{"id":14299,"date":"2025-08-13T11:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=14299"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:07:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:07:34","slug":"2025-hidoe-recognizes-complex-area-and-charter-school-teachers-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/2025-hidoe-recognizes-complex-area-and-charter-school-teachers-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"HIDOE recognizes complex area and charter school teachers of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The finalists are (top row, left to right), David Adler, Josette (Kaleo) Akim Hanohano, Jessica Canyon, Susan Chew. (Second row, left to right) Claire Ann (Kalaunuola) Domingo, Steve Hanks, Judith (Elise) Hannigan, Christopher Justo. (Third row, left to right) Jodi Kadoyama, Emily Mendoza, Kristel Pigao, Dawn Spurrell-Robinson. (Bottom row, left to right) Courtney Suma, Kris Tajima, Kathleen Trifonovitch, Natsumi Yamasato.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HONOLULU \u2014 The Hawai\u02bbi State Department of Education (HIDOE) today named 15 complex area teachers of the year and one charter school teacher of the year as part of the 2026 Hawai\u02bbi State Teacher of the Year recognition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This year’s Teachers of the Year exemplify the profound impact our dedicated educators have in preparing our students to become globally competitive and locally committed,\u201d Superintendent Keith Hayashi said. \u201cTheir commitment to fostering not just academic excellence, but also creativity, resilience, curiosity and critical thinking, is truly inspiring. We are honored to celebrate these individuals who are actively building a foundation for success for our students, our schools, and our state.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teachers of the year, in alphabetical order, are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teacher<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
Khu ph\u1ee9c h\u1ee3p<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng h\u1ecdc<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
Subject or Grade<\/strong><\/div><\/td><\/tr>
David Adler<\/div><\/td>
N\u0101n\u0101kuli-Wai'anae<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng ti\u1ec3u h\u1ecdc N\u0101n\u0101kuli<\/div><\/td>
6th grade math and science<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Josette (Kaleo) Akim Hanohano<\/div><\/td>
L\u00e2u \u0111\u00e0i Kahuku<\/div><\/td>
Kahuku trung c\u1ea5p v\u00e0 cao c\u1ea5p<\/div><\/td>
Modern History of Hawai\u02bbi and Hawaiian Language<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Jessica Canyon<\/div><\/td>
Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng ti\u1ec3u h\u1ecdc Fern<\/div><\/td>
L\u1edbp 5<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Susan Chew<\/div><\/td>
H\u0101na-Lahainaluna-L\u0101na'i-Molokai<\/div><\/td>
L\u0101na\u02bbi High and Elementary<\/div><\/td>
M\u1eabu gi\u00e1o<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Claire Ann (Kalaunuola) Domingo<\/div><\/td>
Public Charter Schools<\/div><\/td>
Ke Kula \u02bbo Samuel M. Kamakau Laboratory Public Charter School<\/div><\/td>
Kindergarten (Hawaiian immersion)<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Steve Hanks<\/div><\/td>
Honoka\u02bba-Kealakehe-Kohala-Konawaena\u00a0<\/div><\/td>
Honoka\u02bba Cao c\u1ea5p & Trung c\u1ea5p<\/div><\/td>
11th and 12th grade math<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Judith (Elise) Hannigan<\/div><\/td>
Ka\u02bb\u016b-Kea\u2018au-P\u0101hoa<\/div><\/td>
Cao trung Kea\u02bbau<\/div><\/td>
Ti\u1ebfng Anh<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Christopher Justo<\/div><\/td>
Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua<\/div><\/td>
Mililani Trung<\/div><\/td>
Agriculture<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Jodi Kadoyama<\/div><\/td>
Th\u00e0nh ph\u1ed1 Pearl-Waipahu<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng ti\u1ec3u h\u1ecdc M\u0101nana<\/div><\/td>
Curriculum Coordinator<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Emily Mendoza<\/div><\/td>
'Aiea-Moanalua-Radford<\/div><\/td>
\u02bbAiea Cao<\/div><\/td>
Ngh\u1ec7 thu\u1eadt \u1ea9m th\u1ef1c<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Kristel Pigao<\/div><\/td>
Baldwin-Kekaulike-K\u016blanih\u0101ko\u02bbi-Maui<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng ti\u1ec3u h\u1ecdc Waihe\u02bbe<\/div><\/td>
L\u1edbp 5<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Dawn Spurrell-Robinson<\/div><\/td>
Hilo-Wai\u0101kea<\/div><\/td>
Khu ph\u1ee9c h\u1ee3p Hilo-Wai\u0101kea<\/div><\/td>
PreK-6<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Courtney Suma<\/div><\/td>
Campbell-Kapolei<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng trung h\u1ecdc Kapolei<\/div><\/td>
Career Academy Coordinator<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Kris Tajima<\/div><\/td>
Kaimuk\u012b-McKinley-Roosevelt<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng ti\u1ec3u h\u1ecdc Kauluwela<\/div><\/td>
English Learner Coordinator<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Kathleen Trifonovitch<\/div><\/td>
Kailua-Kal\u0101heo<\/div><\/td>
Tr\u01b0\u1eddng ti\u1ec3u h\u1ecdc Maunawili<\/div><\/td>
L\u1edbp 4<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
Natsumi Yamasato<\/div><\/td>
Kapa\u02bba-Kaua\u02bbi-Waimea<\/div><\/td>
Wilcox Elementary<\/div><\/td>
STEM<\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, one teacher will be announced as the 2026 Hawai\u02bbi State Teacher of the Year and will go on to represent Hawai\u02bbi in the National Teacher of the Year program<\/a>. The honor is presented annually to a teacher selected from more than 13,000 HIDOE educators.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The finalists are (top row, left to right), David Adler, Josette (Kaleo) Akim Hanohano, Jessica Canyon, Susan Chew. (Second row, left to right) Claire Ann (Kalaunuola) Domingo, Steve Hanks, Judith (Elise) Hannigan, Christopher Justo. (Third row, left to right) Jodi Kadoyama, Emily Mendoza, Kristel Pigao, Dawn Spurrell-Robinson. (Bottom row, left to right) Courtney Suma, Kris […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14818,"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":"16234,10236,15652,9987,2427,9834","_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-14299","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\/20250813-toy-resize4.jpg",800,480,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Stanley Lee","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/author\/stanley-leek12-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":310,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":310,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 00:08:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}