Kumu News

Education

  • Master of Education in Teaching, University of Hawai‘i Mānoa, 2006
  • B.A. Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai‘i Mānoa, 2002
  • Kalāheo High School Class of 1999

Teaching Experience

  • Kamehameha Middle School, Kapālama Campus 2016-2018
  • St. Mark Lutheran Middle School 2014-2016
  • Substitute Teacher Assets School 2015
  • Kūlia i Ka Nu‘u Kumu 2013-2014
  • Kalāheo High School 2006-2009
  • Interships include Kailua High School and Ilima Intermediate

About Me

Aloha! As we embark on a journey of education I though you should know some things about who I am and where I come from. I decided to become a teacher in the 4th grade and that vision never changed. I grew up in Salt Lake to be near my motherʻs job as a profession figure skating coach. We moved to Kailua right before I entered the 9th grade. After graduating I moved to Hilo for a semester before moving back home and finishing my degree in Hawaiian Studies. I spent a year sub teaching in the DOE before going back for my M.Ed.T, where I spent two years studying alongside Kumu Larsen. Shortly after graduation I married my high school sweetheart and began teaching at Kalāheo High School. After a few years of seeing the high demands on teachers I took a break to start my family. I have 3 wonderful girls who all attend Mālama Honua PCS, Bella Rae Kinohi, Mia Marie Kamāla, and Eva Jean Kawena. I have spent 2 years as a makua at Mālama Honua PCS and I am more than excited to start as Kumu Souki!

What Iʻve Been Reading Lately

I recently finished Darling Greatly by Brene Brown Ph.D., LMSW. It is a wonderful book about the relationship between vulnerability and shame. I comes from a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt on April 23rd, 1910.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while DARING GREATLY..."

This speech is at the very beginning of the book and I fell in love with the idea immediately. We are all going to error and fail but it means we are trying!!!

Here are some quotes from the book in regards to parenting:

"...if we want our children to love and accept who they are, our job is to love and accept who we are. We canʻt use fear, shame, blame, and judgement in our own lives if we want to raise courageous children. Compassion and connection--the very things that give purpose and meaning to our lives--can only be learned if they are experienced"

"...there seems to be a growing concern on the part of parents and teachers that children are not learning how to handle adversity or disappointment because we are always rescuing them and protecting them... Hope is a function of struggle. If we want our children to develop high levels of hopefulness, we have to let them struggle. And let me tell you, next to love and belonging, Iʻm not sure I want anything more for my kids than a deep sense of hopefulness."