Kamehameha Schools Maui

​2012 - 2020

I taught four lines of art at this private school, which gives preference to students of Hawaiian heritage.  My classes were: Art History, Ceramics & Sculpture I and II, AP 3D Design Portfolio, and  Design I. My classes were multi-grade (9-12), and multi-ability except for Ceramics II, as the pre-requisite for that class is Ceramics I.  I taught a range of design, drawing and sculpture, my specialty being in ceramics.  I am well-versed in teaching diverse media,  ranging from clay to plaster, wire, found objects, felt, linoleum block printing, decal transfer, painting, ink drawing, pastels and more.  I am constantly trying to improve my teaching by using reflection with colleagues as well as viewing video of myself teaching and altering my curriculum when needed. I flipped my Art History class with great results - my students became more responsible for their content learning and performed well on their tests.  I have also began the Design Thinking process with my ceramics students in order to create more student art in public spaces in our school as well as in our community.  I believe in teaching to all ability levels and to bring out students’ unique voice in their artwork.  I work best when collaborating with my students and with my colleagues.

 

July 2013-2020: Curriculum Team member: Leading the content team of Visual Arts, Music, Media and IT in aligning our curriculum with the rest of the high school as well as our K-12 school to standards-based process.  My duties included leading team, disseminating information to my team and reporting back to the curriculum coordinator on the progress of our team.

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July 2017-2020: Leadership Team.  This involved meeting with leadership and collaborating on school-wide initiatives, from curriculum to scheduling.  I met with my Humanities team to discuss these topics, and was also in charge of ordering supplies for the

arts and communication Academy.

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​Maui High School

2006-2012

 

I taught full-time as one of two art teachers in a variety of classes, ranging from Ceramics (beginning to advanced), AP 3-Dimensional studio, AP Art History and beginning drawing and design.  I taught seven classes total, with 180 students. I co-created curriculum with my colleague in the art department, continually improved my lesson plans, and ran a ceramics studio which encompassed recycling clay, mixing glazes, and running two kilns.  I taught a range of students in grades 9-12 with a wide variety of  learning styles.  In the 2010-2011 school-year , I implemented the AP Art History course at Maui High School.  I also started to develop non-clay sculpture lessons in our Design 1 and Ceramics 2 and 3 classes.  For the 2011-2012 school year, our department instituted a sequence of leveled courses so that students could build on their art skills and develop portfolios of work.  As department head, I was responsible for turning in our purchase orders and organizing the annual budget for the art department,  as well as conferred with administration on  decisions involving teaching lines and courses.

 

 

Special Education Teacher, Pukalani Elementary School

2005-2006

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Full time special education teacher for grades 3-4. 

I learned how to write IEPs without proper training, led all meetings for 25 children, 18 at a time in class. My record is free of hearings or parent complaints.

Chad Okimoto, Principal