Waialua Teacher Wins $25K National Award
A reminder that good things regularly happen in Hawaii’s public school system: Waialua High and Intermediate School teacher Glenn Lee this week won a $25,000 national award for teaching excellence.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi were on hand Friday to congratulate him in a surprise ceremony at the school.
About 40 teachers nationwide per year are selected for the , which goes to teachers whose impact is felt well beyond the classroom doors.
Lee is the 70th Hawaii educator since 1990 to receive the Milken Award. The state’s 70 winners have received awards totaling nearly $1.8 million.
A Career and Technical Education teacher with degrees in electrical engineering and business administration, Lee has taught math and science at Waialua for 17 years and in 1999 launched the state’s first robotics team at the school.
He has also developed pre-robotics programs for seventh and eighth graders, and regularly shares his expertise with other robotics leaders statewide.
His driving motivation is to give students real-world applications for the concepts they learn in the classroom, according to a press release issued by the Department of Education Friday.
Last year, Waialua High School’s ‘The Hawaiian Kids’ earned a number of national and international robotics titles, including the top prize at the .
Lee also participated in revising the school’s math course offerings to raise expectations for students, and his influence has played a key role in helping the school meet federal benchmarks under No Child Left Behind for the last two years.
Since the 2007 school year, 87 percent of Lee’s students have met proficiency in reading and math on the Hawaii State Assessment, the press release states, and 71 percent have maintained a 3.0 grade point average or higher.
But his greatest influence has little to do with the classroom, said school and complex area leaders at Friday’s ceremony.
“(Lee’s) most compelling factor is his razor focus on developing students with a strong degree of moral and ethical values, which will sustain and support their positive values as a strong foundation throughout their lives,” said Complex Area Superintendent Patricia Park.
