{"id":17208,"date":"2025-11-13T14:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=17208"},"modified":"2025-12-10T15:33:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T01:33:15","slug":"2025-intro-to-glass-fires-up-at-leilehua-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/2025-intro-to-glass-fires-up-at-leilehua-high\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Intro to Glass\u2019 fires up at Leilehua High: A shining debut in Hawai\u02bbi public schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"kb-gallery-wrap-id-17208_44584a-ec alignnone wp-block-kadence-advancedgallery\"><ul class=\"kb-gallery-ul kb-gallery-non-static kb-gallery-type-masonry kb-masonry-init kb-gallery-id-17208_44584a-ec kb-gallery-caption-style-bottom kb-gallery-filter-none\" data-image-filter=\"none\" data-item-selector=\".kadence-blocks-gallery-item\" data-lightbox-caption=\"true\" data-columns-xxl=\"3\" data-columns-xl=\"3\" data-columns-md=\"3\" data-columns-sm=\"2\" data-columns-xs=\"1\" data-columns-ss=\"1\"><li class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item\"><div class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item-inner\"><figure class=\"kb-gallery-figure kadence-blocks-gallery-item-has-caption\"><div class=\"kb-gal-image-radius\" style=\"max-width:1024px;\"><div class=\"kb-gallery-image-contain kadence-blocks-gallery-intrinsic\" style=\"padding-bottom:66%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134-1024x683.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Students learn to help each other through the medium of glass\" data-full-image=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134.jpg\" data-light-image=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134.jpg\" data-id=\"17216\" class=\"wp-image-17216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001134.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/div><div class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Students learn to help each other through the medium of glass<\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div><\/li><li class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item\"><div class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item-inner\"><figure class=\"kb-gallery-figure kadence-blocks-gallery-item-has-caption\"><div class=\"kb-gal-image-radius\" style=\"max-width:1024px;\"><div class=\"kb-gallery-image-contain kadence-blocks-gallery-intrinsic\" style=\"padding-bottom:66%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122-1024x683.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Ariana Wilhite, senior, Leilehua High\" data-full-image=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122.jpg\" data-light-image=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122.jpg\" data-id=\"17211\" class=\"wp-image-17211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ariana-Wilhite-Leilehua-HS-P1001122.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/div><div class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Ariana Wilhite, senior, Leilehua High<\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div><\/li><li class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item\"><div class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item-inner\"><figure class=\"kb-gallery-figure kadence-blocks-gallery-item-has-caption\"><div class=\"kb-gal-image-radius\" style=\"max-width:1024px;\"><div class=\"kb-gallery-image-contain kadence-blocks-gallery-intrinsic\" style=\"padding-bottom:66%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116-1024x683.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"A molded glass plate by Jessica Ryan, senior, Leilehua High\" data-full-image=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116.jpg\" data-light-image=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116.jpg\" data-id=\"17215\" class=\"wp-image-17215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001116.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/div><div class=\"kadence-blocks-gallery-item__caption\">A molded glass plate by Jessica Ryan, senior, Leilehua High<\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Education\u2019s course catalog includes a brand-new art class this school year: Introduction to Glass at Leilehua High \u2013 the first in a Hawai\u02bbi public school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dustin Hart, an acclaimed international 3-D artist who also happens to be the head of the Fine Arts Department at Leilehua High, conceived the course. He explains why this art form is crucial for today\u2019s &#8220;digital native&#8221; students, who are raised in the age of glass technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStudents, they see their cell phones, they know what&#8217;s on it, but they know apps, they know social media, they don&#8217;t really know what makes it,\u201d Hart said. \u201cUnderstanding all the property elements of glass, how it can be used and leveraged, and the future of what they&#8217;re stepping into. After they graduate high school they&#8217;re going to be in a world that is of glass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJust honestly, 10 out of 10, recommend,\u201d said Ariana Whilhite, a senior at Leilehua High. \u201cI think my favorite thing about glassblowing is that we have creative freedom, \u2026 and that&#8217;s honestly the best part about having Mr. Hart as a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The semester-long course is a comprehensive immersion into the art of glass, focusing on fundamental concepts, materials, and techniques across three primary disciplines: kiln-forming, glassblowing, and coldworking. Students explore the unique properties of glass, learning how to manipulate its form, light, and transparency. Over 40 students are currently enrolled in the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sustainability is at the core of the glass class. Hart embedded a high-efficiency electric furnace that can also be used with solar power to cut electricity costs. Students also engage in stewardship of their community through their recycled glass program. To stretch the class budget, the community brings glass bottles for the students to melt and upcycle.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey&#8217;ve learned stewardship of their community,\u201d Hart noted. \u201cWe have a recycling program where the community is bringing in recycled glass. And the first thing that we do is we kind of wash that glass, take care of that glass, talk about where it comes from, what it&#8217;s made of, its chemical properties, break it down, melt it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He hopes students will be able to create ornaments out of the recycled green glass bottles, rolling them in gold leaf and selling them as Christmas ornaments with \u201cMules\u201d written on them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Glass is an art medium that requires more than just creativity. According to Whilhite, she is learning not only design concepts but also resiliency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It also helps you try not to be a complete perfectionist,&#8221; she said. &#8220;When I first joined this class, I struggled with always trying to be perfect. But you know what. The little mistakes can always make it better. I&#8217;ve had multiple pieces where there&#8217;ve been mistakes along the way and they turned out beautifully.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hart shared that this class also teaches students valuable skills for life after graduation: \u201cI&#8217;m also working with the students \u2014 demonstrating leadership, humility, service to the community. You don&#8217;t always get a partner who has the same vision as you, but you have to learn how to work with one another to accomplish the same goal. I think that&#8217;s essential for the workforce.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagination, resilience, leadership, collaboration, and stewardship of the community \u2014 these are all essentials needed when creating masterpieces, both in glass and as a successful public school graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on Leilehua High&#8217;s Intro to Glass or their other fine arts classes, contact <a href=\"mailto:Dustin.Hart@k12.hi.us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dustin.Hart@k12.hi.us<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Education\u2019s course catalog includes a brand-new art class this school year: Introduction to Glass at Leilehua High \u2013 the first in a Hawai\u02bbi public school. Dustin Hart, an acclaimed international 3-D artist who also happens to be the head of the Fine Arts Department at Leilehua High, conceived the course. He explains why this art form is crucial for today\u2019s &#8220;digital native&#8221; students, who are raised in the age of glass technology. \u201cStudents, they see their cell phones, they know what&#8217;s on it, but they know apps, they know social media, they don&#8217;t really know what makes it,\u201d Hart said. \u201cUnderstanding all the property elements [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":17213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,888,893,1022,1619,1622","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Glassblowing-Leilehua-HS-P1001095-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kimi Takazawa","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/author\/kimi-takazawak12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":306,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":306,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 23:41:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}