As an elementary student in the Pacific Northwest she fondly remembers planting a cedar sapling in Ft. Stevens State Park on Earth Day. She still visits this tree from time to time. As a graduate of Waialua High School, she participated in her first native plant restoration project in the Waiʻanae Mountains. Continuing her education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, her favorite course was Ethnobotany. She valued learning about the plants of Hawai'i alongside the uses and traditions of local culture. After earning her master’s degree in Education from the University of Southern California, she joined the IPES ohana in 2013.

She and her family have been instrumental in the collaborative effort to plan and maintain the orchard project since its onset in 2022. Her goal is to provide students with space for hands-on learning, to observe natural phenomena and to strengthen our school community through hard work & caring for the land. She hopes that her students will return to visit the trees they planted and cared for as 10 & 11 year olds and feel pride in their connection to this place.  

Jordan's favorite tree in the orchard is the fig tree, as it seems perfectly suited to life on the leeward side. She is also in love with the wind resistant ‘a‘ali‘i plant and has visions of it growing all over our campus. 

Thank you, thank you, to our exceptional SPED teacher on the grade 5 team. She strives to make the orchard an accessible space for all our learners. Gardening is one of her favorite hobbies, earning her the reputation of having a green thumb. She sees caring for plants as nurturing friendships and finds solace in the garden, considering it a space for self-care and emotional expression. Surrounded by plants since childhood, from ornamental flowers to crops and fruit-bearing trees, she values cultural practices like soil cultivation and holistic plant care. Her son shares her passion, particularly enjoying tending to fruit-bearing plants like bananas, lemons, and pineapples in the IPES orchard.