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December 29, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

John Fawcett Pogue

Maria Kapule Whitney was born October 19, 1820 to the Pioneer Company missionaries/teachers, Samuel and Mercy Whitney.

She was “the first haole girl to be born in the Hawaiian archipelago,” and named for Kauai Chiefess Kapule, wife of Kauai’s King Kaumualiʻi. Maria went to the mainland at the age of six to be educated. She graduated class of 1840 from Mt. Holyoke College.

John Fawcett Pogue son of William and Ruth Pogue, was born in Wilmington, Delaware on December 29, 1814. He graduated from Marietta College, 1840, and Lane Theological Seminary, 1843.

Ordained as a missionary minister on November 6, 1843, he was part of the 11th Company of American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, sailing from Boston Harbor on December 4, 1843, arriving in the Islands on July 15, 1844. Maria Kapule Whitney was also part of the 11th Company and served as an educator.

Pogue, an active, eager young associate, first served at Kōloa, Kauai, until July, 1847, then he went to Kealakekua Bay.

John and Maria married on May 29, 1848. (They eventually had four children, Samuel Whitney 1849-1902; Jane Knox 1851-1932; Emily Elizabeth 1853-1910 and William Fawcett 1856-1952.)

Pogue was later assigned to lead Lahainaluna Seminary; he followed prior principals, Rev Lorrin Andrews, Rev Sheldon Dibble, Rev John S Emerson, Rev William P Alexander and Rev Timothy D Hunt. (Alexander)

The school had been established in 1831 by the American Protestant missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

It was dedicated to three major principles: 1) to train native men to become assistant teachers of the Christian religion; 2) to spread sound knowledge of literature and science to elevate the Hawaiian people from their present ignorance of these subjects; and 3) to qualify Hawaiians to be school teachers to their own people.

The school began with one teacher, the Reverend Lorrin Andrews, who was also its principal and a member of its board of directors. Four other ordained ministers made up the board.

The school followed the pattern of education in Head, Heart and Hand, with instruction in secular subjects, religious and moral training and also to teach technical subjects such as printing and methods of agriculture.

Not long after its opening, the school became a boarding school and began to earn a reputation as Hawaii’s most educational institution. It was called the Mission Seminary and one of its important objectives was to train Hawaiians for the ministry. (Joerger)

The pupils of the seminary were the most promising youth from fourteen to twenty years of age who could be selected from the schools of the islands. Tuition was free; but the pupils were obliged to provide their own food, which they did by cultivating a fine tract of taro land.

To the Hawaiian people this institution was a university, completing their education for school-teaching, for law practice and civil service, and for the ministry. (Alexander) Graduates of Lahainaluna began to fill their places in Hawaiian society.

In time the graduates of this one institution made up the Hawaiian Christian ministers, scholars, politicians, lawyers, government officials, and the like, who were directing much of the course of Hawaiian life in the Kingdom.

In 1849 the mission decided that it could no longer support completely Lahainaluna. In that year, the school came under the control of the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom. But the mission still preserved its influence over the curriculum and the selection of teachers.

Moreover, the school began to concentrate on secular subjects and to decrease its training for the ministry. This change was primarily undertaken because other seminaries then existed for the training of Hawaiians for the ministry.

Instead the curriculum continued to teach both academic subjects such as literature and science and theology and practical subjects such as bookkeeping and in the manual arts such as agriculture.

Reverend Pogue spent ten years as the principal of Lahainaluna, after he had spent many previous years there as a teacher. During his administration the main building was destroyed by fire.

And it is to the credit of the school and its standing in the Islands that while the Government provided the main support in money, the community responded with donations for the rebuilding project. Three new and elegant, convenient buildings were completed while the Reverend Pogue was still principal.

In 1865, a further change in the status of the school occurred when it was placed under the direction of the Board of Education. Lahainaluna then became an ordinary, government school. In 1866 Reverend Pogue ended his years as principal of the school. (Joerger)

Pogue then went to Waiohinu (1866-69) then later served as Secretary to the Hawaii Evangelical Association. Rev John F Pogue died suddenly of Bright’s disease (chronic inflammation of the kidneys), December 4, 1877, at Laramie, Wyoming, while on a trip to the US; in 1882 Maria and her family relocated to California. She died in Santa Clara on April 20, 1900.

