April 23, 2013
Dear Waialae Community,
As most of you know, Waialae School was the first charter school in the state of Hawaii. Waialae started down the path toward becoming a charter school in the 1990s through the school community based management initiative that allowed schools to create alternative administrative and teaching practices and select curricula based on the needs of their communities. At that time, Waialae was one of only two charter schools.
This year, the Hawaii Public Charter School Network will honor all charter schools at the 2nd annual charter school dinner. This year’s theme is Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future. Waialae representatives will attend this event to honor all of those teachers, parents, administrators, and legislators who have contributed so much to make it possible for Waialae and all charter schools to be a reality in our state. We are proud that Waialae School continues to be one of 34 outstanding public charter schools serving nearly 10,000 students K – 12 across our state.
In addition to celebrating the oldest and the newest charter schools, the dinner will honor outstanding teachers, directors, and board members. It is my pleasure to nominate Mrs. Melanie Ching for outstanding teacher. She has been a member of our faculty since 1998 and embraces the mission, vision, and spirit of our school.
Ms. Ching seeks out opportunities to continuously build her deep understanding of curriculum, particularly in the areas of reading, technology, and mathematics. She has attended trainings on developing young readers and writers, application of technology to support learning, and building mathematical understanding. She provides learning experiences that support student inquiry, choice, problem solving, self assessment, self-reflection, goal setting, responsibility, and application of new knowledge.
Ms. Ching works collaboratively with her grade level team and other professionals and staff. She participates in all school initiatives and promotes a positive learning environment. This year, her class created their own mission statement “Our mission is to spread good across the galaxy, teach the next generation to be kind, and to do good without reward”. Students performed a variety of small deeds to support this mission across the campus helping others and bringing a smile to the unsuspecting recipient.
Focusing on the needs of each of her students, Ms. Ching works to make sure that each student is working at their optimum level. She provides multiple ways for her students to show what they have learned and she sets high expectations for quality work.
Ms. Ching participates in numerous professional development initiatives including a guided mathematics workshop that resulted in a video for the Bureau of Educational Research on guided math. She participates in partnerships with parents and other members of the school community to support student learning and school-related activities. She has championed the use of technology on the grade level. She serves as grade level chair, faculty member of the Waialae School Foundation, and technology cadre. She is respected by her peers and models honesty, fairness, ethical conduct and respect. She supports our school mission and vision through both her actions and words. Please join me in celebrating her achievements as she represents our school as our choice for teacher of the year.
Mrs. Wendy Lagareta, CEO
