Courtney Suma has been a teacher for over 20 years, serving with the HIDOE for the last 16 of those. She is currently the Career Academies and CTE Coordinator at Kapolei High School where she works to help students find their post-high school pathways to success.

She is also the 2026 Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area Teacher of the Year.

Ali Nakata is a math teacher and alumni at Waiakea High School. She has been teaching for the past eight years.

We discuss her pathway into teaching through tutoring as well as some of the things she does to make sure her students and colleagues feel seen, heard, and cared for.

Calvin Kuntze is a physical science and biology teacher at Keaau High School. He is in his fourth full year of teaching after being hired initially as an emergency hire with no teaching experience and then doing the Teach for America program for licensure.

Tammy Carvalho has been teaching elementary school for 23 years. She is currently a 1st grade teacher at Kapa'a Elementary School and is the 2027 Kauai Complex Teacher of the Year.

She shares what she does both inside and outside her classroom to promote community and sense of belonging for her students!

Jessica Canyon is a 5th grade teacher at Fern Elementary school where she has served with the DOE for 30 years. She is also the 2026 Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Complex Area Teacher of the Year.

Steve Hanks has served with the DOE for over 30 years all of them at Honokaa High and Intermediate School.

He discusses what he does to create community in his classroom, and in his school, as well as multiple calls to action for teachers in the classrooms today.

This week we are excited to welcome Emily Mendoza to the podcast. Emily is the 2026 Aiea-Moanalua-Radford Complex Area Teacher of the Year. She is the culinary arts teacher at Aiea High School. She is originally from New Mexico but has lived and worked on Oahu with her husband and two children for the past nine years.

Lacey Cabral has been a counselor with the DOE for almost 30 years. She serves as a high risk counselor and program coordinator at Keaau High School.

With her team, Lacey also created the Ulupono ALC program for students who need "a little more love" than the regular campus classrooms can provide. The program has successfully helped hundreds of students find their place at Keaau and graduate on to their next steps.