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Pogue, John Fawcett-1875
Pogue, John Fawcett-1875

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: John Fawcett Pogue, Hawaii, Missionaries, Lahainaluna, Maria Kapule Whitney

December 20, 2017 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Seeds to the Hawaiian Mission

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) had its origin in the desire of several young men in the Andover Theological Seminary to preach the gospel in the heathen world. (The term ‘heathen’ (without the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God) was a term in use at the time (200-years ago.))

“The Board has established missions, in the order of time in which they are now named at Bombay, and Ceylon; among the Cherokees, Choctaws, and the Cherokees of the Arkansaw ….” (Missionary Herald)

The following are portions of a December 20, 1809 letter written by Samuel J Mills to the Rev. Gordon Hall, then a student in the Theological Seminary at Andover (he was later a Missionary in the island of Bombay.)

It speaks of ‘Ōpūkaha’ia and his influence in establishing the Hawaiian Islands Mission.

“Very Dear Brother, I received your kind letter, and feel much indebted to you. I have been in this place about two months. When I came, I found my worthy friend E. Dwight here …”

“… I roomed with him about two weeks, and then removed my quarters to the Rev. Mr. Stewart’s, with whom I have lived to the present time. As every day is not so singularly spent by me as this has been, I will notice something not a little extraordinary.”

“To make my narrative understood, you must go back with me to my first arrival in this place. Mr. Dwight, I then found, was instructing a native Owhyean boy. Two natives of this island arrived here five or six months ago, and this was one of them.”

“As I was in the room with Mr. Dwight, I heard the youth recite occasionally, and soon became considerably attached to him. His manners are simple; he does not appear to be vicious in any respect, and he has a great thirst for knowledge.”

“In his simple manner of expressing himself, he says, ‘The people in Owhyhee very bad – they pray to gods made of wood. Poor Indians don’t know nothing.’”

“He says, ‘Me want to learn to read this Bible, and go back then, and tell them to pray to God up in heaven.’ (Not having a place to stay,) I told him he need not be concerned; I would find a place for him. …”

“I told him he might go home with me, and live at my father’s, and have whatever he wanted. He then came with me to my room. I heard him read his lesson, and attempted to instruct him in some of the first principles of Christianity, of which he was almost entirely ignorant. …”

“I told him further, that as my father was one of the Missionary Trustees, he would no doubt obtain for him a support, if it was thought best to educate him, which is my intention to attempt so far as that he may be able to instruct his countrymen, and, by God’s blessing, convert them to Christianity. To this he could hardly object. …”

“He had been talking with the President of the College, and I told him I would see him on the subject … (and I) related to him a part of my plan, which was that Obookiah should go with me to my father’s, and live with him this winter …”

“… and be instructed in the first principles of reading and writing, as well as of Christianity, where he would be abundantly furnished with the means of acquiring both. …”

“The President came fully into the opinion that this was the most eligible course which could be pursued, if Obookiah was willing to go. Obookiah is his Indian name, and he is seventeen years old, I told him he would be glad to go; he was without a home – without a place to eat, or sleep.”

“The poor and almost friendless Owhyean would sit down disconsolate, and the honest tears would flow freely down his sunburn face; but since this plan has been fixed upon, he has appeared cheerful, and feels quite at ease.”

“I propose to leave town in two weeks, with this native of the South to accompany me to Torringford, where I intend to place him under the care of those whose benevolence is without a bond to check, or a limit to confine it. Here I intend he shall stay until next spring, if he is contented. Thus, you see, he is likely to be firmly fixed by my side.”

“What does this mean? Brother Hall, do you understand it? Shall he be sent back unsupported, to attempt to reclaim his countrymen?”

“Shall we not rather consider these southern islands a proper place for the establishment of a mission?”

“Not that I would give up the heathen tribes of the west. I trust we shall be able to establish more than one mission in a short time, at least in a few years; and that God will enable us to extend our views and labours further than we have before contemplated.”

