Two Hawai'i teachers win top award
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Education Writer
Two Hawai'i teachers are in Washington, D.C., to receive the highest national honor for teaching in their fields.
Kelley Fitzgerald, a science teacher at Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki, and Stacie Kaichi, a math teacher at Salt Lake Elementary School, have been named recipients of Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Kelley Fitzgerald
Kaichi
They are among 95 elementary and middle school teachers to receive the award nationwide this year.
Fitzgerald and Kaichi are regarded as passionate and committed teachers who inspire their students and colleagues.
Sacred Hearts principal Betty White said Fitzgerald is "a master teacher who is very dedicated and does a wonderful job in the classroom."
"Everything is done in a meticulous fashion," White said yesterday. "The students love her and she is a principal's dream. When you have good teachers, parents really appreciate what's happening in the classroom."
Salt Lake vice principal Aaron Kimata said Kaichi is a dedicated professional who really cares about her students.
"She spends countless hours on her lesson plans," he said. "From a school point of view, we really rely on her as a math resource, and we can count on her. She's helpful to other teachers and has been a real asset to our school."
Fitzgerald said it's helpful to conduct classroom experiments while teaching science.
"The students learn so much more about the concepts through hands-on activities," she said. "I really believe in child-centered, discovery-based learning, where I provide some guidance but let the kids discover the concepts for themselves."
Kaichi said she tries to get students excited about what they're learning.
"It kills me when I hear a child say that they hate math or they can't do it," she said. "Some students have this predisposition because of a bad experience. I strive to give them a new perspective on the subject, and I always try to make everything meaningful to them. They really take to the material when I show them they can apply it to life skills and use it in the future."
Fitzgerald and Kaichi will each receive a $10,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency that administers the awards program.
The annual presidential awards program was established by Congress in 1983 to identify outstanding math and science teachers in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories and Department of Defense schools.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
