heard a lot of the “Oh, it's so hard to say.” And, you know, it gives a teaching moment because when students know of the name, they know of the history.

On one hand, they first they might say, “that's hard to say.” And then you teach them you say okay Keʻelikōlani, and then they say it three times.

And then all of a sudden, it's done, and they know it.

(Holly Gates) The school's name has come back full circle to what it should have been.

It was named Keʻelikōlani School in 1916.

And then they took it away.

So it's like it has come full circle and it is a point of great pride that we got her name back.

(Joseph Passantino) I have never been a part of a name change.

I've never heard of a name change.

Like to be a part of it is game-changing.

We worked on changing it and we got it done.

Like, we are so many things that we did, and it could have been easy to give up because there were obstacles and roadblocks, but people's passion people's fire, their heart came through.

Be a part of that is huge and just like a highlight of my career.

And I think every teacher would say the same thing.

(Evelyn Cullen) I am Evelyn Cullen, one of many dedicated adults on campus whose role is to educate the youth of Hawaiʻi in this time and space.

It is my honor to be a part of this day in Hawaiian and U.S. history.

I give honor to those before us, especially Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani a wahine true to her culture and her people.

(Holly Gates) This was a process to get to this point that absolutely could not have happened without the support of our stakeholders of our school.

We had support from alumni, as far back as the 1970s, to as recent as students who are currently at McKinley High School.

We had support from our current faculty and former faculty, some of whom have served for over 20 years at our school.

We had support from parents and community members in downtown Honolulu.

We had support of our principal.

After the board had voted to approve the name change our school phones rang continually as people across the entire state thanked our school for making this name change happen.

(Brandon Galarita) It has been quite a journey and with lots of uncertainty and challenge, but alas, we have made it and we are so proud of our team and staff and community members that have worked so diligently and faithfully.

And we're so proud of our school for being so enthusiastic about this change.

We're proud to be able to honor the princess's legacy for the education of the children of Hawai'i.

Lastly, we are proud to be teachers at Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani Middle School.

Thank you.

(Satallia Akkin) This is a poem for Keʻelikōlani.

There at Honolulu is my rock, my foundation, your gift, your love.

It's Hale Keōua.

You watch over us, the beautiful youth, like the Manu o Ku on the land called Kaʻakopua.

Life to the language, life to the Kamehameha’s.

A name for Ruth Keʻelikōlani.

The aliʻi of this house.

The princess of this school.

(Brandon Galarita) There are many times in the auditorium just looking at the pictures of Keʻelikōlani, Hale Keōua, the kahili there, all the people there to celebrate.

Even now, I feel really emotional.

But there are so many times where I just felt like crying.

Like you said, of joy, happiness.

Like it felt so surreal to know that years of hard work, especially after times where it felt like it was like it wasn't moving forward, was coming to fruition.

And it made me really proud to know that we have celebration and joy and then share a meal together as Keʻelikōlani would have probably herself if she was here.

(Holly Gates) When you come down and you see that beautiful sign with Keʻelikōlani Middle School on it and her name, we have arrived.

We've done it.

It is.

It's done.

(Brandon Galarita) Her name has brought a resurgence to the grounds.

I mean, our school motto is Onipaʻa and even when I first started teaching here, it really felt like just words on a page and words on a website.

And with Keʻelikōlani's name attached, not just attached to our school, but a deep part of our school, like over 100 years old - technically a part of our school.

Thinking of resilience and steadfastness, those acts and thoughts and every way that you would embody those words I think this school is breathing because of that change.

Art on campus has really been transformational in the way that we look at our school.

When you see these images of people, of stories, it allows for us to enter into a space and wonder.

And I think that's one of the big things for me is a sense of wonder.

I think especially at this middle school age; wonder tends to start to disappear because students are being told that this is the way to do things and this is how things are.

I think seeing the art makes us wonder, well, what if.

(Joseph Passantino) We colorize these places for our kids?

It creates creativity, creates a sense of pride compared to just, you know, boring single colors and structures, especially where we have children.

Like how can we bring life to that area, engage our students, let them think creatively, let them think artistically.