“We ought not to look merely to the heathen on our own continent, but to direct our attention where we may, to human appearance, do the most good, and where the difficulties are the least. We are to look to the climate – established prejudices – the acquisition of language – the means of subsistence, &c. &c.”

“All these things, I apprehend, are to be considered. The field is almost boundless; in every part of which, there ought to be Missionaries.”

“In the language of an animated writer, but I must say, ‘he is of another country – O that we could enter at a thousand gates, that every limb were a tongue, and every tongue a trumpet to spread the Gospel sound!’”

“The men of Macedonia; cry, Come over and help us. This voice is heard from the north and from the south, and from the east, and from the west.”

“O that we might glow with desire to preach the Gospel to the heathen, that is altogether irresistible! The spirit of burning hath gone forth. The camp is in motion. The Levites, we trust, are about to bear the vessels, and the great command is, Go Forward.”

“Let us, my dear brother, rely with the most implicit confidence, on those great, eternal, precious promises contained in the word of God: …”

“‘And Jesus answered and said, verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the Gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life.’”

“Be strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. ‘Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty; and in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand “shall teach thee terrible things.’” Let us exclaim with the poet:

Come then, and added to thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth.
Thou who alone art worthy! It was thine
By ancient cov’nant, e’er nature’s birth,
And thou hast made it thine by purchase since,
And overpaid its value with thy blood.”

By 1816, contributions to the ABCFM had declined. There were several reasons including post-War of 1812 recession and the fact that India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) were too remote to hold public interest. (Wagner)

Folks saw a couple options: bring Indian and foreign youth into white communities and teach them there, or go out to them and teach them in their own communities. They chose the former. They formed the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall CT.

The school’s first student was Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia (Obookiah,) a native Hawaiian from the Island of Hawaiʻi who in 1808-1809 (after his parents had been killed) boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent. In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, more than half of whom were Hawaiian.

At the beginning of the school’s tenure, ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia was considered a leader of the student body, excelling in his studies, expressing his fondness for and understanding of the importance of the agricultural labor, and qualifying for a full church membership due to his devotion to his new faith.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia was being groomed to be a key figure in a mission to Hawai‘i, to be joined by Samuel Mills Jr. Unfortunately, ʻŌpūkahaʻia died at Cornwall on February 17, 1818, and several months later Mills died at sea off West Africa after surveying lands that became Liberia.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia, inspired by many young men with proven sincerity and religious fervor of the missionary movement, had wanted to spread the word of Christianity back home in Hawaiʻi; his book inspired missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Hawaiian Islands.

On October 23, 1819, a group of northeast missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauaʻi’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

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Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s
Henry_Opukahaia,_ca. 1810s

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Foreign Mission School, Opukahaia, Hawaii, Missionaries, Henry Opukahaia, Sandwich Islands, Hawaiian Islands, Samuel Mills, American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, ABCFM

December 16, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kazakhstan Connection

Ethnic Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated to the region by the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation.

The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. (The Republic of Kazakhstan gained its independence from the Soviet Union on December 16, 1991.)

The Trans-ili-Alatau mountains stand in the southeast of Kazakhstan; they are connected to a number of ranges that stretch through Central Asia. At the foot of the Alatau is Tamchiboulac spring (Dropping Spring,) where water oozes out of the cliffs.

Thomas (an English architect and artist) and Lucy were on an exploration trip through this region. An outcome of their trek were several hundred works of art, many of which were subsequently exhibited in London and some of which were reproduced in books Thomas subsequently wrote.

Another outcome was a son, born November 16, 1848, nine months into a journey – they named him for places in the region, Atalau Tamchiboulac. His birth was premature, which was attributed by the doctor to the fact that Lucy had spent every day of the preceding months on horseback.

After almost seven years of travels, the family arrived back in St Petersburg just before Christmas 1853 and remained there until 1858. (Simpson)

Andrew Dickson White, one of the cofounders of Cornell University, met Alatau and his parents at that time, noting “… it was my good fortune to become intimately acquainted with … the British traveler in Siberia.”

