Ho‘oha‘aheo Newsletter, Jan. 28

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Jan. 28, 2026

Editorial Mission: As the Department's primary publication, we aim to live up to the meaning of ha‘aheo – to cherish with pride – by bolstering and sustaining pride in public education and touting the successes happening across our system.

‘Ewa Makai Middle School

Waialua High & Intermediate School

New process for Kaiapuni enrollment
Beginning Feb. 2, 2026, families seeking new enrollment or transfers into elementary-level Kaiapuni programs as well as K-12 schools Ke Kula Kaiapuni ‘O ʻĀnuenue and Ke Kula ‘O ‘Ehunuikaimalino, will apply through a centralized priority placement process coordinated by our Office of Hawaiian Education. The application window will close March 13, 2026.

With growing demand for Hawaiian immersion education, this new process aims to bring greater consistency, transparency and equity to Kaiapuni enrollment statewide. It’s part of interim guidance intended to provide near-term direction for schools and families while we work to develop our longer-term strategy to expand access and strengthen support for Kaiapuni Education. To learn more about the Kaiapuni priority placement process, including timelines and family resources, visit https://go.hidoe.us/kaiapuni-enrollment. 

Kealakehe High School advanced agriculture students went on a field trip to the Pu‘u Wa‘awa‘a Forest Reserve on Jan. 22 to learn about Native Hawaiian plants and reforestation. The students cleaned up the existing area and planted ʻōhiʻa trees with support from the Pilina ʻĀina program of the Akaka Foundation For Tropical Forests.

Credit: Manuel Jadulang / Kealakehe High School

Send us your public school-related image from this school year for a chance to be featured as next week’s Ho‘oha‘aheo Photo of the Week!

This McKinley High School alum had a distinguished career in both the U.S. military and U.S. Congress. He’s the namesake of a Hawai‘i public school, an active U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, a major highway on Hawaiʻi Island and an international airport. Who is this remarkable Tiger?

a. 1SG Samuel K. Solomon
b. Major General William R. Shafter
c. Lt. Col. Horace M. Hickam
d. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye

Find the answer at the end of this newsletter.

Kailua Elementary School: 🌊💙 Water Safety = Life Safety! 💙🌊 We’re excited to share that all of our 2nd–4th graders have been offered free Water Safety lessons with the YMCA! Some of them started today! 🏊‍♂️✨ Thanks to a fully grant-funded program, every student will receive this important instruction at no cost to families. In Hawaiʻi, learning to be safe in and around water isn’t just a skill—it’s essential. We’re grateful for this partnership and for the opportunity to give our students knowledge, confidence, and skills that can truly save lives. 🌈 Mahalo to the YMCA for supporting our students and our community! 🤙

Kamiloʻiki Elementary School: Join us in celebrating the AWESOME attendance of our Kamilo‘iki students!🎉 We had 59 students finish Quarter 2 with 0️⃣ absences and 0️⃣ tardies. Even more amazing? 🤩23 students achieved “perfect attendance” for the entire first semester—that’s 89 straight days in school!🌟👏🏽We can’t wait to see more students achieve awesome attendance for Quarter 3!

‘Īao Intermediate School: After months of building, planning, problem-solving, competitions, and countless lunch & after-school practices, ‘Īao Gear It Up Team A & Team B powered their way to an incredible THIRD PLACE FINISH out of 8 teams in the finals of the Maui 2025–2026 VEX IQ-RL Valley Isle Mixed League for Elementary & Middle School teams! This achievement is a true testament to our students’ hard work, teamwork, creativity, and perseverance. From fine-tuning robot designs to strategizing under pressure, our students showed what it means to rise to a challenge and never give up.

Use the #HIPublicSchoolsProud hashtag for a chance to be featured!

In honor of January being National Mentoring Month, we are sharing messages from some of HIDOE’s newest teachers to their mentors. These messages were collected by HIDOEʻs Hawai‘i Teacher Induction Center, which supports mentorship for approximately 1,300 first- and second-year educators in the Department every year. Click each thumbnail below to hear a short message from a new teacher thanking their mentors.

Armida Baltero, Elementary special education teacher/care coordinator at Lāna‘i High and Elementary School, reflects on the impact of mentor Kelly Deslippe, whose patience, guidance and encouragement made a difference.

Rita Coury, art teacher at ʻIlima Intermediate School, highlights mentor Randall Shinn as a trusted source of honest advice and steady support throughout her teaching journey. 

Madison Zakahi, second grade teacher at Alvah Scott Elementary, shares how mentor Brad Kusunoki has played a meaningful role in her professional growth through consistent support and encouragement.

This month, Hawaiʻi public school cafeterias statewide offered students a fresh, locally grown rainbow salad with lunch, highlighting the Department’s continued commitment to farm-to-school efforts and student wellness. The colorful salad featured locally sourced lettuce, cucumbers, watercress and tomatoes, as available, along with carrots and purple cabbage.

Approximately 5,400 pounds of local produce — including 3,300 pounds of lettuce, 2,000 pounds of tomatoes and 100 pounds of cucumbers — were distributed to 100 participating schools across the state.

At Kohala High School and Kohala Elementary School on the northern tip of Hawaiʻi Island, students enjoyed the vibrant salad alongside a familiar lunch favorite: pepperoni pizza. While the classic entrée was a crowd-pleaser, the fresh vegetables also earned positive reviews from students.

“I thought that the salad was really good and I think everyone should like it,” Kohala Elementary School third grader Macklin Loo said. “It's good for you because it gives you a lot of nutrients.”

“I liked how it had purple cabbage and carrots inside,” added fellow third grader Aliana Perez.

