Administrators who provide leadership on their campuses whom also serve to inspire were honored today by the State Senate as part of Education Week at the Capitol. Those recognized on the Senate floor are public school principals who are committed to teacher-teams and to staff who provide a safe and secure learning environment for the students placed in their care each day.
Mahina Anguay is the Principal of Waimea High School and the recipient of the 2016 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Award. This award recognizes a public school principal who exemplifies vision, community service and entrepreneurship. In her role as Principal at Waimea School, Ms. Anguay implemented the Science, Technology, Resources, Engineering, Art, Humanities and Math (STREAM) program into the classroom.
Michael Harano is the Principal at Washington Middle School and is selected as Hawai‘i’s Principal of the Year and the 2017 National Distinguished Principal. In 2010, Principal Harano won the Hawai‘i Elementary and Middle School Administrators Association (HEMSAA) National Distinguished Principal award. His approach ensures that the needs of his students are met while also providing additional support and activities to the staff.
Bruce Naguwa was named the 2016 National Distinguished Principal by HEMSAA. As Principal at Kapolei Middle School since 2012, the school’s Strive HI index score has climbed 254 points, moving them from the bottom of the middle school level for the state to placing them in the upper 25 percent. Naguwa is the first Principal to win the NDP award twice by HEMSAA.
Geri Martin is the Vice Principal of Ewa Makai Middle School and the 2017 Hawai‘i Assistant Principal of the Year. The National Association of Secondary School Principals recognizes her achievements in personal excellence, collaborative leadership, curriculum, and personalization. Ms. Martin is now in the running for the National Assistant Principal of the Year award.
Greg Nakasone, Vice Principal at Mililani Middle School, was named the 2017 Hawai‘i Outstanding Vice Principal by the National Outstanding Assistant Vice Principal of the Year. Nakasone extends the duties of the Vice Principal from a disciplinarian and school operations role to one who is leading a collaborative effort to promote the Character Counts Program into the school community resulting in increased student achievement scores, a 97% attendance rate for the past five years, truancy below .1% and no drop-outs also for the past five years.
Ramona Kahawai‘i was awarded the 2017 Counselor of the Year by the Hawai‘i School Counselor Association. Kahawai‘i has been a counselor at Kapunahala Elementary for the last 12 years, prior to that she was a counselor at King Intermediate and Kapolei High schools. She earned her Bachelor of Science and Family Resources degree from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a Masters of Science in Psychology and Counseling from Chaminade University of Honolulu.
Kristin Silva is selected as Secondary School Counselor of the Year by the Hawai‘i School Counselor Association. She has been a counselor at Washington Middle School for 16 years. Ms. Silva is involved with the Hawai‘i School Counselor Association, the American School Counselor Association, and the Hawai‘i State Teacher Association.
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