Hawaii's Top Teachers

Name: Joy Pu'u'olani Gaston
Age: 50
Position: Fifth-grade teacher, Kihei School
Education: University of Southern California
Pastimes: Snorkeling

"Nobody would hire me," she said.

Gaston, 50, a fifth-grade teacher at Kihei School, said one principal, Beverly Stanich, gave her a chance.

In 1991, Gaston was selected as the state Teacher of the Year. She has been a state finalist twice for the Presidential Award For Excellence in Elementary Science Teaching, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

"She's a real exciting, hands-on, and innovative teacher," said Maureen Harvey, facilitator for the school's Parent Community Networking Center.

She teaches science to 230 students on closed-circuit television, made interactive through walkie-talkies in the classrooms.

After leaving teaching at Punahou School in 1974 and moving to Maui, Gaston worked in various occupations. She was a scuba diver for cruises off Lahaina, owned a jewelry shop in Lahaina and was a marketing manager at a Kihei condominium.

Gaston said she teaches science in a holistic way.

In one class, students learn about the environment and geography by examining native cultures in the Pacific, California, and northeastern United States in the 1800s.

"You get to study reef life in Polynesia, kelp in California, and lake and river life in the North American woodlands," she said.