Waianae High School

Breaking Boundries

Waianae has had a bad reputation for quite some time, but my experience there was of a beautiful place filled with people who care deeply, love fiercely, and strive for greatness.

WHS is an integral part of the culture on the West Coast of Oahu. The teachers and students alike have been determined to change the reputation of the Leeward Coast by offering a 21st century education in the form of Small Learning Communities, or SLCs. This includes (but is not limited to) the Searider Production Academy--a New Tech Network School--formerly the Arts and Communication Academy in which I taught.

Despite continuous furlough days in which school days are lost due to funding, teachers have written grants and put in extra hours with their students to achieve the unbelievable in an unimaginable place.

To learn more, click the following link: WAIANAE HIGH SCHOOL

2009 WHS students crush stereotypes with their slam poetry.

PBS Hawaii spotlight on my former WHS student and Teacher's Assistant, Max Holloway.

furlough day field trip

WHS sits on Farrington Hwy, the one road leading in and out of Makaha, Waianae, and Nanakuli, where most of my students lived.

The state of Hawaii is the most isolated land mass on the planet. While Oahu, "The gathering place," has a lot of people, it is not a very large island. To my surprise, most of my students had not made it much farther than our little town which hosted only one gas station and the most profitable 7-11 in the country.

When the furlough days started rolling in, I decided it wouldn't stop my students and me from learning together. I also figured I'd use this as an opportunity to help my students travel a bit farther than they had been before.

So I wrote a proposal, got administration approval, gathered donations, secured three chaperones, and took my kids on a field trip. We went downtown Honolulu to see a student production of Shakespeare's play, "Twelfth Knight."

Click an image to see it full size!

fun friday(s)

The Friday Furloughs began to effect attendance on the few Fridays school was actually in session. Our community was low-income (80% of students on free or reduced lunch), so high school kids became family babysitters to younger siblings.

At the time, students did not have laptops. To that end, I didn't even have enough books to send kids home with for reading homework, or paper to make copies of everything.

So Friday's became FUN in room A-101. We played games. This encouraged kids to come to school if at all possible. It also helped build moral and solidify our classroom community. The games I chose also facilitated vocabulary building, public speaking fears, listening skills, creative thinking, and more.