“He had brought back many portfolios of sketches, and his charming wife had treasured up a great fund of anecdotes of people and adventure, so that I seemed for a time to know Siberia as if I had lived there. Then it was that I learned of the beauties and capabilities of its southern provinces.”

“(They) had also brought back their only child, a son born on the Siberian steppe, a wonderfully bright youngster, whom they destined for the British navy.”

“He bore a name which I fear may at times have proved a burden to him, for his father and mother were so delighted with the place in which he was born that they called him, after it, ‘Alatow-Tam Chiboulak.’” (White Autobiography)

Later, “For about fifty years Dr. White had tried to find him, but without result. (His parents) were English missionaries from central Asia and they brought with them the future father of Jack whom Dr. White, in his autobiography, describes as ‘a wonderfully interesting child, burdened with the name of his Asian birthplace, ‘Alatau Tam Chiboulak.’”

“The rumor was that the young follow had gone into the navy in after years and so Dr. White often but vainly enquired after him at British naval depots.” (Hawaiian Star, December 9, 1911)

In January 1868, Alatau married Annie Humble in Newcastle-upon-tyne and their first child, Zoe, was born at the end of that year. The following year he left England and the little family made their way to Hawai‘i, via Panama and San Francisco. (Simpson)

Alatau took charge of St Alban’s College (forerunner to today’s ‘Iolani School) under Bishop Staley. Alatau Tamchiboulac later becoming principal of the famous old Fort Street School. (Nellist)

In 1881, he became editor of the Hawaiian Gazette, public opinion on politics and affairs of the time was shaped to a large extent by his own convictions, as expressed through the columns of his paper, and his readers received the benefit of his far reaching knowledge of life and events.

He became inspector general of public schools in 1887 and helped form the educational policies in the Islands, first of the Hawaiian monarchy and later of the Territory. A great part of his life was given to the organization of the present public school system in Hawaii.

When Hawaii was annexed by the US, he was entrusted with the work of taking a census of the islands, the first official accounting of island population. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives in 1898.

Aside from his educational and editorial work, Mr. Atkinson gained favorable attention as a poet, contributing verse to numerous publications, and he was the author of notable papers on subjects pertaining to education. (Nellist)

Oh, the family name of Alatau Tamchiboulac and his parents Thomas and Lucy? … It’s a familiar one and the name of a prominent street (fronting the Hawaii Convention Center) – Atkinson.

At the time of his death (April 24, 1906), Mr. Atkinson was survived by seven children, A. L. C. Atkinson, Robert W., Kenneth Atkinson, Mrs. T. K. C. Gibbons, Mrs. A. M. Brown, Mrs. Samuel G. Wilder and Mrs. R. C. L. Perkins. (Nellist)

“The death of Alatau T. Atkinson removes one of the brightest minds in the Islands and a man who did as much to shape the destiny of Hawaii as any one and raised the standard of education and made it what it is today.”

“It was he who worked incessantly for the annexation of the Islands and as the editor of the leading papers of Honolulu did more to mold public opinion than any other man in the Territory.”

“On every island of the group are a number of prominent men in Hawaiian affairs who owe their station in life to the Instruction received at the hands of this able teacher.”

“Mr. Atkinson was a man of rare executive ability and was highly respected by all the teachers of the Islands. He was a man of decision and to this quality probably more than to any other was due his popularity.” (Maui News; Hawaiian Star, April 30, 1906)

“To him more than to any other man is due the efficiency of the excellent school system which Hawaii enjoys. He founded it in a sense, and worked with all the enthusiasm of his nature to make it what it is, even though shortness of funds sometimes limits its possibilities.” (Herald; Hawaiian Star, April 30, 1906)

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Alatau Tamchiboulac Atkinson WC
Alatau Tamchiboulac Atkinson WC
Thomas Atkinson’s drawing of the Tamchiboulac Spring
Thomas Atkinson’s drawing of the Tamchiboulac Spring
The Arashan Valley in the Terskey Alatau
The Arashan Valley in the Terskey Alatau
Unveiling Atkinson Memorial Ceremony Khazakhstan
Unveiling Atkinson Memorial Ceremony Khazakhstan
Atkinson Memorial Ceremony Khazakhstan
Atkinson Memorial Ceremony Khazakhstan
Atkinson Memorial Ceremony Khazakhstan-Paul Daulquist
Atkinson Memorial Ceremony Khazakhstan-Paul Daulquist
Kazakhstan - map
Kazakhstan – map

