Kaimuki High teacher named 2027 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Kaimuki High School teacher has been named the 2027 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year.

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Chu Hong received the state’s top teaching honor Monday during a ceremony at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

Hong was selected from among 15 Complex Area Teachers of the Year and the Public Charter School Teacher of the Year, representing more than 13,000 educators statewide.

A 22-year Hawaii public school educator, Hong previously taught mathematics and language arts before moving into agriculture at Kaimuki High two years ago.

She has since helped build the school’s Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources pathway and expand its garden into a Smart Farm, where students use vertical hydroponic towers and grow crops including orchids, anthuriums, turmeric and lilikoi.

Through her W.O.R.M.S. program, students also learn entrepreneurship by composting food waste, growing crops, developing products, managing budgets and operating businesses.

Their work has earned first place in the state’s Young Entrepreneurs Program Challenge for two consecutive years.

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“Chu has shown what is possible when an educator steps outside of her own experience to create new opportunities for students,” Superintendent Keith Hayashi said.

Hong has also secured more than $200,000 to expand agriculture, sustainability, entrepreneurship and career-connected learning opportunities at the school.

In accepting the award, Hong credited fellow educators, school leaders and community partners.

“Our job is to stay with our students through the waiting, through the mundane, through the mistakes, and through the dark, until they finally look up and see their own light,” Hong said.

Hong will represent Hawaiʻi in the National Teacher of the Year program in Washington, D.C.

She also received a one-year lease of a 2026 Nissan Sentra SV as part of the award.

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