{"id":212585,"date":"2025-03-21T15:22:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T01:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=212585"},"modified":"2025-03-25T16:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:49:49","slug":"uh-alumna-hawaiis-future-leaders-educators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/21\/uh-alumna-hawaiis-future-leaders-educators\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning UH<\/abbr> alumna inspires Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s future leaders, educators"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Three
Aragaki (left) at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Commencement in May 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a proud University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> alumna, Wai\u0101kea High School teacher Whitney Aragaki, a presidential awardee, credits UH<\/abbr> Hilo and UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa with shaping her approach to teaching.<\/p>\n[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/5cGO5FN4GIU” el_aspect=”916″ align=”right” el_id=”wrap-video-right”][vc_column_text]\n

She was recently honored with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching<\/a>, the highest honor for STEM<\/abbr> educators in the U.S.<\/abbr><\/p>\n

Aragaki earned her master\u2019s degree in tropical conservation biology and environmental science from UH<\/abbr> Hilo in 2012 and earned a doctorate in education from UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa in 2024. She said her time at UH<\/abbr> Hilo, and assembling her master\u2019s thesis laid the groundwork for her career.<\/p>\n

“That really formed a foundation of what my teaching was going to look like in the future,” she said.<\/p>\n

She is no stranger to recognition for her educational prowess—earning the 2022 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> State Teacher of the Year<\/a> for her work in biology, environmental science and research. However, Aragaki said the true reward is being with her students.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s so fun getting to work with students every day,” she said. “When we innovate, we think about how to make our community stronger and more sustainable, helping students become stewards of this world.”<\/p>\n

She remains actively involved with the UH<\/abbr> alumni community, underscoring its role in supporting local students.<\/p>\n

\"Three
Aragaki with former students (now UH<\/abbr> students) at the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa basketball game in January 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It’s so important for UH<\/abbr> alumni to stay connected with the UH<\/abbr> community, especially education, because many of our students will go into the UH<\/abbr> system,” Aragaki said.<\/p>\n

“I am thinking about the ways I can help my students in achieving careers that will help them continue to help the community.”<\/p>\n

Learn more about other outstanding UH<\/abbr> Alumni<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presidential awardee and UH<\/abbr> alumna Whitney Aragaki empowers students through innovative teaching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,679,95,204,313,271,14,9,56],"class_list":["post-212585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-college-of-education","tag-education","tag-stem","tag-uh-alumni-association","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","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