Wai’anae, HI

October 13, 2015

Loke Chung-Lono has been dubbed, “Mayor” of a homeless community located in between Waianae Boat Harbor and Waianae High School. Being appointed with such a title, she has plenty of responsibilities on a daily basis. She is widely known for aiding the occupants of the camp when it comes to their wellbeing by giving everyone what they need to survive. She gives all of her effort and support to the occupants to get them as comfortable as possible as Loke realizes that all effort counts and makes a difference.

“We try to provide what there is out of the donations that are given to us by churches, organizations, some of them that come out to give donations are just ordinary people from their houses,” said Loke.

No matter what their story, Loke has the ability to look past a person’s troubles and journeys and keeps in mind that everyone deserves a second shot at life.

“Everybody here, this is pretty much their second chance in life is for them to try and get to the next level.”

Loke has the ability to understand other occupants and their individual struggles as she had her fair share of experiences herself. Being one of the thousands affected by The Recession in 2009, Loke had been let go from her job as a carpenter and she had to foreclose her home which lead to her becoming homeless. In between now and then, she’s been through many up’s and down’s. From being hopeless and unmotivated she’s found a purpose in life. She became motivated to give others a purpose so that they feel appreciated and acknowledged despite their trials.

Passionately, Loke said, “I give that to everybody else that’s out here… I prefer to give them purposes because of the fact that a lot of us get kicked down by society. Any time you give (purpose to) somebody or anyone that has been kicked around and pushed down all their lives, it gives them something to hold on to, you give them hope.”

After 6 years of being homeless, she’s found motivation in giving others a reason to succeed in life. She’s a vital source of inspiration for the people in a place full of broken dreams and hurting hearts. Loke gives hope to the homeless.

Wai’anae, HI

October 13, 2015

David Manthei came from a small town of Winslow, Arizona. In that small town lies a library where his passion for literature developed.  This passion led to his life as a librarian at Wai`anae High School.  

When asked about his outlook on being a librarian, Manthei said, "This job is amazing. It's probably the best job on campus and I love having it."  

According to him, the library was very “drab.”

There was no excitement and he wanted to change that around. He began three years ago, transforming the library into a work of art. Manthei wanted students to come to the library not only to use it as a resource, but also to share the same passion for literature that he developed as a student. For three years he painted the walls, added pop-up colors and art pieces, placed student paintings, and stood outside inviting students into the library to view recently made movies that are based on books. In the early morning hours, he comes to work and sips his coffee ready to start the day.

“This is the best job on campus,” he said.

Although it seems like smooth sailing for Manthei, every story has its obstacles. For David Manthei, money is one and they count on voluntary work to make everything work.  It is slow progress but it is still progress.

Wai’anae, HI

October 13, 2015

Wai`anae High School’s health teacher, Beth Matsuda, reserves a piece of her heart for her students. In addition to teaching her kids the basics of the human body, she makes it a point to let them know that they have a shoulder to lean on.

One of her prior students, senior Keoki Freitas expressed, “She is just there if I need her...always there to listen and give me advice on what I should do,” showing that the bond between her and her students are not temporary.

In the eyes of Ms. Matsuda, having a strong connection with her students is vital to their learning in her class, “By building good relationships with them they trust me more and they are willing to accept help from me,” she admitted.

The bond that Mr. Matsuda shares with her students is amplified by the knowledge that she will never be able to build something like that with kids of her own.  

As she recounted, “I always wanted to have kids of my own, I always thought I would have 4-6 kids, but then the boyfriend I was with for 10 years, that I really loved, the day after he asked me to marry him, he had a massive heart attack and passed away.”

Compounding her misfortune, she added, “a couple years later I got cancer twice so I can’t have my own kids.”

It's a tragedy that she has had to deal with for the past 20 years, but that does not stop her from spreading the love and generosity that she saved for her own kids unto Wai’anae High School’s students.

For instance, “I had one girl that her family moved her senior year, but she really wanted to graduate from Wai`anae High School, so she lived with me her senior year.”

The endless amount of support and comfort that the students have given Ms. Matsuda has allowed her to overcome the hardships that she faced.

Expressing her emotions towards her kids, Ms. Matsuda announced, “I totally love my kids because they showed me how to love and how to share love.”  

With an enthusiastic attitude, Beth Matsuda continues be a positive image to her student.

Having said that, "The students are the reason why I stay at Wai`anae...there are good days and bad days...but I stay for the students.”

Leaving a piece of her heart with each of her kids, Beth Matsuda, more commonly known as ‘Mom’, changes their lives while they change hers.

Wai’anae, HI

October 13,2015

After many years of being without a band program, Wai`anae High School is back at its finest. Graduating from Hawai’i Pacific University and returning to her alumni high, Ms Shantelle Tom was ready to teach.  

“My passion is helping students find what they love and going after it,” said Ms. Tom.

Finding the right instruments and the money to keep the show on the road and  keeping the band alive was proving that there is importance in music.

Ms. Tom said, “I’m the last known band scholarship awardee so that’s back in 2002 since then nobody really gotten a band scholarship.”

