Ewa Makai Middle School teacher VanessaChing received the state’s top teaching awardfrom Gov. David Ige and Supt. Christina Kishi-moto during a ceremony at Washington PlaceOct. 27.

“Developing a culture of environmentally con-scious students, community members and par-ents, Vanessa worked to designate Ewa MakaiMiddle as a plastic-free school and won a refill-able water station in a national contest with apowerful PSA,” said Principal Kim Sanders.“Vanessa and her students wrote grants to de-velop an organic garden, aquaponics and acomposting program towards becoming awaste-free school. Her dedicated work hasbeen an incredible learning opportunity forour students and our entire campus and com-munity have been improved as a whole.”

‘Ōlelo Community Mediahosted a panel discussion onOct. 3 on the status of publiceducation and the Superinten-dent’s Implementation Plan forthe Strategic Plan, focused onSchool Design.

“Designing Schools forHawai‘i’s Future” featured Gov.David Ige, Board of EducationChairperson Lance Mizumoto,Supt. Christina Kishimoto,Waipahu High Principal KeithHayashi, and Kapunahala Ele-mentary teacher and Hawai‘iState Teacher of the Year (2016)Stephanie Mew. It was moder-ated by Oceanit’s Ian Kitajima,who has facilitated DesignThinking training and exercisesat schools. The program can bewatched on demand or streamedonline (see box).

The discussion ranges fromstudent-directed learning to in-novations in the schools, withHayashi and Mew providingvaluable insight into howthey’ve seen that evolve in

Hawai‘i’s classrooms andschools over the last few years.

“When you talk about beingentrepreneurial within an indus-try — the DOE is an industry,”said Mew. “And when you sup-port teachers to be entrepreneur-ial and innovative... the wealthof expertise and passion in theteaching field, the teachers herein Hawai‘i — it’s golden.”

Superintendent’s

EDUCATION UPDATEHAWAII STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION | NOVEMBER 2017

CONNECT WITH US!

OpportunitieseDUcaTORS

The FISEF Good Idea Grantprogram awards up to $5,000 toteachers in federally impactedschools for projects that fit intothe following categories: aca-demics, innovative curriculum,and social wellness. The applica-tion has been used to fund out-door classrooms, art & historyprojects, pre-K readiness, learn-ing libraries, STEM projects, ge-ography programs, kinder kind-ness, and more. Apply by Dec.15. intranet.hawaiipublicschools.org/Lists/Opportunities

The Fulbright DistinguishedAwards in Teaching Programprovides funding for highly ac-complished K-12 educators totake part in intensive profes-sional development for three tosix months abroad, sponsoredby the U.S. Department of Stateand administered by the Instituteof International Education. Applyby Dec. 15. www.fulbrightteacherexchange.org/application

SchOOLS

The focus of Walmart’sCommunity Grant program is tomake a positive impact in thecommunities in which it serves.Among its eight areas of givingis education, including providingafterschool enrichment, tutoringor vocational training for low-income individuals and familiesin the United States. Any K-12public, private or charter schoolcan apply for grants of $250 to$2,500. Apply by Dec. 31.giving.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/local-giving-guidelines

HawaiiPublicSchools.org | 808-586-3230 | Email: doe_info@hawaiidoe.org | Social:

2018 TeacheR Of The yeaR

EMMS’s Vanessa Ching to represent Hawai‘i

‘ŌLeLO PROgRaM

Watch ‘Designing Schools for Hawai‘i’s Future’

ONLINe

Watch on demand:bit.ly/Olelo-DSHF

Back Page

Celebrating this year’shonored teachers — readSupt. Kishimoto’s column.

The Hawai‘i State Board ofEducation approved theappointment of the followingleaders as recommended by Supt.Christina Kishimoto.

