Name: Diane N. Fallas
Age: 44
Position: Teacher, Kula Elementary School, Maui
Education: Chaminade University
Pastimes: Reading, cooking, gardening

She asks students to envision the problems early Polynesians would have encountered in a voyage, then has them act out the problems in a skit. The students later discuss possible solutions.

"It was an exercise in putting the kids in the place of the ancient navigators," said Fallas, who has incorporated fine arts and performing arts in a curriculum about Hawaii before the arrival of Capt. James Cook.

Fallas sees art as opening a door to the world for students: "It gives them a different way of experiencing themselves."

Vice Principal Rene Yamafuji said Fallas offers students an alternative way of looking at learning.

"The students who are not academic but better in art get their chance to get recognized in the classroom," Yamafuji said. "It's really good to have both styles."

Fallas received a scholarship last summer to attend art workshops in Washington, D.C., through the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Getting a teaching degree did not come easy for Fallas, a single parent, who went back to school when she was 38 and raising a 10-year-old girl.

She enjoys teaching art because it seems to level the learning field for students.

"All the learning disabilities just seem to melt away," she said. "It gives them freedom."