Chaminade University of Honolulu

Alumni

Art Teacher

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Amy Rose Craig ’18 overcomes obstacles on her path to becoming an art teacher

During her senior year at University of South Florida, Amy Rose Craig required surgery to remove a benign tumor the size of a beach ball. Her fiancé had left her for another woman. And she could neither work nor attend classes, setting her back emotionally, financially and academically. It was a disastrous trifecta that had her in a downward spiral and ready to quit.

Then, she had an epiphany.

“I discovered my own faith,” says Craig ’18 (Master’s of Art Teaching), with tears welling up in her eyes. “I asked God to intervene and to help me.”

This would be her first proverbial miracle.

“The hospital forgave my $30,000 debt,” Craig recalls. “And my professors all gave me A’s. It was truly a miracle.”

While recovering from surgery, her friends convinced her that she needed time to recuperate. So, she decided—wisely or not—to pack up her bags and work for a Northern Michigan Christian camp, making the 1,800-mile drive with her surgical sutures still intact. For two years, she worked at SpringHill Experiences with children with disabilities, bringing out the artistic talent in them.

Amy Rose Craig '18 now teaches art at Honolulu Museum of Art.
Amy Rose Craig ’18 now teaches art at Honolulu Museum of Art.

Faith would have it that Craig would befriend someone at the camp who was set to start a ministry at the University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa. A few months later, she found herself on a flight across the Pacific headed to then-named Honolulu International Airport.

“I was trying to enroll in UH’s BFA program, but I kept facing hurdles,” Craig says. “Again, I leaned on God to help me get through UH.”

And again, she received an answer from a higher being.

Craig would eventually graduate with her BA, matriculating in what she calls her own BFA program. Then she says she had a calling. As she pondered what to do next, she did a Google search, typing in four key words: master arts teaching hawaii. Chaminade University appeared at the top of the page.

“I didn’t even know there was such a program,” Craig says. “I was already teaching art on and off, so I applied and got in right away.”

To make ends meet, Craig worked part-time at the Cheesecake Factory in Waikīkī. It wouldn’t last long. But her luck was changing. Out of the blue, she received a letter from Kailua High School’s then-principal Francine Honda, who invited her in for an interview for an undisclosed job opening.  

“It turns out they had several emergency hire teaching positions open, and the one that they wanted me for was FSC/CBI (Fully Self Contained/Community Based Instruction),” Craig explains. “Teaching kids life and job skills, and helping them function in life; the position sounded wonderful.”

Her interview with Honda would again alter her life’s trajectory. “She explained to me that even though I would need to change the focus of my new master’s program, she thought that a master’s in special education was a much better fit for the art education role I was trying to design for myself, and she turned out to be right.”

Honda advised Craig that she could use art modalities and processes in many creative ways in meeting her Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) goals, which she has since instituted in her studios and classrooms. 

When Craig first entered University of South Florida, she had never stepped foot in an educational institution. Her parents not only mistrusted the public education system, but they didn’t believe in home schooling, preferring what Craig calls “unschooling.”

“They were pioneers long before home schooling entered the national lexicon,” Craig says. “I had an unusaul childhood, and we lived off the grid, moving around from northern, southern, eastern and western parts of the country.”

So when she started her undergraduate studies in Florida, she not only lacked structure, patterns and discipline, but she was never diagonsed with a learning disability, unable to do the simplest of assignments, such as write a short essay or solve simple math problems.

“Getting my master’s at Chaminade—knowing I had moderate disabilities—was one of the key [elements] that helped me begin to understand and unlock,” Craig asserts. “I started treating and advocating for myself as a person who had disabilities. Up until that point, I had hidden and ignored it, and I did my best to work around it and I kept it a secret. I was embarrassed and ashamed.”

In her bestseller “Educated,” American author Tara Westover writes about overcoming her survivalist Mormon family in order to go to college, and emphasizes the importance of education in enlarging her world. It’s a memoir that Craig strongly identifies with and relates to, having endured years of emotional and physical isolation, lack of support and empathy.

“I was part of my parents’ great social experiment,” says Craig, with a tinge of irony. “I always felt I was walking on egg shells, which is the title of one of my performances, and it is what I experienced during my childhood.”

Craig is currently a Teaching Artist at Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMa) studio arts, where her workshops/sessions are open to pre-school keiki and adults alike, covering a variety of subjects, from an overview of art and drawing to painting and assemblage. Her class, ‘Finding Beauty in the Everyday,” was inspired by walks with her mom in the forest, where she would collect leaves or anything that she deemed beautiful, and glue them to what she now calls “Amy’s Nature Sticks.”

