Top Teachers
Saturday, May 9, 1998
Name: Charlene Gillia
Age: 43
Position: Kapunahala Elementary special education teacher
Education: University of Hawaii-Manoa
Pastimes: Baking
Some days Charlene Gillia will bake a batch of cookies. Other days she'll whip up several batches. It all depends on the kind of day she's had. Seeing beyond the disabilities
"I love to bake. ... I always said that if I got out of teaching, I'd open my own cookie shop," said the Kapunahala Elementary teacher, adding that brownies are her forte and baking helps relieve her stress.
Special education has been Gillia's field for almost 20 years, and during that time she has skated over some rough spots.
"Sometimes I say I'm ready for a divorce," Gillia said of her students in Kaneohe. "I tell them I need a break."
From autistic students to those emotionally, physically or learning disabled, Gillia has worked with personalities that haven't always clicked with hers. But the result is always the same -- the children learn, contradicting the stereotype that "special" children are somehow defective, she said.
Gillia said being firm, fair and caring opens the lines of communication between her and her students. "They become part of you. You become an ohana," she said.
Part-time Hawaiian Studies teacher Robin Makapagal said Gillia's gift is her ability to see beyond each student's disability. "She really cares about them as individuals and what they can achieve," said Makapagal. "She doesn't see her kids as special education kids and she really pushes them to achieve their own potential."
Kimberly K. Fu, Star-Bulletin