PHyllIS UNEbASAmI,DEPUTy SUPErINTENDENT

Prior to rejoining thedepartment as the acting assistant

superintendentfor the Office ofStrategy,Innovation andPlanning(OSIP),Unebasami wasan independent

educational consultant, managingdirector at Kamehameha Schoolsfor Hoʻolaukoa EducationalSystems and Strategies, as well asa division director for LiteracyInstruction and Support. Duringher time with HIDOE, she servedin school-level, district and statepositions including anadministrator for the ProfessionalDevelopment and EducationalResearch Institute, deputy supt.for the Windward District Office,principal and vice principal.

brOOK CONNEr, ASST.SUPErINTENDENT, OITS

David Brookshire “Brook”Conner’s appointment to lead theOffice of Information Technology

Services waseffective Sept.25. Conner hasserved in high-profileinformationtechnology (IT)positions, most

recently as the first chiefinformation security officer andvice president for Estée LauderCompanies where he constructeda cyber security program,managed a budget of $22 millionand ensured compliance. He alsoworked for Morgan Stanley as anexecutive director and globalhead of vulnerabilitymanagement, Bloomberg LP, and

as an adjunct professor at NewYork University.

rODNEy lUKE, ASST.SUPErINTENDENT, OSIP

Rodney Luke will serve asInterim Assistant Superintendent

for the Office ofStrategy,Innovation andPerformance,effective Oct. 1,2017 throughJune 30, 2018.Luke has been

the Pearl City-Waipahu ComplexArea Supt. since 2012. He startedwith the department in 1991 andhas worked as a principal, viceprincipal and teacher.

ClAyTON KANINAU, CAS,PEArl CITy-WAIPAHU

Clayton Kaninau will serve asActing Complex Area Supt. for

the Pearl City-WaipahuComplex Areaduring theperiod of Luke’sinterimappointment.Kaninau was

previously the Complex AreaAcademic Officer. He is a formerprincipal of KauluwelaElementary and has worked in avariety of education roles in thedepartment since 1985.

KATHlEEN DImINO, CAS,bAlDWIN-KEKAUlIKE-mAUI

Dimino has been with thedepartment since 1991 and is

presently theprincipal atPukalaniElementarySchool. She hasalso served as avice principal atKing Kekaulike

High and Lahaina Intermediate,district education specialist, stateresource teacher, student servicescoordinator, English teacher andspecial education teacher.

PAGE 2 › EDUCATION UPDATE

Leadership matters

Unebasami

Conner

Luke

DiminoVIDeO PROfILe: WaIMea hIgh SchOOL

Learn how pride and leadership fuel the academic andcommunity achievement of this challenged westside Kaua‘ischool. Watch the inspirational video: vimeo.com/238819279

Kaninau

Geri Martin,left, andStacey Oshiowere honoredrespectivelyas the VicePrincipal andPrincipal ofthe Year byHASSA onOct. 8.

The Hawaii Association ofSecondary SchoolAdministrators (HASSA)honored Stacey Oshio fromOlomana School as the state’sNational DistinguishedPrincipal of the Year and GeriMartin from Ewa MakaiMiddle as the Vice Principal ofthe Year during a luncheon atthe Hale Koa Hotel on Oct. 8.

“Stacey and Geri areinspirational leaders who havedone an excellent job servingtheir team, students and schoolcommunities,” said PenelopeTom of HASSA.

Oshio practices a shared

leadership style and has beenworking towards makingOlomana a true alternativelearning center. Studentsparticipate in project-basedlearning classes that engagestudents.

Martin promotesdistributive teacher leadershipand recognizes the value ofteachers in continuing theacademic growth at school.She has spearheaded theSTEM movement and leadswith her heart, doing whateverit takes to take care of people.Full story and media online:bit.ly/HIDOE-NDP17

‘Inspirational’ leaders honoredas Principal, VP of the Year

NOVEMBER 2017 ‹ PAGE 3

Stevenson computerlab updated withassist from theClippers Foundation

Stevenson Middle School andthe L.A. Clippers Foundationdedicated a newly refurbishedcomputer lab before students,teachers and special guests, alongwith members of the L.A.Clippers Foundation and theHawaii Tourism Authority. TheLos Angeles Clippers’ BlakeGriffin and DeAndre Jordan alsojoined the dedication ceremonywith a special appearance by theteam’s mascot, Chuck the Condor.

