Day 3: Interview With Abraham Mokunui

As an English teacher at Kamehameha High School, Mr. Abraham Mokunui joins dozens more as a member of the faculty and staff of Kamehameha. Students often view teachers as higher authority who seem to have minimal or no problems whatsoever. After speaking with Mr. Mokunui I have come to realize that teachers either have or see more problems than that of which would come to a normal students mind. Mr. Mokunui has a very critical output on what should be done to help Kamehameha as he is not only an English teacher, but also a Kamehameha graduate.

On a more generalized portion of the interview, Mr. Mokunui presented some issues faced at Kamehameha along with ideal solutions that he believes could be effective. These issues include:

1. The use of recycled trash (bottles/cans)
2. Hallway Etiquette (loitering in the middle of the walkway)
3. Roadway from Paki to Akahi with cones (students moving cones into the middle of the roadway, making teachers get out of their car to move them out of the way)
4. Upper campus vs. Lower campus ( Minimal interaction between all grades 9-12)

After looking at Jessica's interview with Mr. Kauka, our group decided that time management and responsibility is an important issue that should be focused on trying to solve. With this in mind I asked Mr. Mokunui about problems he sees in Kamehameha with these aspects especially. He immediately replied that students getting to class on time seems to be a large problem.

"I don't understand why students are late to the second half of the day when they had lunch right before this (along with a 10 minute passing time)." - Mr. Mokunui.

He is absolutely correct because students have more than enough time to get from class to class. With a 10 minute passing period (assuming the student is let out from the previous class on time) a student can get to any place on the entire high school campus if they are aware of the time. Mr. Mokunui also noticed that many students don't realize passing time is over until the final bell to start class has rung.

During the interview we came up with an idea that a five minute warning bell might assist students. Perhaps a bell, with a different tone from the normal bell, would let students know that half of the passing time is over and create an awareness to get students to class on time. This is something that we can look in to further on in the process, but this is a simple and could be a cost effective way to help a growing problem.

Speaking with Mr. Mokunui has given me a greater outlook on the issues we face here at Kamehameha. Some of us are too blind to see the obvious problems we face that could easily be solved with simple solutions. Of the many things I got out of this interview is "awareness" and "mindset". Students and teachers need to be aware their surroundings at school to help make it a better place. Simple situational awareness like seeing trash around or knowing when your next class starts, can take away from some issues our campus faces. With the right mindset from not only students and teachers, but from all branches of the school system, we need to be willing to try new things to make our school a better place. Thank you Mr. Mokunui for the inspiration!

Picture Citation: "It's My Life . School . Time Management . You Vs. The Clock | PBS Kids GO!" PBS KIDS: Educational Games, Videos and Activities For Kids! Web. 08 Apr. 2011. .