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2022 State Teacher of the Year, Hawaii-Whitney Aragaki

2022 NATIONAL TEACHER
OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Whitney Aragaki*

STAte: Hawaii
SCHOOL:Waiakea High School
SUBJECT: Science
GRADE LEVEL: 9-12

Biography

Whitney Aragaki (she/her) supports students to learn through a lens of abundance that honors place, people and cultures. Her teaching focuses around conversations, practices and systems that sustain the intimate inter-relationship of public education, community and environment. Returning to serve her high school alma mater, Aragaki teaches biology and environmental science at Waiakea High School in Hilo, Hawai‘i. In partnership with the Hawai‘i Virtual Learning Network, Aragaki aims to provide equitable access to environmental science and computer science courses statewide. She is the daughter of two educators, and was a student in her mother’s biology class. Aragaki’s two children thrive in this supportive public-school ecosystem. Aragaki has a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Swarthmore College, and a Master of Science in tropical conservation biology and environmental science from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. She currently is at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa College of Education, where she is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy with a focus in curriculum and instruction. Aragaki began her teaching career with support from the Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Aspiring Teachers of Color Fellowship and the National Science Foundation’s GK-12 Fellowship. She is an alumna of the Hawai‘i State Teacher Fellowship and the National Education Association Teacher Leadership Institute. Aragaki is a National Board certified teacher in adolescence and young adulthood mathematics, a Google-certified educator and a 2019 and 2021 state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in mathematics and science teaching.