Top Teachers
Saturday, December 19, 1998
Name: Lisa Otsuka
Age: 30
Position: Waimanalo Elementary kindergarten teacher
Education: University of Hawaii
Pastimes: Running, cooking, animals, Japanese culture
Slowly but surely, Lisa Otsuka is bringing the world to her students. Going beyond Waimanalo
The Waimanalo Elementary kindergarten teacher said for many area kids, "their whole world is just Waimanalo."
Through activities in and out of the classroom, her goal is to give them as many experiences as they can get.
Otsuka recently organized the school's first track and cross-country teams. At a practice at Kaiser High School, students saw their first rubberized track.
Otsuka said her job is especially rewarding, as she's allowed to "bring my interests and the things that excite me to the kids."
Right now, they're being immersed in Japanese culture.
As a participating school in the East-West Center's Consortium for Teaching Asia and the Pacific in the Schools program, Waimanalo's curriculum requires that each grade level study an Asia-Pacific country, and kindergartners chose Japan.
A firm believer in interactive learning, one of Otsuka's cultural learning projects this year was May Day, when students, wearing hapi coats made from T-shirts, danced around a yagura, or bon dance stand. The community participated, too.
Principal Marian Holokai described Otsuka as the "kind of teacher schools look for -- teachers that extend themselves beyond the boundaries of our school."
Kimberly K. Fu, Star-Bulletin
