Hawaii’s Super Students




Saturday, February 8, 1997

Name: Janelle Kuroda
Age: 17
School: Waiakea High
Favorite subjects: Political science, art
Activities: Student councils president
Future: U.S. President

"When you set high goals, I tend to put out that much more. Why not president?" she asked.

On the way to the top office, she'd also like to be a governor or U.S. senator.

Dan Sakai, her principal at Waiakea High, says she'll succeed.

"I'll put money down and I'll wager you, maybe not president, but she'll become a U.S. senator."

Kuroda is already on her way to Washington. She is one of two Hawaii youth selected for intensive studies in the U.S. Senate on March 1-8.

"I want to get experience. I don't really know how it is to be inside (the government)," she said.

She's already a student insider, president of several school organizations.

"She has the respect of all kinds of personalities, from high achievers to 'at risk,'" Sakai said.

She's been commencement hostess for three years, a competitive position that requires "witty" speeches, he said.

Not yet out of high school, she is already taking classes at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. Janelle, the daughter of Edmund and Joan Kuroda, plans to attend George Washington University in the District of Columbia.

Her interest in politics began in about the sixth grade, her father said. "She read letters to the editor. That kind of floored me," he said.