Filed Under: General, Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, Iolani School, St. Alban, Atkinson, Atalau Tamchiboulac Atkinson, Kazakhstan

December 13, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mills Institute

Mills School for Boys was started as a small downtown school in 1892, by Mr. and Mrs. Francis W Damon (descendant of missionary Rev Samuel C Damon), who took into their home a number of Chinese boys with the aim of giving them a Christian education.

Frank Damon, who was born in Hawai‘i, toured the world with Henry Carter, and married Mary Happer, a missionary’s daughter, who had been born and reared in Kuangzhou, China, and spoke fluent Cantonese. Frank Damon was appointed by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association as the superintendent of Chinese work in 1881. (Fan)

Damon (fluent in Chinese) recognized the need for special educational opportunities for the young Chinese, who were barred from public schools because of their inability to speak English.

“Frank Damon, the superintendent of the Chinese Mission, who was the most serious and tireless worker, traveled all over the Islands, wherever there were Chinese. His footsteps reached to Hilo, Ka‘ū, Kona, Hāmākua, Kohala, Wailuku, Pa‘ia, Makawao, Lahaina, Kula, Waimea, Hanapepe, and Kekaha.” (Fan)

Then, “six Chinese youths fired with the passion for knowledge, knocked at the door of the Damon home in Honolulu and asked to be taken in and taught. A room was found, instruction began, the six multiplied slowly until they have become more than four hundred who have found Mills a blessed home of light and truth.”

“The influence of this school upon our Territory can never be told. Its graduates are found in all walks of life, occupying positions of influence here, on the Pacific coast and in China.” (The Friend, October 1905)

This new school was named Mills Institute (named after Samuel J Mills, a founder of the American Board of Foreign Missions.) Among the Chinese, it was known as Chum Chun Shu Shat (The Searching after Truth Institute.)

Later, because of growing enrollment by Japanese and Korean boys, courses in Japanese and Korean were added to the curriculum.

“Mills School came into being through the efforts of Mr. Damon, who was then Superintendent of Chinese work for the Hawaiian Board, to make it possible for worthy Chinese boys from the country districts to find both a school and a home.” (John Hopwood, Mid-Pacific President, April 1923)

“At the time we were boys, we thought the rules and regulations promulgated by our beloved teachers rather strict, but as we grow older, after having tasted bitter lessons in life, we value the ideas of Mr. Damon more and more.’”

“‘I do not know a single Chinese who has not a good word for the valuable work which Mr. Damon and you have done in uplifting the standards not only in the living, but also in the morals of all those who have come into contact with both of you.”

“Ever since I left Mills Institute, it was my ambition to commemorate Mr. Damon with some kind of fitting remembrance for his entire unselfish life spent for the benefit of the Chinese of Honolulu, or rather of Hawaii …”

“… and I am happy to inform you that some of the old Mills Institute boys here in Shanghai have pledged themselves with me to raise a subscription for a memorial to Mr. Damon.” (Former Students; The Friend)

Mills School and the Kawaiaha‘o Female Seminary had much in common – they were home schools; founded by missionary descendant couples; and had boarding of students.

With these commonalities, in 1905, a merger of the two was suggested, forming a co-educational institution in the same facility.

In order to accommodate a combined school, the Hawaiian Board of Foreign Missions purchased the Kidwell estate, about 35-acres of land in Mānoa valley.

“The site forms an ideal location within one block of the Rapid Transit line. The ground commands a beautiful view of mountain and sea, and there is ample room for the agricultural features which have been planned.”

“The land contains a fine spring of water yielding some 100,000 gallons a day, and is further supplied with the use of an auwai for part of the time.” (Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society)

Through gifts by GN Wilcox, JB Atherton and others, on May 31, 1906, a ceremony was held in Mānoa Valley for the new school campus – just above what is now the University of Hawaiʻi (the UH campus was not started in the Mānoa location until 1912.)