“I resented how I was educated,” Craig says. “But now I’ve come full circle with a new perspective. I overcame a lot of obstacles to be where I am today, and I am glad I didn’t quit.”

Building Blocks

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Ayko Group owner Chris Lee ’17 hammers home his commitment to Habitat for Humanity

It wasn’t all bad. In fact, some good did emerge from COVID-19. Vaccine production ramped up. Economic stimulus programs helped families weather financial hardships. And businesses—small and large—received Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to keep their workforce employed during the pandemic. For Chris Lee ’17, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) allowed him to build a relationship with Honolulu Habitat for Humanity.

“During the coronavirus scare, some of our planned/negotiated projects were suspended due to government restrictions,” says Lee, a Chaminade MBA graduate and owner of the construction company, Ayko Group. “Luckily, we received the PPP loans and we were able to keep the employees paid during the shut downs.”

 A community-service-oriented business owner, Lee talked to a friend—the president of a local HVAC company—about business slowdowns, and because of this stagnation, he learned his friend’s company started taking on philanthropic endeavors with their employees. This prompted Lee to call Habitat for Humanity Honolulu and Habitat for Humanity West O‘ahu to see if Ayko could lend a hand in their home builds.

“My thought process being we are carpenters, and knowing that we could assist others at the same time as keeping our skills honed, would be a win-win,” Lee notes.  “Habitat for Humanity Honolulu replied and was interested in this partnership, and we helped them on a few new builds along with some critical repairs.” 

Ayko staff helped build a home for Habitat for Humanity. ©Howard Wolff

In pre-pandemic times, Ayko Group strictly focused on commercial and military projects, given Lee’s background as a former U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer, who has worked as a civilian manager for both Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Not keen on pursuing residential builds—because he’s uncomfortable about taking people’s money—his own admission—the 43-year-old entrepreneur decided to make an exception.

“The timing could not have been any better,” says Honolulu Habitat for Humanity CEO TJ Joseph, who is also a beneficiary of a Habitat for Humanity home. “Because of COVID, we had to stop all volunteer efforts, which we largely rely on to start and finish all our projects. So Chris’ call was a true godsend, and if it wasn’t for him coming out, we would not have finished the homes.”

The jobs started small, with some carpentry, drywalling, fire blocks, flooring issues, and leveling and patching a driveway for a new homestead home. Then came the Sniffen home in Waimānalo, which had only reached the demolition stage before the pandemic hit.

“It was just a slab,” Lee says. “So we brought in seven guys to work on-site and we finished the build in probably two, three weeks. I only like to do residential projects with organizations like Habitat.”

Workers framed a home for the Piohia Ohana construction project. ©Howard Wolff

In comparison, Joseph says the timeline for Habitat for Humanity to complete a single project could take months since the workforce consists of volunteers, who may or may not have any construction experience.

“Habitat for Humanity’s business model is based on a community building together,” Joseph explains. “With this old model, we were only able to finish one or two homes a year since we were only building on Saturdays. But now we’re using sub-contractors to lay the foundation, and install the roof, drywall, electric and plumbing.”

The concept that became Habitat for Humanity first grew from the fertile soil of Koinonia Farm, a community farm outside of Americus, Georgia, founded by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan.

On the farm, Jordan and Habitat’s eventual founders, Millard and Linda Fuller, developed the idea of “partnership housing,” which centered on those in need of adequate shelter working side-by-side with volunteers to build quality, affordable residences. The homes would be built at no profit. New homeowners’ housing payments would be combined with no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fundraising to create “The Fund for Humanity,” which would then be used to build more houses.

Chris and Tara Lee named their company Ayko after their two kids—Ayla and Niko.

Thanks in no small part to the personal involvement of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, and the awareness they have raised, Habitat now works in all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 70 countries. Habitat’s advocacy efforts focus on policy reform to remove systemic barriers preventing low-income and historically underserved families from accessing adequate, affordable shelter.

“Right now, we have 16 families on our waiting list,” Joseph says. “And of the 16, 14 or 15 of them already have funding.”

Lee plans to continue to help Habitat for Humanity, whenever he is able to do so. Quoting former Hogan Entrepreneur Program director, John Webster, Lee says he is abiding his creed: “Doing business things that make social sense and doing social things that make business sense.” 

“John always stated that before the Wednesday speaker sessions,” Lee says.

“It has always rang true to me, and when given the opportunity to help, I will, especially during a time like Covid. I’m fulfilling my service mission, which lines up with the values of a Chaminade education, and it also matches what my mom instilled in me when I was a kid.”