Kohala High School students echoed similar sentiments. “I thought it was really good, especially since it's fresh and it's from local vendors, and that's really important for us to have in school,” ninth grader Haley Pimentel said. “You can really taste the freshness.”

Another ninth grader, Kazlyn Matsu, agreed: “It's really good. It tastes fresh — not like the type of salads that are pre-made in bags in stores.”

The initiative is part of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education’s farm-to-school program, which supports food sustainability in Hawaiʻi and aligns with Act 175’s goals to improve student health while strengthening the local agricultural economy.

“I think we should be sourcing locally as much as possible because it supports our local farmers and the local economy,” Kohala High School Food Services Manager Indigo Mathewson said. “The food is fresher and more nutritious, and not everyone has access to meals like this every day. Exposing students to healthy foods early on is important, and I think we’re on the right track.”

In addition to the monthly special salad, beginning this school year Hawaiʻi public schools also have the option to offer fresh salad entrées throughout the year as an alternative to the standard lunch entrée. Options include Chinese chicken salad, protein snack box, chicken Caesar salad, chef salad and taco salad. These salads are made fresh at each school and feature local produce when available, such as lettuce, won bok, cucumbers, green cabbage, tomatoes and beef.

Hawaiʻi public schools are among the state’s largest institutional food consumers, serving more than 100,000 student meals each day. The Department continues to collaborate with local vendors statewide to expand the regular use of fresh, locally grown produce in school cafeterias.

Photo credit: Krislyn Yano Moore / HIDOE Communications Branch

Mahalo to Kohala High School’s cafeteria staff, pictured from left to right—Jean Pang, Coralee Mockchew, School Food Services Manager Indigo Mathewson, Gigi Alcoran, Rose Ansagay and Kimberly Kauanoe—for inviting us into their kitchen and to Kohala High and Kohala Elementary students and staff for welcoming us into their cafeteria!

“What’s For School Lunch?” is a monthly column coordinated with the School Food Services Branch that features new and exciting school meal initiatives.

Kathryn Ko Occupation: Neurosurgeon What school you grad? Kalani High School ‘73 College: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Academy of Art University Medical School: University of Hawai'i at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) Location: New York City Dr. Kathryn Ko believes that art and medicine go hand in hand—both hands, in her case. An artist and neurosurgeon, she spent more than 30 years performing emergency surgeries in hospitals in NYC. After earning a zoology degree from University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, she attended the John A. Burns School of Medicine, where she taught herself to be ambidextrous and is able to operate, paint and draw with either hand. In 1983, after completing her residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in NYC, she became JABSOM’s first female neurosurgeon. Midway through her career, while serving as chief of neurosurgery at a Level I trauma center in the Bronx, Ko realized something was missing. On a whim, she signed up for a few beginner painting classes at a local YMCA—and discovered a whole new passion. That spark eventually led her to earn a master's degree in representational painting, with a focus on medical art, from the Academy of Art University in 2012. Her two worlds have continued to overlap ever since. In 2015, she became the inaugural Artist in Residence for the American Medical Women’s Association and now serves as Artist in Residence at the Living Museum. In March 2024, she donated the Ko Iki Museum to JABSOM, a small outdoor gallery on campus that features new exhibits every six weeks from different artists. She also sponsors JABSOM’s annual holiday card design contest. Ko attended ʻEwa Beach Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Niu Valley Intermediate and Kalani High School. Her artwork can be found on Instagram @doc_ambidexter. Q: What are you up to these days? A: I’m currently working as a neurosurgery consultant for the New York Police Department and the City of New York. I’m also participating in art exhibits around the New York area.  Q: Why did you choose this career path and what do you enjoy most about it? A: I became very interested in the human brain during medical school and dedicated my career to studying it and caring for patients.  Q: Name of a teacher or mentor you’d like to thank? A: Mrs. Butterfield who taught Spanish. Little did I know I would use it daily at Harlem Hospital Center! Q: What advice do you have for students? A: Take as many different classes as you are able. You never know when that subject will be important to your future.

Kalani High School graduate Dr. Kathryn Ko painted a portrait of herself doing neurosurgery while she was in art school. Her piece was later published on the cover of the journal World Neurosurgery. Photo courtesy: Kathryn Ko

• January: National Mentoring Month
• January: School Board Appreciation Month
• Feb. 12 - Board of Education Student Achievement Committee, Human Resources Committee, General Business Meeting
• Feb. 16 - Presidents Day (Schools and offices closed)

Educational Assistant I, II, III, Moanalua High (Oʻahu)
Behavioral Health Specialist III, IV, Leeward District Administration (Oʻahu)
Data Processing User Support Technician I, II, Molokai High (Molokai)
Reading Intervention Teacher, Kahului Elementary (Maui)
School Baker, Nāʻālehu Elementary (Hawai‘i Island)

HIDOE’s Office of Talent Management is hosting one-hour webinars to provide an overview of the application and hiring process. Visit each page for dates and registration information.

• Teachers, librarians and counselor positions
• Classified and support services personnel positions
  
  

To learn more about career opportunities in the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, please visit hawaiischooljobs.com.

Public School Pop Quiz! Answer: d. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye. A 1942 graduate of McKinley High School, Sen. Inouye went on to earn degrees from the University of Hawai‘i and George Washington University Law School. He served in Congress for over 50 years and is remembered for his heroism in World War II and lifelong dedication to public service.

Many places bear his name in recognition of his legacy — including Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School on Schofield Barracks, the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the guided missile destroyer USS Daniel Inouye, and a highway on Hawai‘i Island. Others include a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft, a solar telescope on Maui, the NOAA Pacific Regional Center at Ford Island, and multiple facilities across UH campuses statewide.

This newsletter was produced by the Hawai'i State Department of Education's Communications Branch.

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