(Brandon Galarita) The first thing you see walking onto campus is the beautiful mural with Keʻelikōlani just standing in front of the whole school.

The mural is a constant reminder of who she was and why we named the school after her.

(Joseph Passantino) It sets the tone when you drive in, it says that this space is Princess Ruth’s.

And every day our kids are a part of something that she started to create.

So that mural is transformational.

It means the most to us because this is her space.

(Ran Noveck) I worked in the design out of the main interest of showing respect and keeping it royal.

I wanted to keep this in the old days, and which is why I kept some things in black and white, as the photos were, to give you that feeling of, of old times.

I showed her houses where she lived, what she built for herself and kept it simple.

Projection is when I take my sketch, my basic lines that I decided where things and items are going to be in the in the mural.

We project them on the wall and mark the perimeters and that gives us the perimeters of where she's going to be, where the palace, where all the things were lined up before we start actually painting.

I have to look at a photo of the palace to see what is what, because the palace was very, very intricate.

In the palace, I used many different grays and many shades of gray.

I used a cardboard that I take and cut a straight line and I use it to, to help me create straight lines.

I did my best with putting enough detail to show you the overall shape of the windows and the balconies and all that.

It's still intricate.

Coming from a fashion world, I saw right away in the picture how heavy the fabric was and how stiff it was using that photo of hers in that dress.

I created all these crinkles with spray and the car, using the cardboard sometimes, but mostly freehand, to show you that nature of the fabric she was wearing.

Very royal.

The Hut.

That has to be done by hand.

I created a stencil of a sort with sort of like grass endings, and I use it to spray over and over to, to give you that that grassy feeling.

It was decided to put the Manu o Ku in the painting because they really represent Honolulu, not just Hawaiʻi.

They're not that they're not really found to many places in the Hawaiian Islands.

They're really Honolulu birds.

And we have them above us while we're painting the mural all the time.

They're really a part of this area, and I think part of this almost like property of hers that was so large.

Here they're everywhere.

They’re actually flying above us right now.

On big murals like this.

I choose to use brushes and rollers to do the main fills.

And then I come with spray paint.

Spray paint makes certain things easy to achieve certain effects.

It's usually used after we fill up such a big mural with regular roller paint.

I use spray paint at the end just for touch ups and refining the images.

The importance of mural art in the community is this is something to bring to the people and not just to the individuals that can afford something like art.

And it's to preserve Hawaiian culture and to, you know, show the history so it's not forgotten.

Each mural has its own vibe I can feel it.

It's hard for me to put it into words, but it’s, it's heavy here.

Not in a bad way, but it, it feels like there's something going on.

She's standing right there claiming her property, showing that this is where it came from.

(Brandon Galarita) She stands there overlooking the field, the playground, and the students look and go, “Oh, there's Princess Keʻelikōlani.” They're looking over us.

It's a position of in one sense of authority, but another sense it's over looking like your child watching in the playground and seeing their joy.

I remember hearing the story of her seeing her son, one of her sons come home and just how joyful she was to see him.

And I wish this mural could move and you could see a smile that we don't see so much in images because I'm sure she had that.

(Satalia Akkin) Whenever I look at the princess, it feels like she's actually watching me and watching over the students.

She, to me is a figure I really look up to because of the school.

I could picture her as like someone very intimidating.

But once I got to know her history and her background and that she actually loved children and she gave her wealth and her money for children to learn in Hawaiʻi, it was a very life changing because I could feel her spirit here with us.

(Holly Gates) Princess Keʻelikōlani loved the children, and when the students come, the students bring light into the school and more than anything else she wanted the children of Hawaiʻi to be educated.

And now that she sees in her namesake all of these children who are learning all kinds of beautiful things, I believe she is so happy.

(Brandon Galarita) This name change Keʻelikōlani, the grounds here, that whole experience - this February 9th, 2022.

Like - That’s going to go down in history as like one of the most memorable experiences for me like - Change can be hard at times, but it's possible if we really believe what we believe and are willing to pursue it wholeheartedly, change can happen.

And I hope that the star of Honolulu, right here, downtown Honolulu, can be an inspiration for other schools across the state and for the schools who are yet to be built.