Tag Archives: Hawaiian Teachers

Michelle Iwasaki garners prestigious 2021-2022 Milken Award

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Elementary school educator Michelle Iwasaki of Hawaii garners prestigious 2021-2022 Milken Award. Photo Credit: Star Advertiser

I always enjoy sharing stories about talented educators who have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Michelle Iwasaki, an elementary school teacher from Hawaii who has earned a prestigious Milken Educator Awards for 2021-2022. The honor was awarded for her stellar work in improving student outcomes in her school.

Michelle works as an academic coach for students in kindergarten, first, fourth, and fifth grades at Kalihi Kai Elementary School in Honolulu. She was instrumental in initiating the school’s partnership with the Turnaround Arts, a program which transforms schools through the use of art. In addition, her creative instructional approach involves using such online programs as Tableau, Snapshot, Reading Images, and Visual Thinking to help boost student engagement and allows students to improve their proficiency in reading.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Michelle trains and mentors other teachers in art integration strategies, she conducts professional development, and she leads visitations and presentations to other schools. She trains colleagues in the use of strategies called Guided Language Acquisition Design for her English language learners, and she developed a schoolwide Response to Intervention-Academic (RTI-A) system complete with diagnostic assessments, progress monitoring, and evidence-based interventions. Michelle conducts bi-monthly classroom observations for her grade levels, shares data with teachers to help them elevate their instructional practice, and prepares new teachers for walk-throughs and observations. Furthermore, Michelle has presented at ECET2, a teacher-led community focused on teacher leadership and collaboration, as well as conferences like Read to Me and School of the Future. She serves on the school’s academic review, arts leadership and literacy grant teams, and in 2018-2019 she was also responsible for guiding her school through its accreditation process with WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges).

Michelle earned a Bachelor’s degree in English in 2003 and her Master’s degree in Education in 2004, both from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher.

The Milken Educator Awards have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to the $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work towards strengthening best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.

Hawaii’s Soichi Sakamoto: Self-taught Swim Coach to Olympians

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Former sixth grade science teacher Soichi Sakamoto from Maui, Hawaii, became a swim coach to Olympic swimmers. Photo credit: Star-Bulletin

Many fine classroom teachers also earn acclaim as athletic coaches. One of these is Soichi Sakamoto, a science teacher who also became a Swim Coach to Olympian athletes.

Soichi was born on August 6, 1906. In the late 1930’s, he taught sixth grade science and health at Puunene School on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The school was built in 1922 on ten acres of land donated by the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company.

At first, Soichi didn’t know anything about coaching a swim team, and his team members consisted of the children of poor sugar plantation workers. Nevertheless, the  inventive teacher established a Three-Year Swim Cub in 1937. His goal was to guide his athletes to the Olympics within three years. The indefatigable coach was able to achieve his goal of creating a team that qualified for the US Olympic team; however, the 1940 Summer Games were cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II.

To get his student athletes to their goal, the innovative coach developed a training regiment involving the use of interval training. As a form of resistance training, Soichi used area irrigation ditches to train his athletes to swim against the current. In addition, he used pulleys and weights to build upper body strength in his young swimmers, also an innovation for the times.

Eventually, Soichi became the Swim Coach at the University of Hawaii, where he served from 1946 to 1961. He also served as an Assistant Coach for the US Olympic Swim Team from 1952 to 1956. Over the course of Soichi’s career, many of his athletes competed in the Olympics, where they earned gold, silver, and bronze medals.

For his work as a swim coach, Soichi earned international accolades. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, and the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Sports Circle of Honor at the University of Hawaii.

This superlative coach passed away on Sept. 29, 1997. He was 91 years old. To document the story of this Chalkboard Champion, a book detailing his life and career was written by Julia Checkoway. The biography, published in 2015, was entitled The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Maui’s Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory. The volume is available on  Amazon.com. You could also read this 2003 article published abut him in the Star Bulletin.

Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler

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Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler of Chino, California.

There are many amazing educators who have made a major impact on their communities. One of these was teacher and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler, who was a significant figure in the history of Chino, California.

Margaret was born in 1863 in San Francisco, California. Her mother’s family were among the earliest settlers of the Oregon Territory, and her father, a graduate of Yale University, was a prominent attorney in San Francisco. In 1882, Margaret and her parents immigrated to Hawaii, which was an independent kingdom in those days. In Hawaii, Margaret became a teacher in various Hawaiian schools, including the Kawaihao Seminary, the Punahou Preparatory School, and Honolulu High School. In fact, Margaret served as the principal at the Punahou School. In all, Margaret spent 14 years as an educator in Hawaiian schools.

