A half-million dollar gift and a student work day are bringing new arts and play space to Assets School on Oahu.

• Dexter Mar gave $500,000 to name the school's new Radiant Star Performing Arts Studio.
• The gift honors his late son Zachary, an Assets graduate, and his late wife Faye Fujisaki Mar, a former Broadway dancer.
• Students spent "Assets High School Gives Back Day" helping replace the campus playground, which was 32 years old.
• Both projects are part of the school's new Clarence T.C. Ching Neighborhood, which will add classrooms for art, music, and drama.

Outlook: The new studio, playground, and arts classrooms should open as the Ching Neighborhood buildout continues.