Alumna Continues Her Dream to Medical School Through Articulation Agreement

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Growing up in Waianae, Donna Cottrell ‘22 says she felt the sting of healthcare inequality firsthand.

It wasn’t just that care was difficult to access.

Donna Cottrell '22
Donna Cottrell ’22 (right)

“It was that a lot of times, our voices weren’t heard,” she said.

The experience (and her drive to change it) is what drew her to the field of osteopathic medicine and a career where she could consider the whole patient—mind, body, and spirit. And this summer, she moved to Arizona to pursue her dream at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The Biology major said she took advantage of Chaminade’s articulation agreement with A.T. Still University to secure early admission to the prestigious program. She was also awarded a merit-based Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship for her studies, which will cover all four years of her medicine program’s tuition.

Needless to say, she’s a little excited.

“The day they called me to say I’d gotten in, I was over the moon,” Cottrell said. “I just ran to my grandma’s room and was just screaming, ‘I got in! I got in!’ This was my biggest dream and I got it.”

Finding community

Cottrell and her siblings were raised by their father, a fish diver.

“He didn’t graduate from high school,” said Cottrell, but instilled a strong love for education in his children. Cottrell said she felt inspired to succeed so she could strike out on her own and attend college.

She also knew what she wanted in a university: small class sizes, a strong sense of community, and opportunities to connect with professors and mentors. She found all that at Chaminade, she said, and enrolled after graduating from Wai‘anae High School. After a search of Chaminade’s website, she also applied for—and received—the Ho’oulu STEM Scholarship to cover four years of tuition and other costs.

“It’s not just a scholarship, it’s a community,” said Cottrell, of the Ho’oulu program, which offers participants career development, paid internships and culturally informed service-learning projects.

“The Hooulu program has been a huge help.”

Donna Cottrell '22 at UCLA
Donna Cottrell ’22 at UCLA summer health professions program

As she participated in Ho’oulu offerings, Cottrell also made progress on her academic goals and embraced her newfound independence. She moved into the dorms. She started making friends. And she juggled a busy schedule. “It made me stand on my own two feet,” she said.

And after wrapping up her freshman year, she got a summer experience that would solidify her dream of going into healthcare. Through Chaminade, she applied for and got a spot in a summer health professions program at UCLA for students from underrepresented communities.

During the program, she shadowed doctors and learned from her peers.

She also gained something else: Confidence.

‘I want to be able to help’
Donna Cottrell '22 graduation

Cottrell realized she really did have an opportunity to make a difference—and to help her own community and places like it. She was also inspired by a more personal experience: her younger brother was born with a serious heart condition and required treatment on the mainland. She remembers watching the doctors and nurses and arriving at this thought: “They could do something.”

“That kind of drew me in. I want to be able to help,” she said, adding her brother is now doing great.

In her sophomore and junior years, Cottrell started working with her advisors and mentors at Chaminade. She said the university’s articulation agreement was a perfect way to prepare for a big challenge—and a big opportunity. It meant a guaranteed interview with the graduate program of her dreams. “It took the stress off so I was able to focus on my grades and on succeeding,” she said.

Cottrell said one of the reasons she chose A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine is because the program puts a special emphasis on health disparities. During her junior year, she was also given the chance to shadow a pediatrician for six months at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center to get a taste for what it’s actually like to serve the community where she grew up.

It got her excited about the future. But right now, she’s a little more focused on the present—and thriving in medical school. In May, after receiving her Chaminade diploma, she became a first generation college graduate. The next box she’s going to tick in life: “I’m going to be the first doctor in my family.”

Learning Never Stops

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Ken Kakesako’s professional life was a bit different years back when he was deputy director of Hawaii’s Department of Agriculture. Then, he spent his days at hearings and briefings advocating for agriculture issues. Now, the 36-year-old brings science alive to middle schoolers and is involved with after-school activities that enrich the educational experience.

When the desire to become a teacher hit Kakesako, Chaminade University made it easy for him to continue working while pursing his Master of Education. The program was appealing because he was able to continue to support his family by day and chip away at coursework in the evening.

In his first three years as a teacher at Stevenson Middle School, he’s been instilling his love of science in his students and founded the after-school wrestling club. He obtained a R.E.A.C.H. grant from the Lt. Governor’s office for $5,000 to fund wrestling and robotics and secured $30,000 for next year to go toward all clubs, including volleyball, ukulele and art.

MEd Ken KakesakoHe also worked with McKinley High School students to create ROOTS (Responsible Open-Minded Operations Through Science) at Stevenson and started a science Olympiad team. And if that wasn’t even to fill his plate, Kakesako also helped Chaminade with its accreditation process in by giving a student perspective as someone who had completed the program.