By 1908, the first building was completed, consisting of Kawaiahaʻo School for Girls and Damon School for Boys, and began to be known as Mid-Pacific Institute.

Finally, in the fall of 1922, a new coeducational plan went into effect – likewise, ‘Mills’ and ‘Kawaiahaʻo’ were dropped, and by June 1923, Mid-Pacific became the common, shared name.

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Damon_and_some_Mills_School_Boys-in_front_of_Morrison_Hall
Damon_and_some_Mills_School_Boys-in_front_of_Morrison_Hall
Damon_and_some_Mills_School_Boys
Damon_and_some_Mills_School_Boys
Damon_Home_on_Chaplain_Lane_where_Mills_School_began
Damon_Home_on_Chaplain_Lane_where_Mills_School_began
Mills_School-Morrison_Hall
Mills_School-Morrison_Hall
Existing_Mid-Pacific_Institute_overlooking_the_beginning_of_the_UH-Manoa_Campus-1912
Existing_Mid-Pacific_Institute_overlooking_the_beginning_of_the_UH-Manoa_Campus-1912
Honolulu and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 05-Map-1906-Former_Mills_Institute_Site-noted
Honolulu and Vicinity-Dakin-Fire Insurance- 05-Map-1906-Former_Mills_Institute_Site-noted

Filed Under: Schools Tagged With: Mills School for Boys, Hawaii, Oahu, Manoa, Kawaiahao Seminary, Mid-Pacific Institute, John Kidwell, Mills Institute

December 2, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Walk Softly, and Carry a Big Pencil

I had the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream … teaching high school Math.

I am forever grateful to Ed Van Gorder, Parker School Headmaster, for taking a chance and giving me the opportunity; likewise, big thanks to Tana Hilliard for giving up her Pre-Algebra class, so I could teach it.

Parker School is a private school in Waimea on the Big Island – enrollment is small, as is each class size. Its home is the old Kahilu Theater – kind of like the little red schoolhouse.

(In my high school years, as a student at HPA, we would get bussed to the old theater on the weekends and watch travelogues.)

Then, a few decades later at Parker, each morning, I would arrive extra early, so I could greet each student as they came onto the school’s front porch, whether they were in my class or not.

I figured a special greeting with a smile and a few words of encouragement couldn’t hurt the start of a new day.

While most teachers used the board on the wall to write on, I preferred the overhead projector and screen. The students hated that, because they knew I was constantly facing them and they had to be on their toes at all times.

There is something special that happens when students “get it” in Math. When those light bulbs start shining, there is a happy glow throughout the classroom. I lived for those moments.

And, the way I am, when I get excited the volume of my voice increases.

I remember students asking “why am I yelling (at them)”?

It wasn’t because anything wrong was happening – actually, I was so excited that the group was “getting it” that my voice raised and the volume went up – some confused that with anger. Actually, some waaay cool stuff was happening in the classroom.

Being a Math teacher, I had my signature pencil with me at all times – a Ticonderoga #2 – but my pencil was 5-feet tall.

I also had a smaller, 2-foot, wooden pencil, with which I became pretty adept at slapping just the right way on the surface of the desk at just the right time to get the class’ attention (folks down the hall could also hear.)

I have to admit, those were some of the best of times. I miss the classroom.

I was working two fulltime jobs, at the same time. It was interesting to see how people knew me.

Some people knew I maintained my usual career in real estate as a full time real estate appraiser/consultant.

They thought that was all I did.

Other people knew me as a fulltime high school math teacher and soccer coach at Parker School.

They thought that was all I did.

And then there were others who knew I was a teacher/coach and a real estate appraiser/consultant.

It was interesting that some folks didn’t know of my “dual” life.

It wasn’t a secret; it just turned out some people didn’t know I had another life.

While not in the classroom, I am still enjoying life and having fun. My basic philosophy is that anything worth doing, is worth having fun doing it.

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Parker School-400
Parker School-400

Filed Under: General, Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, Math, Parker School

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

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Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

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