When she left Hawaii, the experienced educator traveled east and enrolled in New York University, where she earned her Master’s degree in 1899, a rare accomplishment for a woman in those days. In 1902, Margaret married Eldridge Fowler of Detroit, Michigan. The couple moved with Eldridge’s daughter from a former marriage to a luxurious home in Pasadena, California. Two years later, Margaret’s husband passed away, leaving his young wife and daughter a considerable fortune.

After her husband’s passing, Margaret became a substantial donor to the Young Women’s Christian Association and its World Committee. Always interested in furthering education for women, she became a founding trustee of Scripps College, the women’s school at what is now known as the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California. She also became a trustee of the California Institute of Technology. In Chino, Margaret was instrumental in establishing Boys Republic, a residential treatment center for troubled boys. She purchased the land, paid to have the buildings constructed. and financed the operating costs of the center. Boys Republic still exists today, helping adolescent boys to stay out of jail and to redirect their lives in more positive directions.

In 2001, Margaret Brewer Fowler was named to the Chino City Hall of Fame. To read more about this amazing educator, click on this link to the Boys Republic.

Marianne Kusaka, teacher and former Mayor of Kauai

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Marianne Kusaka, elementary school teacher and former Mayor of the County of Kauai.

Many fine educators serve their communities as local leaders. One of these is Marianne Kusaka, an elementary school teacher who was also elected Mayor of the County of Kauai in the state of Hawaii.

Marianne was born in Kamuela on the Big Island of Hawaii on September 11, 1935. When she was a youngster, her family in the isolated village of Hana on the Island of Maui. Marianne was raised there.

After she graduated from high school, Marianne attended Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu. She transferred to the University of Northern Colorado. There she earned her degree to become an elementary school teacher.

In 1964, Marianne relocated to the island of Kauai. Since then, she has devoted 33 years of her life as a professional educator, teaching at numerous elementary schools on the island. One of her students at Kapaa Elementary School was Bernard Carvalho, Jr., who later became the mayor of Kauai.

“It is such an honor to live here in this special place,” Marianne expressed in a 2015 interview. “I am honored to have my former students who called me Mrs. Kusaka, now call me Aunty Maryanne — such a warm feeling of respect and aloha — I love it!” she continued. “In some cases, I have become part of their family having taught three generations,” she concluded.

Marianne was still teaching when, in 1994, she was elected mayor of Kauai. While in office, the indefatigable educator launched herself into community beautification projects. Her first project was the clean-up of a beach that had been littered during a hurricane two years prior. She also worked towards refurbishing camp grounds, neighborhood parks, and jogging paths. She also focused attention on increasing tourism in the area.

In 2004, the former teacher retired from politics. But she continued to serve her community on the Board of Directors of the Kauai Museum. In addition, she has been instrumental in staging the area’s Festival of Lights. The celebration honors Hokule‘a, the Hawaiian sailing canoe. The festival features the creations from recycled materials by students from Kauai and Kapaa High Schools.

To read more about this amazing educator, read the full 2015 interview published by the newspaper The Garden Island.

Gladys Kamakuokalani Brandt: A champion of Native Hawaiian Culture

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Gladys Kamakuokalani Brandt: A Chalkboard Champion for Native Hawaiian culture.

Many hardworking educators dedicate themselves to social causes of importance in addition to their classroom responsibilities. One of these is this beautiful lady, Gladys Kamakuokalani Brandt, a Native Hawaiian teacher.

Gladys is old enough to have attended the funeral services in 1917 of Queen Liliuokalani, the last reining monarch of Hawaii, and still young enough to witness the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 which precipitated World War II.

When Gladys began her career as a teacher, she worked in public schools. Eventually she became an instructor at the prestigious Kamehameha Schools, a private institution set up to educate Native Hawaiian students.

As a youngster, Gladys was deeply ashamed of her Hawaiian heritage, so much so that she rubbed her face with lemon juice to lighten her complexion. By the time she became the principal of Kamehameha Schools, however, she had resolved to fight tirelessly for the inclusion of courses to preserve Native Hawaiian culture. She supported instruction in Hawaiian language, song, and the controversial standing hula dance which had been forbidden by the school’s trustees. The story of her work is an inspirational one.

Equally inspirational is the story of the dedication and sacrifice of Hawaii’s teachers in the days and weeks following the bombing of Pear Harbor. From serving as ambulance drivers, setting up shelters for survivors, teaching their students how to use gas masks, taking their students into the sugar cane fields to harvest the crops, and re-establishing some semblance of order for their students when school resumed, their deeds are truly remarkable.

You can read about Gladys and her fellow Hawaiian teachers in my book, Chalkboard Champions:  Twelve Remarkable Teachers Who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students.