Colleagues and mentors were quick to recognize Kakesako’s enthusiasm and impact he has on his students. He was recently surprised during a weekly staff meeting with news that he was the recipient of the prestigious 2018 Milken Teacher of Promise Award. HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union sponsors the annual award, which recognizes teachers who excel early in their careers.

“It was a great surprise during the meeting,” he says. “I’m grateful to those that made it possible, I’ve had great teachers and mentors supporting me.”

Kakesako’s mentor and fellow science teacher, Julie Segawa, nominated him for the award and she has a history of mentoring teachers that stand out from the crowd. She mentored another Chaminade graduate, Ryan Kagami, who received the 2014 Milken Teacher of Promise Award.

When Kakesako reminisces about his time spent at Chaminade, mentorship sticks out in his mind. “The best part of my experience was the interaction with professors,” he says. “My mentor, Sheri Fitzgerald, helped me gain knowledge and insight while I was student-teaching.”

Path to finding his passion

Like many, Kakesako’s path to his where he stands today included many twists and turns. After graduating from ‘Iolani School, Kakesako left Hawaii and earned his bachelor’s in Economics from Harvard University.

He then spent just over five years working in Japan. First, he taught English to middle school students and then he was a recruiter for an investment banking company. When it came time to start a family, Kakesako knew he wanted his children to grow up around family and share similar experiences he had growing up in the islands. So it was time to come home.

Back in Hawaii, he worked for the state. He was a legislative administrator and budget analyst for Senator Russell Kokubun and then became the DOA’s legislative coordinator and deputy director.

But returning to teaching kept tugging at him. And when he looked at his options, he choose Chaminade because of the program’s flexibility and emphasize on learning in and out of the classroom. Now, Kakesako uses lessons he learned at Chaminade – like taking concepts taught in class out in the world to make them relevant to students.

Ken Kakesako, MEd“I love it when my students make connections between things they’ve learned to their own lives,” he says. “We recently had a lesson about the super blood moon and many of them went home and shared the information with their parents and were super jazzed when they watched it. Their excitement gives me energy.”

Kakesako brings a myriad of skills to room 208 at Stevenson through the various hats he’s worn. He uses his past experiences in sales to “sell” his lessons to students, knowledge gained from working in government to secure funding for his classroom and after-school clubs and he uses strategies learned at Chaminade to make learning relevant and exciting to his students.

And in the end, it’s those lessons learned in his life that leave the biggest mark.

“I want my students to become educated citizens and exercise critical thinking,” he says. “I teach them to be deeper thinkers and that learning never stops. I’m preparing them for jobs that don’t even exist yet and hope that I am setting them up for a lifetime of learning.”

The Master of Education program offers concentrations in Educational Leadership, which prepares candidates for administrative positions with an emphasis on K-12 schools; Instructional Leadership,which provides advanced knowledge of classroom practices for teachers and other educators not currently aspiring to become administrators; and Child Development, which offers advanced study of developmental theory, research and application.

A “Homecoming” Away From Home

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On a chilly February evening in Washington, D.C., a group of about 50 people — donning lei and armed with pupu — gathered for a pau hana party with a purpose.

At first appearances, the turnout might have been described as eclectic: Some young up-and-comers, some mid-career professionals and some retirees.

But it wouldn’t take an observer very long to figure out their common source of pride: Drinks in hand, attendees sported Silversword athletics gear or waved pennants.

The Alumni Meet-up in DC is among a number of gatherings Chaminade organizes each year in Hawaii and on the mainland as a way of keeping grads connected — to one another and to the university.

The DC event on Feb. 2 attracted alumni from the immediate area and from as far away as New Mexico, Delaware and upstate New York. And it gave attendees a chance not only to catch up with each other — but with the latest plans for their Honolulu alma mater.

Dr. Lynn Babington attended the alumni meet-up to outline her vision as Chaminade’s president and to hear from alumni about their hopes for the university. And at the end of the night, several attendees made gifts or donations to Chaminade to support programming.

Those donors included Dr. Christine Carter, who received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Chaminade in 1973 before getting a doctoral degree in genetics from the University of Hawaii.

At the meet-up, Carter pledged to help support a teaching fellowship named after retired Chaminade Professor Ron Iwamoto, who she credits with sparking her passion in biology, genetics and physiology.

“When I was in BIO 101 and listening to Mr. Iwamoto tell us what we were going to cover and the field trips we were all expected to go on, I changed my major that day from pre-nursing to biology,” Carter said, in an email.

