Name: Hazel Toyama
Age: 53
Position: Waiakea High School teacher
Education: California State University, Long Beach
Passion: UH Rainbow volleyball

Same thing in 10th grade and again in the girl's senior year.

The girl got pregnant that year, but stayed in school and graduated.

The girl now has a good job and a steady boyfriend. And she still visits her former typing teacher.

"The thing is, she's my friend now," Toyama said. "We can talk as adults."

Toyama has a stack of notes from former students saying thank you. "These are our reason for becoming teachers," she says.

Heald Business College recently recognized Toyama for excellence in teaching, largely based on student endorsements of her.

Typing might not seem like a subject that could arouse such affection.

"It could be monotonous," Toyama admits.

She keeps students' interest with classroom games like relay-race typing. The lead student in each team types one line, then passes the paper on for teammates to do further lines.

Toyama passes along this sense of fun from her own school days. She intended to go to secretarial school but went to college instead when she followed an uncle to California.

"Gee, college is fun," she discovered.