OF THE YEAR
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Inspiration
is potent force
for Kailua’s Oato
Math teacher Winona Oato, who has spent her entire 38-year career at Kailua High School, lifts her students' performance in class by connecting with their lives beyond the classroom.
"We control the human aspect of teaching, which is not measured in grades or test scores," said Oato, who was named Hawaii's 2005 State Teacher of the Year yesterday. Her job, she believes, is to inspire students, and the academics will follow.
"It is often not the mathematics that our students remember, but the cake that we baked them for their birthday," she said, "the excursion we took them on to discover another aspect of life, the faith we had in their individual progress, the Kleenex and cold water we provided."
Oato and six other district Teachers of the Year were honored yesterday at a festive meeting of the Board of Education at Moanalua Middle School. Wendi Woodstrup, branch manager of the Mililani Public Library, was named the 2004 Public Librarian of the Year.
The district winners are Cynthia Bennett of Baldwin High, Gail Anne Pottenger of Washington Middle School, Rene Relacion of Kapaa Middle School, June Sheffield of Pahoa High and Intermediate, Tracy Taylor of Kapolei Middle School and Don Tsuha of Moanalua Middle School.
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A University of Hawaii graduate, Oato said she quickly discovered as a novice teacher that she could not separate the academics from the character of the student. Instead she teaches to "the whole child," an approach that works with the top students as well as the least motivated.
"Every year, all of her students pass the Advanced Placement Calculus exam," said Ronald Tamaru, engineering and architecture instructor at Kailua. "This is quite a remarkable feat."
Oato helps students during recess and stays after school to work with them. In class she groups students in teams, who are responsible for helping each other. Team members change every two weeks. She coaches Kailua's competitive Math League team. To reach students who would rather avoid the subject, she disguises math in games or activities and relates it to real jobs like construction.
"She's very strict," said Francine Honda, her principal. "The children really have to work hard, but they know that she cares about them and that makes the difference. She's always cheerful, always bubbly, full of energy not only outside the classroom, but inside it."
A large part of Oato's career has been devoted to training and mentoring other teachers.
"We have a shortage of teachers, especially in math and science," Oato said. "That's the second mission of my teaching career. If teachers are not trained really well, they're going to quit."
The oldest of three children, Oato came to teaching naturally. As a youngster she would set up tiny classes, complete with textbooks and little blackboards, with her brother and sister and neighbors. Her sister, Laurie Zane, followed her footsteps into the profession and retired in June from Kaahumanu Elementary, but Oato shows no signs of following suit.
"When I wake up every morning, I think of all the kids, and I want to be with them," she said.
Each district Teacher of the Year received the key to a new car to be used for a year, provided by Volkswagen Dealers of Hawaii, Servco's Toyota and Suzuki distributorships and dealers, Hawaii's Mazda dealers, Pflueger Honda, Cutter's Hawaii Mitsubishi and the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association.
The Polynesian Cultural Center, longtime sponsor of the event, gave each winning teacher $500, with an extra $1,000 for the state winner. Other sponsors were the SMARTer Kids Foundation, which donated instructional software and other prizes, and Ruby Tuesday restaurant.
