Ho‘oha‘aheo Newsletter, Jan. 14

Aloha, HIDOE Community – 

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Ho‘oha‘aheo Newsletter.

School Resource Officer pilot program
This morning, along with the Honolulu Police Department (HPD), we announced the launch of Oʻahu's first School Resource Officer (SRO) pilot program this month at Kaimukī, Kapolei and Wai‘anae high schools. This initiative builds on successful SRO programs already in place on Maui, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island, where county police and secondary schools have worked together for years to strengthen school communities, provide mentorship and support safe and welcoming campuses. As part of the program, each participating school will work directly with its assigned SRO team to shape activities that meet the needs of its students and community. While officers will retain law enforcement responsibilities, the program emphasizes relationship-building, mentorship, conflict resolution and collaboration with educators. Activities may include classroom visits, presentations on student well-being and safety, and support for school and extracurricular programs.

The pilot will run through the 2025–26 school year. At the end of the year, we will evaluate the program’s impact, identify any adjustments and explore future funding opportunities.

Kula Elementary School: We took some of our student council keiki to Haleakalā to do a little community service and plant ‘āhinahina. We made a pit stop at Hosmer Grove for lunch where we heard birds chirping, saw nēnē and even an ‘i‘iwi. Mahalo nui to our NPS Haleakalā rangers for helping to make this in service opportunity happen.

‘Ilima Intermediate School: The results are in! Mr. Van Hooser’s Financial Literacy classes overall placed 2nd for Middle Schools. Truly an awesome effort. Please help us in congratulating Maui D. and Taimane G. S. for securing an exceptional 2nd place finish in The SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game for the Fall 2025 session. This remarkable achievement is a direct result of their hard work, dedication, and smart investment strategies.

Waimea High School: 13 students from Suo Oshima High School in Japan joined the MTV3 crew this morning for the broadcast. Communication was complicated, but it was fun. Aloha Japan! #180daysofwaimeahs #HIPublicSchoolsProud

In celebration of January as Muʻumuʻu Month, nearly 30 Waipahu High School students helped to create a special exhibition of vintage muʻumuʻu, which is currently on display at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The collaboration was done in partnership with UH Mānoa’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program. While curating the exhibit, the teens also got to learn about digital clothing design and potential careers in the fashion industry.

Renovation work is officially underway at Molokai High School’s gym. The major upgrade will improve the facility for students, athletes and the wider community. The project is a joint effort between the HIDOE and the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency, focused on modernizing the gym’s amenities while also strengthening the structure so it can serve as an emergency hurricane shelter.

Roosevelt High School AP Art and Design student Kaylen Saucedo’s piece titled “Twisted Wonderland” was selected to be part of the 2025 AP Art and Design Exhibit, featuring works from students across the country who explore ideas through artmaking. Her artwork depicts an eerie wonderland with a warped carousel and floating cards symbolizing the viewers fate.

Tara Lyn Siy is a senior and serves as a student representative for Kapolei High School’s Engineering & Design Academy advisory board. She is also the co-captain for the color guard section and president of National Honor Society. She’s also involved in SkillsUSA, FCCLA, and the FIRST Robotics team. She plans to study motorsports engineering and hopes to inspire other women in the racing world and STEM. During her free time she enjoys playing tennis, practicing her color guard skills and hanging out with family.

Clarissa Chun

Occupation: Women’s wrestling head coach at the University of Iowa
What school you grad? Roosevelt High ‘99
College: Missouri Valley College, University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Location: Iowa City, IA

A two-time Olympian, Roosevelt High School graduate Clarissa Chun won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and a world championship title in 2008 in Tokyo, becoming one of the most accomplished U.S. women’s wrestlers and the first Olympian from Hawai‘i to medal in wrestling. After a decorated 18-year career in competitive wrestling, which includes five U.S. Open titles and four Pan American Championship gold medals, she became a leader in the sport. In 2017, she spent four years as an assistant coach with Team USA Wrestling’s women’s national team. During that time, she helped guide the team to 17 World Championship medals—seven gold, four silver, and six bronze—along with four Olympic medals, including a gold. In Sept. 2021, the University of Iowa became the first-ever NCAA Division I Power Five school to add women's wrestling as a sport and tapped Chun to lead the new program.

As a high school junior, Chun was Hawai’i’s first high school state champion in 1998, the year that Hawai‘i became the first state in the country to sanction girls high school wrestling as a sport—and won it again the following year. She was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2022, becoming just the fourth woman to receive the honor. She is also a member of the Missouri Valley College Hall of Fame, the National High School Hall of Fame, the Hawai‘i Sports Hall of Fame and the Roosevelt High School Hall of Fame. She attended Hongwanji Mission School, Kawānanakoa Middle School and Roosevelt High School.

Q: What makes you #PublicSchoolProud?
A: We have great education in public school systems. For me, every experience that I had at Roosevelt has been a positive one. I feel grateful for the time that I’ve had at Roosevelt and I am proud to be a Rough Rider. I feel that there are so many people who say they would never want to go back to their high school days, but that's not how I feel about my time at Roosevelt. I’ve had such a great experience with my friends, my peers, teachers, security guards, administration. I just felt that Roosevelt created an environment where I could thrive and find my best self there. They all challenged me as a student and athlete to bring out my best version of myself and I'm proud to be a part of the public school system. 

Q: Name of a teacher or mentor you’d like to thank?
A: My guidance counselor, Dayna Kaneshiro, and my oral interpretation English teacher, Lori Hamel. I feel like they’ve helped me in so many ways in my high school life as far as just being there to sit and talk through things. I’d also like to thank my history teacher Ms. Dudoit. She took a group of us to Washington, D.C., and got us traveling, understanding the government and life experiences. I feel like those were big impact opportunities of learning and growing and direction of where to go next in life. My Japanese teacher, Ms. Fujinaka, she was really strict and really hard and I absolutely hated it but it was one of those things that really challenged me and when you're in it, you’re wondering why. But looking back at it now, it was all to challenge me and grow and to not to take the easy road.