Olomana Math Teacher Named Best In Hawaii
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A humble and energetic man from Thailand - who barely spoke English when he first came here three decades ago - has won Hawaii’s Teacher of the Year award for 2010.
Wima Chulakote, now a Kailua resident and Olomana School math teacher, accepted his $1,500 in cash awards and the use of a new car for a year in Oct. 1 ceremonies. He also was the Windward District’s Teacher of the Year.
Widely known for helping his students “anywhere,anytime,anyplace,“Chulakote’s nighttime and weekend tutoring sessions frequently convene at the local Jack in the Box.“I believe that sometimes the classroom is not the most conducive climate in which our students learn,” he explained, “and every student has his/her own timetable for learning.”
It must be working, because his students’passing rate in the math section of the GED exam is “in the 90 percent range,” according to Olomana colleague Ellen Schroeder.
“His willingness to do the ‘and then some’ for our students is legendary,“Schroeder stated. “His tutorials are always in demand, and he takes all comers.”
More importantly, his students agree and even admit that they’ve warmed up to his subject just a bit.
“We learned to like math a little more because of the way he taught us,“declared Kalima and Krista in his nomination papers.“He really took his job seriously. If something was wrong in class, he would feel hurt and stop the class to talk about the problem ... He had a way of breaking down the problems and making it fun by adding food and music.”
Chulakote’s hunger for education was delayed several times in his homeland because of political unrest and safety concerns.Yet he kept on studying wherever he could “making sure that I would not end up in the rice paddies like the rest of my older siblings.” Even in Hawaii, he and his young family had to overcome the loss of their rented home, and everything in it, to fire.
Chulakote has degrees from Udorn Teacher College in Thailand, Kapiolani Community College and University of Hawaii Manoa. He taught at Kaimuki School for Adults and Kaimuki and Kalaheo high schools before joining the uniquely motivated faculty at Olomana School in 2004.
He also won the principal’s award for excellence while at Kalaheo.
His key belief:“If given the opportunity to prove themselves, all students are capable of success, regardless of their backgrounds or past experiences.”
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