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Kubasaki High School History - A Brief Overview
Kubasaki has withstood destruction from fire and typhoons within four different campuses to become a school rich in tradition with a reputation for academic excellence.
The first classes started with 1st through 6th grade students in November of 1946 at a site named “Okinawa University School”. Classes were held in Okinawa University buildings, initially. Junior and high school age students began classes sometime between November 1946 and March 1947. A jumbo quanset was built and and completed in March of 1947 and the entire student body was housed under one roof. In April of 1947, the Jumbo quanset burned to the ground along with all records and classes then resumed in the Okinawa University Buildings, again to finish out the year.
 The following year the “Okinawa University School” classes were moved to a group of prefabricated buildings in the Awase area.
In 1949 Typhoon Gloria caused so much damage that the entire campus required rebuilding and classes were two weeks late getting underway in conjoined quonsets in the New Sukiran Housing area. The conjoined Quonsets had been previously used as family living quarters, but, served well as a makeshift school for a few over 60 days.
The New Awase Campus was completed in November 1949 and the school, at that point moved back to the campus. This campus remained all grades through the graduating class of 1952. But in the autumn of 1952, the campus moved to another set of quonsets located at Camp Kubasaki – later referred to as “Kubasaki Nine (K-9).” In the Kubasaki facility the original name of the school was Okinawa-American Dependent High School, as the lower grades stayed at the Awase campus. The name of the school was changed to Kubasaki-American High School sometime between 1952 and 1957 while housed at the Camp Kubasaki.
 In 1958, the high school along with the middle school grades were moved to partitioned barracks in the Wheel Service area of Naha, also Known as Port Wheel.
Finally, in 1964, the school moved to its present location in Kishaba Terrace, overlooking Fort Buckner, and was renamed Kubasaki High School.
Known Campuses of What is now known as Kubasaki High School.
With Links to Site Specific Information
1946(F) to 1947(S) Camp Hayward - Okinawa University School (All Grades)
1947(F) to 1952(S) Awase - Okinawa University School (All Grades)
1952(F) to 1957(S) Camp Kubasaki Campus - Okinawa-American Dependent High School and Kubasaki-American High School (Upper Grades)
1957(F) to 1964(S) Naha Port Wheel Campus - Kubasaki-American High School (Upper Grades)
1964(F) to Present Kishaba Terrace Housing Area - Kubasaki High School
List of Contributors of Photos, Information and Documents - Kubasaki High School Historical Archive
Kubasaki High School Alumni Association History
The idea to organize an alumni association for Kubasaki High School began when Kit McKeon and Karen Hennie Stevens planned an event in Colorado Springs in the mid-1980s. By 1986, the group organized to become the first KHS Alumni Association. This organization included Kit McKeon ('65), Karen Hennie Stevens ('62), Sonja Taylor "Sunny" Schwentner ('62), Virginia Lee (Faculty), Lois Shook (Faculty) and a handful of class representatives.
 Throughout the rest of the 80s and into the 90s, the organization enjoyed rapid growth as word of the association spread. All communications were handled via phone calls and snail mail and the role of the class representatives was never more important. Reunions were planned every two years in various locations throughout the U.S. and classes from every decade were invited. Over time, the duties of operating the organization fell to Sunny Schwentner. Her dedication kept the association going and, for over twenty years, she maintained a large database of alumni contact information to keep the paid membership informed of alumni activities and reunions.
Sunny, Kit, Karen, Ms. Lee and Ms. Shook have been honored as Lifetime Members of the Association. Their diligence in locating lost Dragons formed the core of the connections we enjoy today.
In August 2006, a Coordinating Counsel was formed to make preliminary plans for the establishment of a new, online-based Association. On August 27, 2006, the Counsel voted to name Sherry Bastion ('76) the KHSAA Interim President and charged her with the responsibility of transforming the Association into a global organization that served the needs of a growing alumni community. Jon Yim ('75) assumed the roles of Interim Secretary and Alumni Relations/Public Affairs Officer and leveraged his extensive public relations network to distribute press releases about the revitalized Association. In addition to broad coverage announcing the new Website, Jon established enduring links with the administration at KHS to ensure the awareness of the Association's presence for future alumni. Rounding out the slate of officers was Carri Babcock Morones ('76) as Interim Vice President, Kathy Warren Sovine ('76) as Treasurer and Sunny Schwentner ('62) as Past President.
Less than a year later, on August 17, 2007, the KHSAA "Members Only" Website was launched to enable the Association to accept memberships and manage the administrative tasks of the organization. The new online tool served the existing membership and promotes relevance for newer generations of alumni by leveraging the communication possiblities only the Internet can provide. Alumni were able to pay their yearly dues online and receive exclusive member benefits. These member-only benefits included voting privileges, access to the alumni database for mailing addresses, email addresses and phone numbers, reduced fees for association-sponsored reunions and access to the online publications.
On October 15th, 2007, active members of the KHSAA voted unanimously to confirm Sherry Bastion ('76), Carri Babcock Morones ('76), Jon Yim ('75) and Kathy Warren Sovine ('76) as the first officers of the new Association.
In August of 2008, the voting members of the KHSAA confirmed, by majority vote, a new president and vice president. But due to health and family issues, they resigned their posts. Ron Thomas ('71) stepped in as the interim president from August 2009 to December 2009. But by then, interest in the KHSAA had waned due to the unforeseen popularity of Facebook.
The KHSAA, next, deactivated as of January 1, 2010.
Kubasaki High School Alumni Association Today
In August of 2010 the KHSAA Entered a new phase of operation as a free entity with a robust set of features. We still Maintain an alumni Database that has well over 500 entries spanning from former students from 1946 to 2010 and beyond. We are addinig an alumni network portal, we continue to maintain alumni forums, alumni resources website, and a reunion portal all on a single database platform that is secure from the outside world.
Our current hope is to create a relevant platform for alumni business of all sorts to counter the ease and high usage of the facebook platform. We are also using the facebook platform to communicate with the former student body which continues to grow at a steady pace.
Here is the short list of current free resources:
This website which will soon contain the alumni network as well as a "unified" log-in system Kubasaki High School Alumni Association
The Alumni Discussion Forums Kubasaki High School Alumni Association Forums
The Alumni Resources Pages including Links to the Forums, Alumni Database, and a Robust Kubasaki History Research Section
The Reunion Portal, at this point, only Orlando 2011 is represented Kubasaki Orlando Reunion 2011
We are seeking people to join us to make this collection of websites for our alma-mater the best of their kind in the known universe, please, if you have any desire to assist us contact the webmaster at Kubasaki Alumni Association Webmaster
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© 2006 - 2024 Kubasaki High School Alumni Association All Rights Reserved.