Tag Archives: Hawaiian Teachers

Hawaii’s Vanessa Ching named State Teacher of the Year

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Meet Vanessa Ching, a middle school educator from Hawaii who was named the 2018 Teacher of the Year for her state. Vanessa graduated from Baldwin High School on Maui. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a double major in Elementary Education and Special Education. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching Leadership from the National University at San Diego and, in addition, has been named a National Board Certification in Literacy, Elementary-Middle Childhood.

In a career that has spanned 14 years so far, Vanessa inaugurated her life as an educator with the Hawaii State Department of Education as a Special Education teacher for grades K-6, teaching at Pearl Ridge, Aiea, Alvah Scott, Webling, and Waimalu Elementary Schools. Then she accepted a position at Ewa makai Middle School where she serves as the Student Activities Coordinator, Green Initiatives Coordinator, and Student Leadership and Yearbook Advisor.

“Vanessa has made a tremendous impact on the culture at Ewa Makai Middle as coordinator of Student Activities and Green Initiatives, teaching students to reduce their carbon footprints and that of the entire school,” commented Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto. “Ewa Makai is the only school statewide to have won the National Green Ribbon School certification,” Kushimoto continued. “Vanessa has done amazing work to improve the school and the Ewa community through her teaching,” the Superintendent concluded.

Vanessa’s principal, Kim Sanders, agrees that the honored teacher has been a great asset to the school. “Developing a culture of environmentally conscious students, community members, and parents, Vanessa worked to designate Ewa Makai Middle as a plastic-free school and won a refillable water station in a national contest with a powerful PSA,” Sanders remarked. “Vanessa and her students wrote grants to develop an organic garden, aquaponics, and a composting program towards becoming a waste-free school.,” Sanders described. “Her dedicated work has been an incredible learning opportunity for our students, and our entire campus and community have been improved as a whole,” Sanders concluded.

For more about this amazing educator, see the video below:

Educator Amy Perruso runs for seat in Hawaii State House of Reps

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Amy Perruso

Educator Amy Perruso runs for a seat in the Hawaii State House of Representatives.

Because of today’s highly-charged political climate, educators are becoming more and more interested in serving their communities in public office. One such educator is Amy Perruso, a high school social studies teacher running for a seat in the Hawaii State House of Representatives.

Amy’s drive to serve her students and her community is palpable. “I ran for office because the children in our public schools need strong advocates,” declares Amy. “Teachers have always stepped up to do this work, and entering the political arena in this way, as teachers who are union leaders, is a natural reflection of how teachers lead in our community and the ways in which our union advocates for the common good,” she continues.

Amy advanced to the November elections when she won the Democratic primary last summer, beating Lei Learmont. In the general election she will face off against Republican John Miller.

In a career that has spanned 18 years total, Amy has spent the last 14 of them as a teacher at Mililani High School in Mililani, Hawaii. Among the several courses she teaches is Advanced Placement Government and APUSH. Amy has also served as a reader for the College Board on the APGOV exam, and she has been as a member of the Hawaii State Social Studies Work Group. She is also a member of the Every Student Succeeds Act Team, which is responsible for creating a blueprint for the future of Hawaii’s public schools. In addition to all this, Amy has served three terms as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

Amy’s talent and dedication as an educator has not gone unnoticed. She was a Fulbright Scholar and a finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman National History Teacher of the Year Award.

To learn more about this candidate, visit her website at www.amyperruso.com.

Hawaii’s Jonathan Guillentine: Award-winning early learning resource teacher

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Jonathan Guillentine

Hawaii’s Jonathan Guillentine: Award-winning early learning resource teacher

It’s always a joy to learn about fellow educators who have been recognized for their outstanding work in the classroom. One such educator is Jonathan Guillentine, an early learning resource teacher from Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jonathan earned his Bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology in 1977, his Master’s degree in Special Education in 1981, and his Doctorate in Education in 2005, all from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

In 1978, this chalkboard champion began his career as a third grade teacher at Bloomingtron Christian School in 1978, but soon transferred to Kailua High School in the outskirts of Honolulu, where he worked as a Special Education resource teacher, where he worked for twelve years. From Kailua he went to Reverend Benjamin Parker School in Kaneohe, where he worked as both a resource teacher and a pre-school inclusion teacher. In 2014, Jonathan took a position as early learning specialist at the Windward District Office of the Hawaii State Department of Education, and in 2015 he became a mentor teacher for the Executive Office on Early Learning, which administers Hawaii’s public pre-school program. He holds this position today. In all, Jonathan has spent 36 years as a professional educator.

