Island Voices
The hidden benefits of teaching in Wai'anae

By Kriss Conley
Lives and teaches in Wai'anae

It is not my intention to waste your time describing what a dedicated teacher I am, or how unbelievably hard I work in my profession. I have had more jobs than I can remember and they range from picking peaches, to the midnight shift in a cotton mill, to residential construction and pouring hot-tar roofs.

As a result of having such a variety of experiences, I know better than most the difficulty of one's job is 100 percent perception and relevance.

I am a Caucasian from the rural town of Batesburg, S.C., and though I haven't checked it with my colleagues who teach social studies, I sometimes believe Batesburg is approximately a million miles from where I now live in Wai'anae. I have the great fortune of teaching eighth-grade English in a public school in Wai'anae, and without fail, every year a few inquisitive students will ask me why I do it. In the past, my answers were always, "Because I enjoy teaching" or "You kids need a teacher and I need a job."

Though both of those answers have some degree of validity, they don't really do justice to the truth.

In my classroom I do not always have all of the answers.I do have a degree in English, but that in no way makes me an expert on the subject. Admittedly, there are many days I learn the subject material right along with my students. Fortunately, English is not the only subject taught in my classroom.

In my classroom I teach lessons that I believe are not only valuable in Wai'anae, but would also be of great value in schools all throughout our great country. I teach that one should receive a reward only when it is earned and to never take more than that to which he or she is entitled.

I teach students to be respectful and kind to others solely for the sake of being respectful and kind. I teach that it is not the knowledge but the learning that is really important, and that each one of them can learn as much as any other student on this planet. I teach them not to settle for what has always been expected, but to expect more from themselves and to try to be just a little bit better of a person today than they were yesterday.

Why do I teach in Wai'anae? I teach in Wai'anae because I live in Wai'anae, and if I am lucky enough, I will grow old in Wai'anae. My students are our future community leaders and citizens. Frankly, I consider my career of teaching the most effective thing I could ever do to make my world a better place to live in.