Student body comprised of those residing in Mānoa Valley, Makiki, Makiki Heights, Tantalus,…read morePapakōlea, Kalāwahine, Punchbowl, Pauoa, Pauoa Valley, Pacific Heights, and some from Nuʻuanu Valley too. Many students that lived outside of the district and had a GE were from Kāneohe, Kailua, Waimānalo to Wai'anae. There were also students who attended Iolani, Kamehameha and St. Louis, then transferred to Roosevelt.
There are some staff and many students with different last names that are related to each other, have attended and still attend RHS. One day one of my grandma's cousins approached me. I later found out she was a cafeteria monitor during the day and custodian after school. Coming to think of it, I have relatives that graduated in the late 1970's till mid 2000's on my maternal side of the family.
During Hawaiian studies class, a substitute teacher asked me, "Where do you live? What's your family name?" I responded. Then she said, "I graduated same year with your relative's name." I was quite surprised.
There are currently many entrepreneurs, including those married to entrepreneurs so they help with other aspects of thriving businesses, alumni with successful careers in the public and private sector. Let's not forget about notable celebrities listed in Wikipedia.
Hawaiian language classes offered and counted as foreign language credits toward college, along with Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, and French. I vividly recall signing up first choice: Hawaiian, second choice: Spanish, third choice: Japanese. I remember getting my last choice while my other friends got Hawaiian and Spanish classes.
My favorite instructors who definitely made an impact in my life were Mrs. Wells, English teacher who immersed us in reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and working together in class ranging from The Hobbit, Beowulf, Shakespeare, Hamlet, too many to name, and our last individual project and typed essay for the year, Les Miserables. School is known for their language arts.
Fine Arts and Cooking teacher, Mrs. Fong. She was the one who encouraged me to consider applying for colleges to arts schools on the mainland. I've also enjoyed learning baked recipes. One of those recipes taught in class was how to make pumpkin pie. We had access to ovens, sinks, and clean counter tops. Fun, practical, and life learning skills.
Japanese language sensei, Mrs. Fujinaka for teaching us one of the first things is, "Otearai e itte mo ii desu ka?" Translation in English, "May I please go to the restroom?" Reserved for when really got to go and having a brain fart. Hiragana, katakana, and some of the kanji ingrained in memory.
Economics teacher, Mrs. Leung taught us how to write checks which I thought was cool as it applies to signing legal documents till this day.
Sports was and still is an integral part of the student body. I remembered running between two to four old football field laps daily after school, where dirt would kick up and if wearing white shoes, would get dirty fast. I vividly recalled running snakes weekly on red and gold bleachers, north, south, east, and west, in no particular order. Legs would get jiggly or charley horse if out of shape. Yet, great cardio, conditioning for the body. Sports practices ended at 6 PM. Games on Saturdays either on or off campus.
Loved the swimming pool especially during P.E. Earned school credits while working on a life skill.
They're also known for their band. Many clubs offered on campus too.
Enjoyed underground cafeteria, choice to eat indoor or outdoors. Cafeteria staff offered a choice of school lunch or chef salad.
Limited parking. First come, first get in the morning at 7 AM. Some lessons I don't recall learning and wish instructors taught at that time were study skills, time management, and financial literacy.
There were cliques here and there. Now, we're all grown peeps and if we run into each other in public, it's "Hey! How's it going?" followed with a hug and honi on the cheek.