“Our students are so thankfulfor the wonderful generosity ofthe L.A. Clippers Foundation.The new computers will providetechnology access to morestudents,” said Principal LinellDilwith. “We want to thank theHawaii Tourism Authority forconnecting us with the L.A.

Clippers Foundation, and a bigmahalo to the foundation andDenise Booth for their hard workin making this new computer laba reality.”

Stevenson Middle received adonation of nearly $40,000 incomputer equipment from theL.A. Clippers Foundation,including 30 HP ProDeskdesktops, two Canon wirelessprinters and a 55-inch televisionfor instruction. In addition toconverting the classroom into acomputer lab, the donation willalso provide a new central airconditioning unit for the room.

“These are not just computers,”

said Gillian Zucker, president ofbusiness operations for the L.A.Clippers, “they’re windows to theworld that I hope make learningfun. That’s really what we wantto do. We want to make comingto school a better experience forstudents.”

The computer lab will beaccessible to all students for theschool’s digital and online

programs. Stevenson’sMedia/Photography Club will behoused in the new lab and willuse the equipment to produce thestudent newsletter and documentschool activities. Coincidentally,the computer lab happens to havea special room number — 213 —which corresponds to Chuck theCondor’s jersey number and LA’sarea code.

Success Stories MORE AT HAWAIIPUBLICSCHOOLS.ORG

▼

VIDEOWatch on our Facebook page:facebook.com/HIDOE808/videos

Blake Griffin of the L.A. Clippers with students on new computers in theStevenson Middle School lab.

KAISEr HIGH SCHOOl WINSINTErNATIONAl FIlm AWArD

Henry J. Kaiser High School’sMedia Communications LearningCenter (MCLC) became the firsthigh school from Hawai‘i tocompete in and win an award atthe All American High SchoolFilm Festival (AAHSFF) in NewYork City. The short film “TheLast Check” won in the categoryfor Best Film Invitational 3 DayShoot and Edit out of more than30 other school entries.

Two teams from Kaiser’sMCLC were selected to compete.Micah Mew, Rosario Joaquin,Anna Garcia and Dalya Yoo’sshort film “Summer Solitude”was selected as one of nine filmsfrom Hawai‘i to compete in theDrama category. The other groupmade up of Julia Bresnan, LucyChalekian, Makana Richter, TylerBender, Gearld Canaday IV,Hunter Dias, Albert Insisiengmay,

Noah Matsumoto, Landon Shigetaand Riley-Jade Yee produced“The Last Check.” The groupfilmed in Central Park, GrandCentral Terminal and Bryant Park,and worked with a professionalactor and actress in the city.

Julia reflected on the lifechanging experience and sharedthat, “the process helped me grow

so much as a filmmaker. Andbeing able to film in such iconicareas of New York City was anhonor that I will cherish andremember forever.”

“The approach we took tocapture the sound and achieve thecorrect lighting was a process wehad to learn on the go,” addedLandon. “This was the first time in

New York for all of us, and weneed to find new practices andtechniques to work in a busy city.”

KAPOlEI STUDENT POSTErCHOSEN FOr CAmPAIGN

As many schools across thenation observed National SchoolBus Safety Week (Oct. 16-20),this year’s event was extra specialfor former Kapolei Middle Schoolstudent, Branden Pagurayan,whose drawing was featured onthe 2017 National School BusSafety Week poster.

In Branden’s artwork, thehashtag #STOPONRED is used todepict the importance of driversstopping for a school bus whenloading or unloading students.

This is the second consecutiveyear Kapolei Middle School has anational winner. Melia LaFleur’sdrawing was featured on the 2016National School Bus Safety Weekposter.

Kaiser High’s MCLC team on location in Times Square, New York City.They became the first high school team from Hawaii to compete and win anaward at the All American High School Film Festival in New York City.

