 CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COMStar of the Sea School teacher Ann Githere received leis yesterday from Jennifer Bragg, middle, and Sara Creadick, both students at Star of the Sea. CLICK FOR LARGE |
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A passion for teaching
Star of the Sea teacher Ann Githere retires after 47 years in the profession
TEACHER Ann Githere would liven up the day by singing to her students at Star of the Sea School.
"She's just a fabulous teacher," said Principal Carola Souza. "In the morning, we take lunch count, and it would be very boring to read out the menu. Well, she'd sing out the menu for the kids, just to make it interesting."
The methods of the former nun, who used to lead the students in song during Mass or rewrite Christmas and May Day plays, delighted not only students but the staff.
Knowing that Githere used her granddaughter Isabella as an excuse to retire after 47 years of teaching, the staff yesterday wore masks with a picture of Isabella in a good-humored attempt to make her change her mind.
Bubbly at 67, Githere enjoyed a pile of sweet leis and jokes about her retirement during a luncheon yesterday in her honor at the Star of the Sea parish hall.
Growing up in Kaimuki, Githere had established a relationship with the school from early on, first as an elementary student and later in high school.
After graduating in 1957, Githere decided to pursue a dream of becoming one of the Sisters of Notre Dame. She found happiness as a nun and also a passion for teaching.
"I was very impressed by my teachers, the Sisters of Notre Dame," Githere said. "I decided that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a teacher, too. So I went to California to train and I started teaching there ... and I came back here and started teaching at Star of the Sea, but I went back and forth (between California and Hawaii)."
HER NEXT STEP changed her life and set her apart from the typical schoolteacher: Githere was called to work as a missionary in Kenya.
There, she taught international students at a training college, and on a school trip to a drama festival she met her future husband, Gilbert Githere, a Kenyan native and TV producer, one of the judges at the festival.
She left the religious order to get married and start a family.
After she moved back to Honolulu and found a house in Mililani, Githere debated trying another profession. Despite other opportunities, she was unable to pry herself from teaching.
She said she told herself, "I'm gonna keep teaching at Star of the Sea because I love it here. And I put up with the traffic going back and forth every day, knowing that this is a place where I want to be. And I would put up with the distance."
LEAVING Star of the Sea after 25 years, she said she would prefer to be known simply as a dedicated teacher who loves her granddaughter.
"I feel two ways," she said. "I'm very happy to have accomplished so much and be at the point in my life where I can retire. But I also feel sad I'll be leaving what I love doing, being with the children and the staff working here at Star of the Sea and being in education for so long."