Jonathan’s work has earned him praise from other professional educators. “Jonathan is the quintessential professional,” declares instructional coach Tracey Idica. “There is no one better suited or more effective in reaching little ones’ hearts and minds. His work appears to come naturally from within his soul; however, it is rich with research-based best practices,” she notes. Colleague Alecia Burroughs agrees. “Jonathan is the type of person who inspires others to be the best person and educator possible,” she asserts. “All who meet him gravitate towards him, adults and children alike.”

For his work in the classroom, Jonathan has earned many accolades. In 2007, he was named an Outstanding Early Childhood Practitioner by the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators. In 2010, he was honored by the National Science Teachers Association with their Early Science Educator Award. In 2012, he garnered an National Educators Association Foundation’s Horace Mann Award. In 2017, he was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, the first educator from Hawaii to be so honored.

Music teacher George Alanson Andrus inspires long-running Hawaiian music competition

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There are times when a particularly special educator inspires students long after he or she no longer walks this earth. One of these educators is George Alanson Andrus, a beloved music teacher who taught in the Hawaiian islands during the early part of the 20th century. Even though he lived a century ago, George became the inspiration for a singing competition that still takes place annually at Hawaii’s Kamehameha School. The Kamehameha School is a privately-funded high school originally founded to provide quality education for Native Hawaiian students. Many consider the institution to be one of the most prestigious schools in the Hawaiian islands.

When George suddenly collapsed and died on May 26, 1921, the principal and faculty of the school wanted to honor the popular teacher. To do so, they hastily organized an impromptu choral competition between the classes that very same day. They held that first competition in the dark on the steps of the campus’s Bishop Museum, illuminated only by the headlights of automobiles aimed at the contestants. The following year, the Kamehameha School for Girls staged their first annual song contest.

In the early days of the contest, each class sang the school’s alma mater, “Sons of Hawaii,” followed by a Hawaiian composition, and culminating with an original song in Hawaiian composed by members of the class. In 1968, the competition was televised for the first time, live, with a simulcast on radio. Today, the event is still highly anticipated, and, like the very first competition, many of the song selections are still delivered a cappella.

Below, view the performance of the freshmen coed group for this year. To learn more about the Kamehameha Schools, visit their website at www.ksbe.edu.

Hawaii mourns passing of educator and politician Daniel Akaka

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Daniel Kahikina Akaka

Daniel Kahikina Akaka

Citizens in Hawaii are mourning the passing this week of their beloved educator and senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka.

Daniel Akaka was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 11, 1924. He was the youngest of eight children born to a father of Chinese descent and a Native Hawaiian mother. As a youngster, Daniel attended Hawaii’s prestigious Kamehameha Schools, founded specifically to provide a quality education to Native Hawaiian children. He graduated from high school in 1942.

Daniel was an American hero. He served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, from 1945 to 1947. When the war ended, the US veteran used his GI bill to enroll at the University of Hawaii. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1952 and his Master’s degree in 1966. After earning his teaching credential, Daniel was employed as a high school teacher in Honolulu from 1953 to 1960. He taught music, social studies, and math. In 1960 he was promoted to vice principal, and in 1969 he became a high school principal. In 1969, Daniel left public schools to work in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as a chief program planner.

A multi-talented individual, the former teacher won election to the US House of Representatives in 1976, where he served a total of seven terms. In 1990, Daniel was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the US Senate which had occurred upon the death of Senator Spark Matsunaga. Later Daniel was elected to that position in his own right, and he served there until his retirement in 2013. Daniel’s career in politics spanned a total of 36 years.

While in office, Daniel served on a number of committees, including Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Energy and Natural Resources. But he is best known for his work on behalf of America’s veterans. He supported legislation to re-evaluate the wartime service records of members of the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. These units, comprised almost entirely of Japanese American soldiers, were engaged in some of the fiercest fighting in Europe. They exhibited some of the most exemplary combat records of the entire war. Despite this, only one Asian American soldier earned the nation’s highest decoration for military valor, the Medal of Honor. Because of Daniel’s efforts, more than 20 additional Asian American veterans of World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor in 2000.

Daniel Akaka passed away after a lengthy illness on April 6, 2018, at the age of 93. To learn more about this amazing educator and politician, click on  or the article at Washington Post Obituary.