Honorable Mention
Wahiawa teacher wins Visionary Award

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer

Muriel Watanabe, right, meets with theater staffers Tara Ziegler and Daniel A. Kelin II. Kelin said Watanabe understands how HTY "profoundly affects the way children grow up and view the world and their place in it." Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser Muriel Watanabe Age: 56 Hometown: Wahiawa Family: Husband Gary; daughter Daun Ito, 33; and son Ryan Watanabe, 24 Occupation: Fifth-grade teacher at Wahiawa Elementary School Accomplishment: Honolulu Theatre for Youth's Visionary Award

After learning in September that she would receive Honolulu Theatre for Youth's Visionary Award, Watanabe's first reaction was to humbly decline the honor.

"I didn't want it," Watanabe said and laughed.

Watanabe, a 56-year-old fifth-grade teacher at Wahiawa Elementary School, was nominated for the award by Daniel A. Kelin II, HTY's director of drama education, who noted that this is the first time the organization has honored a teacher.

"She understands how HTY is a resource in her children's learning," Kelin said. "She understands that it's more than a trip to the theater, that it's more than acting out a play in class, that it profoundly affects the way children grow up and view the world and their place in it."

Despite high praise from those in the HTY community, Watanabe still feels uncomfortable about winning the award, much less talking about it.

"I felt that I shouldn't be honored individually," she said. "I thought maybe that it should be like a partnership award because I have such good support from the school."

"She deserves it," said Wahiawa Elementary principal Calvin Shimomura, who added that he isn't surprised that Watanabe wants to share the honor with others. "She's a very humble person."

Watanabe has made HTY a part of her classroom for nearly 15 years, working closely since the beginning with Kelin, who said that Watanabe realizes the value that drama education has on her students and of having her students regularly attend live performances.

Together, Watanabe and Kelin have worked with Wahiawa students to put together events, from small school productions, to major community events, such as their oral history project for the Wahiawa centennial celebration in 1998.

During the "huge" yearlong project, which Watanabe helped to get started, students learned how to collect oral histories from their community, then they acted out the stories for the celebration.

Watanabe and Kelin, along with other Wahiawa teachers, are working with third- through fifth-graders on a school production about the attack on Pearl Harbor, which Watanabe said may take a couple of years to complete. They plan on interviewing those who lived through the attack for their firsthand accounts.

Watanabe said she enjoys her job and her involvement with HTY simply because "it's fun," she said. But what's more satisfying for her is seeing how students gain from the experiences.

"Kids become much more connected to the curriculum because we put them in the middle of it," Kelin said. "They are actively involved in the playing out of situations, whether they be contemporary or historical, and she knows that her students learn very well in that way."

"I think the kids really benefit from it," Watanabe said. "You can see the growth." She said students gain, for example, poise while learning the importance of group participation and teamwork.

"It's been wonderful," Watanabe said. So it's no wonder she plans to continue what she does.

"I could've retired, but I told (Kelin) I'd stay around and help out," Watanabe said jokingly. "I didn't want to desert my friends."

Watanabe will officially be honored at HTY's annual fund-raiser, Le Masquerade, Saturday at Ko'olau Golf Club. But she insists that the Visionary Award should be shared with Kelin, who Watanabe said is just as dedicated to the students; administrators; fellow teachers at Wahiawa Elementary who have supported her through the years; and her students.

"She deserves all the recognition for what she does for the kids," Shimomura said. "All the years that she helped out Wahiawa (school) and the community, it's about time she's being recognized."

"Well, I'm very honored," Watanabe said with a smile. "But it should be, like I said, a joint award."