Valentine's Dance 2026 "Love In The Multiverse"

Is love the ultimate superpower? It definitely felt that way at the Highlands Intermediate Love in the Multiverse 2026 Valentine’s Dance, where our campus swung straight into an epic Spider-Man reality! The cafeteria transformed into a high-energy Spider-Verse hub, pulsing with beats from the song request booth, neon energy from the glow store, and massive crowds at the magic mirror photo booth. True heroes tested their agility at the super basketball shootout and spider web toss, relaxed in the movie room, and saved the day at the villain knock 'em down game before gathering for the ultimate crossover event: crowning our 7th, 8th, and mixed-grade Valentine’s Kings & Queens right in the center of the action! Down on the lower campus, portals opened to a pixel passion arcade, towering rounds of giant jenga and giant kerplunk, and creative dimensions for custom friendship bracelets, glitter tattoos, balloon twister creations, and heroic snapshots at Cupid’s corner photo booth. Fueled by a relentless supply of delicious food and drinks, our student variants danced across timelines, proving that Colt pride binds the multiverse together. A massive shoutout and thank you to the Highlands Intermediate Student Council, the amazing teacher chaperones, and every single volunteer who worked behind the scenes to make this web-tastic event an absolute smash success. With great love comes great celebration! — Solomon Young, 8th Grade Class President

Valentine's Spirit Week 2025: Kings & Queens

Love was in the air at Highlands Intermediate! This year’s Valentine’s Dance featured an EPIC theme—Tangled—and it did not disappoint. The night was filled with exciting activities, beautiful décor, groovy dance moves, and unforgettable moments. While many elements made the dance memorable, the crowning of our kings and queens truly set it apart from other middle school dances. Similar to a prom king and queen, Highlands makes this event extra special by honoring three groups of kings and queens, all voted for by their peers. The eighth-grade King and Queen were Andrea and Colten. The seventh-grade titles were awarded to Chasodi and Reagan. Finally, the mixed-grade King and Queen honors went to Brayden and Izzy.  Congratulations to all our winners for making the night even more special!

Farewell Dance 2023

As the school year came to the end, the Farewell Dance 2023 was a great way to wrap up the most “fantastic” school year ever! On the last day of the 2022 - 2023 school year students got to spend time with their friends and made some great memories! Through activities such as the Aloha Store, Airbrush Tattoos, two photo booths, balloon twisters, the Moana movie and DJ, this was definitely a a dance to be remembered ;) On top of all of that it was those concessions - especially that Kona Ice! - that made this Moana themed dance so amazing! We wish everyone an amazing and restful summer and we’ll see you all again in the Fall! Jaylin Shirafuji Dance Committee Chairperson

Winter Formal 2021 Video

We're proud to say Highlands Winter Formal 2021 was a huge success! Big, big shout out to the 8th Grade Clas Council, Student Government, 7th Grade Class Council, and all the Committees for successfully planning and running this activity! Winter Formal ran during both 7th and 8th grade Lunch during which students were able to a play a variety of games to win Christmas prizes, take pictures at the photo booths, get a Christmas balloon from a balloon artist, vote for their Ice Kings and Snow Queens, hang out with their friends and enjoy the Christmas music and festivities! Congratulations to the 7th Grade Ice King and Snow Queen, Cyrus & Maddex and 8th Grade Ice King and Snow Queen, Kyle & Aislyn! Big thanks to everyone who came out! We're so pleased with the outcome of this activity and we couldn’t think of a better way to end 2021!

New Teacher Dance 2021 Video

We are now going to introduce to you all the new teachers for the 21-22 school year! There are quite a few, so let’s get started! First up, is team Laulima’s new Social Studies teacher, Ms. Kaley! Ms. Kaley was born and raised in Austin Texas, and came to Oahu to attend college on the North Shore at Brigham Young University, which is where she still lives now. She loves to dance, knit, and nerd out about History and Star Wars. On a normal day, you will either find her reading on the beach or hitting the gym before a loooong night of Netflix. 

Next up, we have Mr. Phung, Koa Kau Lio’s new Social Studies teacher! He graduated from Kahuku High school, and then went on to study at BYU. His hobbies include spending time with his one year old daughter and wife, surfing, Taekwondo, and lion dancing! 

Also joining us this year is Ms. Vijil Hicks, who will be team Laulea’s new Social Studies teacher! Ms. Vijil comes from Baltimore, and after graduating from the University of Maryland, has been teaching 8th grade history for four years. She moved back to Hawaii to be closer to family, and has a 2 year old son named Dante!

Coming up next is team Hui Manao’s brand new art teacher, Mr. Torres! He enjoys drawing, spending time with friends and family, and watching Marvel movies. Welcome to Highlands, Mr. Torres!

