Pacific Century Fellows

I'm very honored to have been chosen to be a part of the Pacific Century Fellows program. I would like to thank the administration at Punahou School for their guidance throughout the application process and their material support going forward. My goal for this experience is that the knowledge and the relationships I will gain will not only benefit my teaching and my courses but the entire school community.

Looking over the list of other fellows it appears that I am the only person working directly in education, but I did get a chance to speak at length with several candidates during the interview day and many of them have tangential interests in that area.

One person in particular who could work well with the PUEO (Partnership in Unlimited Educational Opportunities) program is Jessica Horiuchi of the Alaka'ina Foundation. They work with rural public schools to provide leadership and S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)-based programs for the youth of Hawai'i. I look forward to working with Jessica to convey the message to the other fellows that there is an untapped resource in our state— our students in public and private schools— who could serve a valuable role in addressing many of our societal concerns that government and private entities cannot currently alleviate. Incorporating more service-learning into the respective curricula could transform how students view their education, how they view their roles as citizens from a very young age, and how adults view our young people (i.e. our state's future).