Carter added that her experience at Chaminade was defined by excellence in teaching — by professors who serve as mentors, educational guides and, sometimes, even cheerleaders, encouraging students forward.

“The quality of the education has more to do with the teachers that you find yourself listening to than with the size, status or ranking of the school itself,” she said.

Chaminade professors, she said, gave her and her classmates “the confidence to explore beyond what we learned, to visualize ourselves getting the highest degree possible in a field or topic that we alone knew best.”

The DC meet-up was organized by Be-Jay Kodama, director of alumni relations at Chaminade and a graduate of the university, too. She received her bachelor’s from the university in 1986, and completed her master’s in business administration from Chaminade in 2016.

Kodama said despite the frigid temps outside, the atmosphere at the event was warm — full of aloha and, of course, lots of Chaminade pride.

And there were plenty of Hawaii touches: The tables were adorned in tropical flowers, some of which were plucked by attendees to put behind their ears, and mac nuts were wrapped up in blue for guests to take home.

Kodama said that alumni gatherings — like the DC meet-up and this April’s reunion on campus — are about making sure alumni remain connected to a campus and a community that considers them part of the family.

The meet-ups are also a chance for graduates — regardless of when they attended — to meet current students and serve as examples of how far a Chaminade education can take you, Kodama said.

“Alumni want to be kept informed,” she said, in an email, “and these events are a wonderful platform for the university to share updates in a more personal way. Chaminade is a common experience they share.”

All alumni are invited back to campus for the 2018 Alumni Reunion, April 5-8. The unique selection of events will make the return to Chaminade unforgettable. It’s a time to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.

School of Nursing Training, Inspiration from Mom, Launches Nursing Career for Jordan Tomas ’15

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The education alumnus Jordan Tomas ’15 received at Chaminade University’s School of Nursing – and the inspiration he received from his mother – propelled him into graduate school and a health care career on the Mainland.

After graduating cum laude from Chaminade and passing his National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to become a Registered Nurse, Tomas joined a medical/surgical unit at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. He’s also working toward a Master of Science in Nursing degree at UW.

Jordan Tomas“Chaminade’s nursing program played a huge part in preparing for my career,” Tomas said. “What made the journey challenging and fun was that I was a student of only the second graduating class in nursing in the school’s history.”

Despite the program’s young age, Tomas said students were provided with “some of the latest technology and latest information as the nursing school continued to evolve.”

“I learned a lot from my professors and my clinical instructors throughout my four years,” he said, “gaining insight of the nursing profession, the challenges nurses are facing in the real-world and the variety of opportunities in the nursing field.”

Also assisting Tomas academically and professionally was his mother, a nurse at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.

“She influenced me with her work ethic and her compassion,” Tomas said. “Despite coming home from work exhausted, I could tell that nursing was something she was proud of pursuing. I wanted to help people and I pursued nursing thanks to her influence.

“During my time in nursing school, my mom pursued her Bachelor of Science in Nursing through an accelerated program,” Tomas added, “and it inspired me to continue my journey through nursing school.”

Tomas is especially grateful to three of his Chaminade instructors: Chief Nurse Administrator and Professor Edna Magpantay-Monroe, Associate Professor Tiffanie Hoffmeyer and Associate Professor Jeanette Peterson.

“Dr. Monroe kept our class in line and supported me whenever I needed help in my assignments,” Tomas said. “She was especially supportive when I studied for the NCLEX-RN examination.

“Next, Dr. Hoffmeyer taught me a lot in my Complex Disease course, helped me become more confident in my nursing skills and encouraged me to persevere when times were tough in nursing school, which helped made me the person I am today.

“Finally, Professor Peterson introduced me to the unique technology of nursing simulation and expressed empathy and compassion when our class needed it.

While attending Chaminade, Tomas participated in several special programs, including a nursing conference focused on viral hepatitis and meetings with state legislators to discuss how laws – including nursing-related laws – are passed. He also took part in the TADE Triennial Event, a mass casualty exercise facilitated by the School of Nursing at Honolulu International Airport.

Tomas said Chaminade helped him understand “what nursing meant to me.”

“There were moments throughout my time in nursing school that I wondered if I made the right career choice or if I could manage to complete nursing school,” Tomas recalled. “I was fortunate to have the friends I made within my class and be able to learn and grow with them despite the challenges.

“My professors were nurturing and patient with us and were able to guide us into the path of success in nursing,” he said. “Without taking on this journey, I could not be the nurse that I am today.”

Chaminade’s School of Nursing offers a four year, full-time program culminating in a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. Students gain medical experience with human-patient simulators, community outreach projects, service-learning and supervised clinical settings. The  fall semester application deadline is February 1, 2018.