Next up is Mrs. Martin, team Alakai’s new English teacher! She actually grew up in South Korea, and loves eating; in fact, she says anyone who likes to go to all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurants can be her friend! Other than eating, she also enjoys working out. Mrs. Martin also admits to being a terrible driver, and warns against asking her to go on highways or freeways, especially H-1. She already loves her students, and is looking forward to a wonderful school year! 

Ms. Taylor, is Hui Ha’aheo’s new teacher! Ms. Taylor is from San Diego, California, and actually just moved here! She’s been a teacher for three years, all in middle school. Her hobbies include traveling, scuba diving, swimming, and going to the beach. Welcome to Hawaii Ms. Taylor! 

Next we have another shining new social studies teacher on team Hui Ha’aheo, Ms. Rodriguez. She grew up in Japan and the Philippines as a military kid, but still considers Kahalu’u home. Ms. Rodriguez is a proud alumni of Mill College in Oakland, California and UH Manoa, earning degrees in Ethnic Studies and Education. While she’s been teaching for 20 years - first in Kaneohe, and the last 16 years in Kalihi, she’s very excited to now be a part of the Highlands ohana here in Pearl City! 

Our next newest teacher is Mr. Shirafuji, team Hui Ha’aheo’s new PE teacher! As a graduate from Aiea High school and UH Manoa, Mr. Shirafuji coached soccer for over 20 years and enjoys golfing in his free time. He’s coming from teaching weight training at Waianae High School for 10 years. So far, he’s enjoying the short drives to work and his new 7th grade students! 

Next up is Mrs. Herman, team Hui Lokahis new math teacher! This is her 6th year teaching, and she’s so happy to be here at Highlands Intermediate! She moved from Missouri to Hawaii this summer and is looking forward to an awesome year ahead! 

Our final teacher is team Hui Lokahi's new English teacher, Ms. Yco. Ms. Yco was born in Manila, grew up in Guam, and went to high school in Hawaii. She got her bachelors in English at UH-Manoa and her Masters at Loyola University Chicago. When she is not teaching, you can usually find her spending time with her nephew, cooking, and obsessing over her new hobby: knitting!

Student Council 21-22 Intro Dance "Say So!" Video

Aloha Colts! First off, we’d like to welcome you all to this 2021-2022 school year! After spending all year online last year, we're so looking forward to everything we have planned for all of you! With everyone back to in-person learning, it’ll be an entirely new adventure for every single one of us. The road ahead is bright, and your Highlands school experience is just beginning....

We challenge you to take a few steps out of your comfort zone - even if it’s just a few steps - and start making the memories that will last a lifetime! In order to help you make those memories, your Highlands school year will be filled to the brim with student activities from start to finish! Colts, look forward to participating in all sorts of games, competitions, and events -- you won’t want to miss it!

And now, we're going to introduce you to some of the people that are going to make these activities happen! Announcing the Highlands Student Council for the 2021-2022 school year! Get ready, Colts because this year’s Student Council wants you to know that if you’re feeling the fun and excitement, you just have to “Say So!” 

 

Valentine's Dance 2020: Cinderella's Royal Ball

It was that time of year again! Time to get your tiaras and crowns for the annual Valentine’s Dance 2020: “Cinderella's Royal Ball!”  This year the ball was held in the Cafeteria and it had everything a Valentine's Dance needed like games, food, and of course, a coronation! Yeah that's right -- a coronation! In the weeks leading up to the event, students got to list some of their favourite couples for a chance for them to make it into the finals. Only at the dance were they able to vote for their favorite 7th Grade - 8th Grade - Mixed Grade - and Teacher couples for the annual Valentine's Day Kings and Queens of 2020. The Valentine's Day Dance 2020: “Cinderella's Royal Ball” was a huge success and will be yet another one of Highlands’ most unforgettable events of the year!  Sharyn, Assembly Committee

Aphrodite's Valentine's Day Dance 2019

Highlands Intermediate School celebrated Valentine’s Day at the P.E. Courtyard on February 14th, 2019 with Aphrodite’s Valentine’s Day Dance! Everyone on campus was there and was treated to so many different activities which included Cupid’s Target Practice, a bouncy house, Valentine’s Grams, Valentine’s Face Painting & Balloons, Valentine’s Day King & Queen of the Dance Voting Booth, the Teacher Dunk Tank, and of course, the giant Dance Canopy! Everyone sang along to the all the hits played by the DJ Royce and cheered when the Valentine’s Kings & Queens for 7th, 8th and Teachers were finally announced at the end of the dance! We truly came together in this celebration of aloha and love for each and every one of the Highlands Intermediate School Ohana! Alena, Dance Committee