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Stories About Hawaii Educators

Watch and read stories about the life-changing impact of local teachers and professors.

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#MyAwesomeTeacher

Our teachers are great sources of encouragement, inspiration, and positive life transformations. Many of us have had a teacher who made a major impact on our lives or helped us to simply do better.

Here, HEA showcases testimonials about amazing teachers to highlight the importance of our local educators. These stories were collected and featured throughout our website, newsletter, and social media in 2021 as part of our 100th anniversary celebration.

Community Testimonials

We are honored to share these memories from our community about the impact of Hawaii educators on their students’ lives.

“At Hawaii Baptist Academy, Mrs. Arlene Huster inspired me to choose my passion for music over a high salary for my college major. I now sing professionally while flying around the world as a flight attendant.”

Taylor Ishida

In honor of Arlene Huster

Hawaii Baptist Academy

“Carl Tanabe inspires me, a senior, to play the ukulele until I am older and grayer. Even in his 20s, he’s patient beyond his years to help his students at Roy Sakuma’s Ukulele Studios reach their full potential.”

Linda Shimamoto

In honor of Carl Tanabe

Roy Sakuma’s Ukulele Studios

“As the choir teacher at Aiea High School, Mrs. Edwina Siu made us country kids into the Swingin’ Singers, a national and international performing group. Many of our alumni then chose music and teaching careers.”

Blaine Fergerstrom

In honor of Edwina Siu

Aiea High School

“Mr. Bud Jenkins at Mililani High School made chemistry exciting. Because of him, I bought starter chemistry kits and a microscope to learn more at home, and he gave me extra equipment to support my experiments.”

Jeffrey Higa

In honor of Bud Jenkins

Mililani High School