Patch Whiz Kids of the Week: Tupou Latukefu, Selu Tupou and Sisilia Tupou

Each week, San Bruno Patch will feature an amazing kid, youth group, teen or sports team that wows us with their accomplishments. 

This week, we feature  sisters Tupou Latukefu, a junior, and Selu Tupou and Sisilia Tupou, both sophomores, who have been integral in organizing the school's first Poly Day in years.

Patch Whiz Kids of the Week

Name/Age: Tupou Latukefu, 16, Selu Tupou, 15, and Sisilia Tupou, 15

School: Capuchino High School

Accomplishment: Tupou Latukefu, Selu Tupou and Sisilia Tupou are all self-motivated, attending church at 6 a.m. every school day, excelling at school and playing sports. 

But when they had an opportunity this year to organize an event at Capuchino High School to share their Polynesian culture with the rest of the community, the three sisters got more motivated than they had ever been before. 

As leaders in the school’s Poly Club, the sisters have been integral in putting together the event, which will take place at 5 p.m. Friday in Capuchino’s Spirit Court and celebrate the diversity of cultures represented in the Polynesian islands, from Hawaii, Tonga and Samoa to New Zealand and Fiji. The event will be the first of its kind in years. 

“We just want to let people know that we actually do exist,” Tupou said. 

As part of the event, Tupou and her twin sisters will perform dances from their own culture—they are Tongan—as well as from other Polynesian cultures. There will also be traditional singing and food. 

The amount of work the sisters have put into planning the event is a reflection of how seriously they take their personal lives. 

Not only do they attend seminary daily at the , but they dance weekly at weddings, birthday parties and other cultural events—many of which have taken them all around the country. They also each play an instrument—Tupou, the piano, Selu, the flute, and Sisilia, the trumpet.

The sisters do all of this while Tupou is taking four International Baccalaureate classes and Selu and Sisilia are preparing to enter the school’s full IB program next year (Selu and Sisilia are trying to be the first Tongans at the school to graduate with an IB diploma). 

Where do they get all this motivation from? Their parents, they said, who ingrained in them and their four older siblings at an early age the importance of excelling at everything they do while representing their culture to the fullest. 

“A lot of San Bruno kids don’t know much about Polynesians,” Tupou said. “So we’re trying to paint a picture of what Polynesia actually looks like. We’re also trying to improve the name of Polynesia because, when most people think about them, they think of them as slackers, they think that they don’t listen to anyone and that they are all bad kids. 

“We want to clean up that image. And, hopefully, years down the road, the stereotype will evaporate.”

Key to Awesomeness: "I believe Tupou, Selu and Lia are amazing because they are examples of students who are achieving academically as well as who have strong ties to their roots. In a world where homogenization and blending in is encouraged they are not afraid to get up in front of the entire school and distinguish themselves as proud Tongan young ladies. I am in awe of their talents both in and out of the classroom—their pride in all things Poly is very inspiring." —Patricia Flores, Capuchino High community outreach coordinator