Mid-Pacific is proud to congratulate teachers Alex Fox, John Wat and CoCo Wiel who were recently honored with Po'okela Awards for their contributions to the dramatic arts in Hawaii.

The Hawaii State Theatre Council presented awards to the three Mid-Pacific School of the Arts teachers, as well as Chelsea Cox '16 and Camille Perry '21 both part of the "Outstanding Ensemble" of Kailua On-stage Arts' production of "The Wolves," and Nate Koike '17, "Outstanding Ensemble" for the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival's "King Lear."

Fox won "Leading Male in a Play" for the Actors' Group production of "True West." Wat received a service award for his work with Kumu Kahua Theatre. Wiel was honored with the "Adjudicators' Special Award" as a puppetry specialist on the Manoa Valley Theatre production of "Avenue Q."

"The School of the Arts is proud to have so many faculty members in the theater program who are outstanding artists in addition to being outstanding educators," says MPSA Director R. Kevin Doyle. "Congratulations to John, CoCo, Alex and our talented students and graduates!"

"Teaching puppetry for Manoa's "Avenue Q" production was an outstanding experience," Wiel says. "The challenge of puppeteering is in lip-syncing. Adults in theatre, like our MPSA students, are anxious to improve and want to absorb new ways of expressing themselves through characters. Working off-campus brought a renewed vigor to the sections on puppetry I teach here in the middle school!"

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