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Waipahu High School principal visits Saipan
For many years, learning institutions have only gone about a specific way of engaging students in education and that is by following the standard nationwide high school curriculum. The Waipahu High School in Honolulu went the other way by implementing a new educational system.
Last Tuesday, the principal of Waipahu High School, Keith Hayashi, spoke before the Rotary Club of Saipan at the Hyatt Regency Saipan and shared a short presentation on the advancements made since he took over the school.
According to Hayashi, Waipahu prioritizes providing opportunities for students to pursue their passion or to enable them to find what that passion may be.
Waipahu provides separate academies that students can choose from in the beginning of their high school careers. These academies offer a wide range of possible career options.
With these academies, students are still able to complete the core requirements for graduation, but with a focus on a certain profession like education, nursing, medicine, technology, etc.
According to Hayashi’s presentation, this system allows students to enter college confidently, with advance college knowledge in the course they eventually choose to pursue.
With this kind of educational system, students are able to choose a career path as early as by ninth grade.
Hayashi said that although his way has been effective for his students, adapting his system on Saipan should be discussed with the involvement of the local community. “It is important to have individuals who are dedicated to the education system,” he said.
According to former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann, who is also the founder of the Pacific Century Fellows program for Honolulu and Saipan, since Hayashi became the school’s principal at Waipahu, “he has turned around that school…”
“He’s probably the best principal the state has now in terms of innovation,” added Hannemann.
