Leadership Corner: Candy Suiso
Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Name: L. Candy Suiso
Age: 49
Title: Program director/video teacher
Organization: Wai'anae High School, Searider Productions
High school: Wai'anae High School
College: Bachelor of arts in general studies, University of Northern Iowa; professional diploma in secondary social studies, Chaminade University
Breakthrough job: For Suiso, there were two: being a bartender and cocktail waitress paid her college bills; and working as a Spanish teacher at Wai'anae High School in 1986, when she first used video cameras in the classroom. "That made me realize the value of video cameras as a tool for teaching," she said.
Little-known fact: Suiso lives on a mango farm in Makaha where "the best mangoes in the world are grown," she said. "It's fun because that gets the whole family involved during the summer months — picking, grading, wiping, tagging, boxing and delivering. I love baking mango bread and drying mango to give away to special people."
Major challenge: "Constantly searching for outside funding to support our noncertified teaching/mentoring staff positions who are highly qualified by industry standards but do not possess state of Hawai'i teaching credentials," Suiso said.
Book reading now: "Anyway ... The Paradoxical Commandments," by Kent Keith. "It's a book about grace, wisdom and happiness that comes from facing the worst in our world with the best in ourselves," she said.
Mentor: Her mother, Julia Malapit Smith. "She always stressed the importance of hard work, a good education, respect for self and others, and the importance of living a good, honest life," she said.
Q. Since the media program started at Wai'anae High School in 1993, your students have won local and national awards in everything from music videos to documentaries. The program has also grown from 85 students to now more than 200. What have been the keys to its success?
A. Teamwork. We've got a great team of teachers who work well together — Lorraine Gershun, publications adviser; John Allen III, video production adviser; Ric Gresia, Web design/3D computer-animation adviser; and Catherine Beaver, graphic-arts adviser. One person cannot do this alone. We also have a supportive administration and a lot of community support. But most importantly, our students, who are very passionate about the work they do.
Q. These teachers are funded mostly through grants and private donations. How difficult is it to secure money to sustain this program?
A. We have a lot of community support. People are very generous in donating to support us. Grant writing is difficult and that's the hard part. You have to meet certain criteria and it's a long process. I'm constantly looking for outside funding to support the program. It's endless but that's the nature of this program.
We are where we are because of these industry-trained personnel who bring that experience into the classroom. To me, it's important to pay them what they're worth. They have the skills we need here.
Q. How does the success of this program impact the Wai'anae community?
A. We're a real source of pride for our community. Wai'anae's got a bad reputation and we're stereotyped out here. But we're proving them wrong.
Q. How important is incorporating technology into high school curriculum?
A. For this generation, very important. It makes learning fun and it makes learning relevant. We're dealing with the MTV generation that's highly visual and very hands-on. However, technology is just the tool to teach every subject, especially reading, writing, math and science.
Q. What are you most proud of?
A. Personally, I'm very proud of my 21-year-old daughter, Mishan, and the woman she is becoming. Professionally, I am proud of the students and their projects, whether it be a public-service announcement, news story, documentary, music video or a short comedy. They have the range and they do it well. We just returned from the Student Television Network National High School convention in Los Angeles, where high school students all over the country attended. Our students competed, attended sessions and presented a session. It was a very proud moment watching our students —Êa first trip to the Mainland for many — share their Hawai'i culture through their video projects.
Q. What has been the most rewarding part of your job?
A. Students who come back to see us after they graduate to thank us for their start or for 'saving them.' Many from our program have gone off to become successful musicians, photographers, editors, floor directors and creative directors for our local news stations, such as John Allen III (KHON), Chad Blue (KGMB), Tina Ludewig (KGMB) and Keoni Fernandez (KHON). At least six that I know of are teachers. Most of the others that went off to college locally or on the Mainland are majoring in communications, journalism or video production like Linda Siu (at USC).
Q. How do you measure success?
A. A successful person is someone who lives an honest and happy life and gives because they want to not because they want something in return. Making a difference in someone's life — that's success.