As I’ve expanded my visitswith schools, I have been trulyimpressed with the quality ofteaching I’ve seen and the effec-tive practices in the classroomthat engage and inspire our stu-dents.

I was thrilled to celebratesome of our teaching exemplarsrecently at the ceremony honor-ing this year’s cohort of Teachersof the Year, state and district —they are creative, energetic andmaster educators whose impactsare felt individually and broadly.

Kaua‘i’s Amanda Fretto culti-vates inclusion of special needsstudents with the SpecialOlympics and United Sound pro-

grams. She has “the heart of alion,” a colleague noted.

To ensure more students havehighly effective teachers,Francine Hughes uses her 20 years of teaching experienceon Maui in crafting professionaldevelopment that resonates withcolleagues thanks to her reflec-tive, solutions-oriented and col-laborative style.

The importance of leading byexample led longtime CentralDistrict educator Gregg Iha tocreate the “Six Pillars of Char-acter” program for both keikiand adults that’s still in use today.

Students learn best when theyfeel engaged, feel they belong,

and have opportuni-ties — that’s Erika

Kaneo’s creed and she’s makingthat happen in the Hilo-WaiakeaComplex Area.

Del Onaga’s leadership ofOlomana School’s EngineeringAcademy makes learning rele-vant for at-risk youths — their“whys” are being answered.

A parent described SEEQSteacher Cristin Priolo as “a mile-stone person,” someone unfor-gettable. She’s changing lives byconnecting learning to real-worldproblems.

Naomi Salaveria’s passion isto help students with multipledisabilities at Liholiho El learn

to their full potential, and shecontinues her work as aShriners Hospital volunteer.

And congratulations to StateTeacher of the Year VanessaChing of Ewa Makai Middle,who has initiated and imple-mented programs — green recy-cling, bike safety, anti-bullying— that inspire students to elevatethemselves and their community.She will represent Hawai‘i in theNational Teacher of the Year Pro-gram and be honored in Washing-ton D.C. in the spring.

We are the Hawai‘i State Department of Education — we impact students, families andcommunities!

Education Update is a monthly newsletter by the Department’s Communications Office, distributed to schools, the first Board of Education meeting of the month, and posted to HawaiiPublicSchools.org. We encourage submissions! Please contact us at the phone, email or social channels above.

EDUCATION UPDATE › NOVEMBER 2017 › BACK PAGE

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‹‹‹ NOV 5

TSUNAmI SUrVIVAl GUIDEDo you know how a killer tsunami isborn and what you can do to surviveone? World Tsunami Awareness Dayis a great time to watch NOAA’sTsunami Survival Guide videocollection. Learn about tsunami safetyand science and how the NOAA earlywarning system detects and forecastswhen a tsunami may arrive and how itmight impact coastline communities.Visit https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/every-full-moon

Supt.’s Corner DR. CHRISTINA M. KISHIMOTO

Don’t Miss This! EVENTS, DEADLINES & FUN STUFF

NOV 13-17

AmErICAN EDUCATION WEEKOrganized by the National EducationAssociation, this event celebrates publiceducation and honors individuals whoare making a difference in ensuring thatevery child receives a quality education.The theme this year is “Great PublicSchools: A Basic Right and OurResponsibility. Access resources to hosteventsand activities to recognize thecontribution of community, substitutes,support personnel and more. Visitwww.nea.org/grants/19823.htm

NOV 15

GIS DAyA geographic information system (GIS)lets us visualize, question, analyze, andinterpret data to understandrelationships, patterns, and trends usingmapping technology. This day providesa forum to demonstrate real-worldapplications that are making adifference in our society, and their useat schools. Hands-on exercises brokeninto grades 1-4, 5-12 and adults atwww.gisday.com/resources.html

On hand tocelebrate

2018 Teacherof the Year

VanessaChing were

Supt.Christina

Kishimoto,Gov. David

Ige and FirstLady DawnAmano Ige.