Aloha, HIDOE Community –
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Ho‘oha‘aheo Newsletter.
Milken Educator Awards
For the first time in eight years, we are proud to have two national Milken awardees in Hawai‘i in a single year. Congratulations to Kawānanakoa Middle School’s Jade Pham and Waiākea High School’s Rory Inouye for each winning the prestigious Milken Educator Awards this week! The award honors teachers nationwide who demonstrate outstanding excellence in education and comes with an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize.
Jade is the student services coordinator and TA vice principal at Kawānanakoa Middle School. She immigrated to Hawaiʻi with her family as a toddler and attended public schools throughout her educational journey — from Linapuni Elementary and Pālolo Elementary to Jarrett Middle and Kaimukī High School — while she grew up in public housing. Rory teaches math at Waiākea High, where he graduated from. His father, mother and brother are all educators as well. A former Waiākea High baseball player, he also coached the team to consecutive appearances in Division I championship games in 2017 and 2018.
Congratulations to both Jade and Rory on this incredible achievement and mahalo to the Milken Family Foundation for recognizing our amazing teachers!
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 Young Entrepreneurs Program
Retail items created by HIDOE secondary students featuring locally sourced agricultural products were a hit at the Kapiʻolani Community College Farmers’ Market this past Saturday.
Students in grades 6-12 from 16 of our schools were tasked with developing real-world profitable businesses as part of the Young Entrepreneurs Program sponsored by the Hawai‘i Agricultural Foundation. They came up with innovative products featuring locally sourced materials like coffee, lavender, macadamia nuts, butter, fruits, vegetables and herbs.
I enjoyed seeing our students in action and putting their marketing and communication skills to use with customers. Many of the students' products sold out in minutes — everything from freshly baked sourdough pizza from Kahuku High made with fresh basil from Lāʻie and Kamuela tomatoes, to mamaki and lemongrass tea from ʻAiea High students.
Unlike other entrepreneur programs that are theoretical by design, the Young Entrepreneurs Program requires students to develop and implement a viable business idea — and turn a profit. Programs like this truly prepare our students to be globally competitive and locally committed. Here's a short video recapping the farmers market experience.
Summer internships
As part of our ongoing commitment to prepare students for the workforce, the Department is offering in-person student internships in our various offices statewide to provide opportunities for students to learn employability and technical skills related to their career interests.
The internships include opportunities in teaching, occupational therapy, information technology, web design, data analysis, communications and more. Interns must be at least 16-years-old, enrolled in a HIDOE high school as a junior or senior or in a Community School for Adults, and preferably enrolled in a program of study that aligns with the internship.
For more information including application deadlines, please visit this page. (Note: Students and employees must be logged into their @k12.hi.us email account to view the linked document.)
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