Stevenson Middle School - Oahu, Hawaii
February 18, 2009This visit consisted of two assemblies for Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School, where the flood of blue shirts rushed into the cafeteria in anticipation to see Jake. Thank you to Wendy Oakamoto, the Student Activities Coordinator at Stevenson Middle School for organizing this visit. Also thank you to Ken, the soundman, who specially brought the whole sound system into the cafeteria for these assemblies. Jake complimented that it was the best sound system he had ever had while playing in a school. Prior to the assembly, Jake met up with the school’s ukulele club who were so excited to perform with Jake. They rehearsed how they would perform the song “Wipeout” in from of the school.
During this first assembly, Jake played “Piano-Forte” which is a really soft song and he mentioned that it may have been a little too soft for such energetic youth. Even though it was such a mellow song, he had the student’s full attention and the cafeteria was silent throughout the whole piece. After Jake played a couple more songs he called up the ukulele club and one of the students, Weston, played a solo of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with only 2 years of ukulele experience under his belt.
After their performance of “Wipeout”, Jake then transitioned into his message for the students. He’s a great public speaker and brought so much energy into the room. He was able to pump up the kids to open up and share their passions. Jake also requested of them to be good role models to their juniors because younger kids are always watching so they need to be good mentors to whom they can look up to. Additionally, Jake’s wish was for all of them to be drug free. The students completely agreed with excitement and cheered when he said this.
When Jake was taking questions, a young girl asked how people find their passion if they aren’t sure what it is yet. Jake’s answer was that there are all these things in life that you are obligated to do but don’t particularly want to. Things like washing the dishes or doing your homework, and you rush to do these things to get them out of the way so that you can do that one special thing you sincerely want to do. He shared that when he was young, he would rush home from school everyday and finish all his chores and homework just so he could play his ukulele because that’s all he truly wanted to do. And the only way you can find these things you love is to experience new things.
For the second assembly, Jake tactically played his upbeat bluegrass style ukulele “Orange World” instead of “Piano-Forte” so he could fill the cafeteria with a different kind of energy. The ukulele club came onto the stage once again and each of the kids had a solo when they all played “Wipeout” this second time around. He gave another message and this summary was to discover your passion, believe in what you do, say no to drugs, and remember that music is good medicine. On his final song, he called up one of the ukulele club members, Clark, and had him play the “Crazy G” intro. Then Jake took over with his fastest verse of “Crazy G” and astonished the kids with how fast he could go.
Jake closed the assembly by taking any questions the students had for him. One student asked Jake if he had ever received an award for his music. And Jake responded with such a humble answer that surprised everyone. He said that yes he has been acknowledged for his music, and it’s such a great feeling. But for him, it’s a great feeling because he loves what he does so much. He doesn’t play the ukulele to be recognized, he only plays because he is truly passionate about it. He said that when you do something that you love, you don’t need someone to tell you what a great job you’re doing, because you’ll do it regardless of whether you are recognized for it or not. After the assembly, students were so eager to take pictures with him and get his autograph. Again, thank you to Wendy Okamoto (Stevenson Student Activities Coordinator) for coordinating these assemblies!