2009 Siemens Teacher Award to Kanja

Congratulations to Candace Kanja for being granted the 2009 Siemens Teacher Award for AP Teachers (Calculus).  She was one of only 50 teachers nationwide to be granted this honor, and is the only teacher from Hawaii to receive this prestigious award.  From this, MPI will receive a $1,000 grant from Siemens to support math education.  

"I feel honored and flattered to have won the Siemens Award," Kanja said. "I know several past winners, and I feel honored to be included in that group of teachers. My receiving this award is a reflection of the strength of the entire mathematics program at MPI. Because learning math is a cumulative process, the success that the AP Calculus students and I have enjoyed is the result of my colleagues providing students with a solid foundation in all of the pre-calculus concepts."

MPI Medal at Science Olympiad

Congratulations to this year's Middle School Science Olympiad team. This year they had to compete in the Leeward Divisionals to move on to the State Finals held on March 6 at Leeward Community College. The MPI 8th graders won a total of 4 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in the 7 events they entered. The team members were Koko Hanson-Dobbs, Tommy Lam, Jordan Ota, Trace Sakima, Lei-Lin Sun and Lindsay Teruya.

Gee, it's nice to be home

I was very happy to return to school on Thursday morning to greet the children as they walked into school. One of my responsibilities as part of the larger community of independent schools is to serve occasionally in the capacity as chairperson of a visiting team to a school undergoing accreditation. We experienced this same accreditation process last year -- a yearlong process of self-assessment on how well we have been meeting standards set by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS). A team of three other educators and I served as the visiting team for an independent school in Kihei, Maui. From Sunday through Wednesday, we visited classrooms, met with every constituent group of the school (Board members, faculty, etc.), examined school documents, and deliberated every evening on what we had learned in conjunction with the school's report. A visiting team is immersed in the life of the school; the experience is deeply rewarding and educational. While I was impressed by many aspects of the school I had visited, I was eager to settle back into the ebb and flow of life at Mid-Pacific Institute. Good to be home!