Being able to teach students something new and see the outcome of it was one of the best things she is looking forward to. She puts her fullest effort into everything she does to motivate the future adults to always do their best and give it all they’ve got.

“ I would definitely seem to find myself helping them academically but socially and with their family, friends and any problem they have” said Tom.

She is more than glad to be someone you can talk to when you need a pair of listening ears. With her room open to anyone before school, lunch break and after school, there is always going to be a time when she would be listening. The point she will always be reminding her students that they should continue to follow in their dreams no matter what the struggle is or how much effort or time you will have to put into it.

By enduring all of the struggle, Ms. Tom was able to overcome it all and bring the band back, teach her students, read musical notes and get along with each other. Teaching the kids the Alma Mater was really important because it shows that students take pride in their school. Keeping the band around supports all sports teams at Waianae High School but not only that it gives those who are quiet and shy the chance to express their feelings through music.

Wai’anae, HI

October 13, 2015

It’s a Friday morning and over twenty teachers and staff members of Wai`anae High School are joined together to get their hands dirty at the Wai`anae Campus Beautification Project. Among the many teachers and staff members present at the occasion was Michael Sturm, a teacher for the subject Transition to High School.  

According to Mr. Sturm, other staff members including himself “like to come out here and kind of like give back to the school”. Sturm should know because nobody “digs” a more positive learning environment other than him. He brings joy and laughter to his students in and out of the classroom.

However, for inside the classroom, current student says, ”Big Mr.Sturm is like a really cool person. He’s like, makes us laugh and like, he;s pretty chill, like a really good person”.

When it comes to the learning environment, another current student  feels “comfortable in his class”.  Unlike most teachers, Mr.Sturm had an early start in his teaching career. He was born in Spokane, Washington and spent his days running around the woods. Just like any normal child he attended school. In the 5th grade, Mr. Sturm was being a smart aleck in the back of class, of Mr. Ormsbee’s history class and had to come up to the front and teach the class.

However, it was a “complete mess,” said Mr.Sturm.

After class, he sat down with his teacher doing lesson plans, and was inspired to become the teacher and man he is today. From beautifying the campus to educating the students of Wai`anae High School, he’s a man with one motive: bettering his students.

According to him, “Really just getting kids to be better, have a better environment uplifting the community [that] I live in and just you know just making the world a better place and all that happy, ‘fluffy stuff’.”

Wai’anae, HI

October 13, 2015

Wai`anae High School’s vice principal, Mike Kurose, is committed to making a difference. He volunteered for Seariders Service on August 21st of this year. The volunteer work consisted mainly of painting walls, installing new benches, and doing what he does best: having a positive impact on the lives of others.

When asked how he feels about what he’s doing, Mr. Kurose said, “I feel good about what i’m doing which is working to improve the lives of young people in our community.”

Mr. Kurose has worked at Wai`anae High School for nineteen years with one mission: making a difference. He started as a history teacher and after sixteen years he made the jump from educator to administrator. He is now the vice principal of the upper grade academy. In the time that he has been at this school, Mr. Kurose has done his best for the students at Wai`anae High School because he believes doing his best for them makes them do the best for themselves.

Over time, Kurose has been able to unearth the importance of what he is doing.

“I’ve been at this school, working with everybody and learning from the other adults here and, um, it has really dawned on me how important what we do is, how important [it is] that we have a passion,” Kurose said.

Mr. Kurose’s love for helping people by making a difference in their lives has become more important to him over time because he was not always the person that he is today.

“I grew up in a way where I was not a very good student when I was going to high school especially, um, I did not have a whole lot of goals,” Mr Kurose said.

His greatest inspiration to change came from seeing how hard his mother worked. “I did not really have an appreciation for that until after I became an adult,” Kurose said.  

Influenced by his mother and eager to make her proud, Mr. Kurose started to set goals for himself, the largest of which involved his passion: guiding his students. He said, “I just didn’t want to have a simple job that was about making money, I wanted to do something that would make a difference in the lives of other people.”

Today, Mr. Kurose’s efforts remain ongoing. He is working with students and doing his best to make a difference in their lives.  Making this difference seems easy to him because he recognizes their capabilities.

“They’re so capable they can provide not only for this community but so much more,” he said.  Kurose he cares about his students so much that he wants, “every single one of them to achieve something and feel good about their lives.”

The inspiration that Mr. Kurose invokes extends far beyond his students. As 11th grade teacher Camila Hampton has found, he inspires teachers as well. Hampton and Kurose have been working at Wai`anae high school together for years and he has encouraged her help make a difference by volunteering.

“Mr Kurose definitely does inspires me and other teachers to get more involved.” said Hampton.

From initially wanting to improve the lives of others, Kurose also feels it is important to influence this life changing journey with those around him. When asked about why he was volunteering he answered,

“That sense of community with the people I work with is the bigger reason why I’m here, we are all getting our hands dirty, we’re all working to make this place look, feel, and work better,” he said.

Although Mr Kurose is no longer a teacher he still wants to work with the students of his community in any way possible even if he has to do that by installing benches and painting walls.

“We have a passion and we exert ourselves to the best of our abilities with the most open heart as possible to really try and provide the best experience for our youth,” he added.