{"id":114920,"date":"2020-04-01T16:14:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T02:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=114920"},"modified":"2024-03-15T15:07:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T01:07:21","slug":"puou-milken-teacher-of-promise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/01\/puou-milken-teacher-of-promise\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> West O\u02bbahu graduate honored as a Milken Teacher of Promise"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Naturalee
Naturalee ʻIlima Puou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A N\u0101n\u0101kuli High and Intermediate School teacher and University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>–West Oʻahu<\/span><\/a> graduate has received a National Milken Educators of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s annual Teacher of Promise Award. Naturalee ʻIlima Puou<\/strong>, known as Kumu ʻIlima to her students, was the winner for the N\u0101n\u0101kuli-Waiʻanae<\/span> Complex Area, joining six other complex-area winners and one state winner.<\/p>\n

The award recognizes up-and-coming classroom teachers who demonstrate tremendous potential in the areas of student learning experience, teaching\/learning strategies, professional and curriculum development, substantive innovation, supportive relationships, and growth and promise.<\/p>\n

“Kumu ʻIlima upholds what the award is all about, a promising teacher who will do great things for her students, the education profession, and our community,” said Darin Pilialoha<\/strong>, principal at N\u0101n\u0101kuli and fellow UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> alum.<\/p>\n

Back home<\/h2>\n

Puou said she enjoys that her job is in her community and home.<\/p>\n

“I love that when I come to work, my students recognize me and they see me. And what I mean by that is they know I\u2019m from here,” Puou said. “They know I\u2019m somebody who made the decision to come back to make sure that everybody else has a chance of getting to where they want to.”<\/p>\n

Puou, 32, born and raised in N\u0101n\u0101kuli, started her job as a ninth grade teacher of 170 students at N\u0101n\u0101kuli in 2019.<\/p>\n

She graduated from UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> in fall 2018 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in secondary education\/English. But her path to success wasn\u2019t without its struggles.<\/p>\n

Overcoming adversity<\/h2>\n
\"Naturalee
Puou with her class<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Puou was raised by her mother, a single parent, in a low-income household. After graduating from N\u0101n\u0101kuli in 2006, she intermittently attended Leeward Community College between 2007 and 2012.<\/p>\n

“For a long time, it was just my mother and I, and I was the sole income in the household,” Puou said. “I would always have to drop out of school to work.”<\/p>\n

Her mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in April 2015. Puou then applied to UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> and started her first semester in fall 2015 to pursue a degree in secondary education.<\/p>\n

“It appealed to me to be able to say that I had been 100 percent West-side educated,” Puou said.<\/p>\n

And while she\u2019s grateful for being named a Teacher of Promise, she said the real honor comes from her students.<\/p>\n

“When I hear my own words coming out of my students\u2019 mouths or when I see them practicing things that I insist upon them doing, I don\u02bbt need an award,” Puou said.<\/p>\n

Read more about Puou\u2019s story at E Kamakani Hou<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

—Story by Zenaida S. Arvman<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> graduate Naturalee ʻIlima Puou has received a Milken Teacher of Promise Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,679,204,59,1626],"class_list":["post-114920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-education","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-women-of-uh","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t