Support WHEA

We, Lina Mochizuki and Sulley Schuster, are concerned 2014 graduates of West Hawaii Explorations Academy (WHEA). As co-valedictorians of our class, we worked directly with staff and students on the graduation ceremony last year. Recently, we read the petition published on gopetition.com and were appalled, disappointed, and saddened. WHEA has always been a strong, supportive, community and to see this kind of division within the WHEA family has pushed us to express our concerns. It is not the petition in and of itself that bothers us the most, but its direct attack against the co-director and the WHEA community as a whole.

Specifically, the co-director is constantly disrespected within the petition by the citation of the fact that he does not teach the students. Granted, he does not teach and as a result does not have as direct a relationship with the students as the teachers do. However, just because he does not directly teach the students does not mean he deserves any less respect than any other teacher. Much of his work is done behind the scenes and makes a WHEA education possible in the first place.

As for what the petition argues for, we acknowledge that we do not know the whole story. However, we feel that we have sufficient background knowledge and firsthand experience in planning a WHEA graduation to be permitted to offer our opinion of the issues presented. To put this entire petition into perspective, the mere opportunity to receive direct recognition from a teacher during a graduation ceremony is unique to WHEA as a small, close-knit school. It is a privilege that we believe is being taken for granted. Also, graduation is viewed by many teachers and staff members as a gift from the school to the seniors. This petition and its negative impact are a direct rejection of that gift.

Of all the negative things this petition has brought about, bringing down the reputation of WHEA as a school is arguably the worst. Prospective parents, future students, and even potential sponsors have the ability to read this petition. Comments have been left on the petition expressing concerns about sending children to WHEA including the following:

“This is so sad to hear. WHEA was a place I was looking to send my child when old enough, I will be seriously reconsidering.”
“I would hate to see this school lose its fundamental values and one of the main things that make it WHEA!”
“This makes me think twice about my child going to WHEA.”

The negative message and unsupported claims of the petition undermine everything WHEA represents. To undermine a school and staff that has done and continues to do so much for its students is unjust and counterproductive. To the parents who are concerned about the quality of WHEA as an institution, we can confidently say that this negative petition has falsely portrayed the school. Although the structure of WHEA’s curriculum may not be for everyone, we were both able to have an amazing high school experience. Through the preparation we received at WHEA, we have been able to succeed in our college experience thus far and have exceeded our own expectations. WHEA has prepared us well for a bright future.

With regards to the previously mentioned petition, we believe some of the ideas contained within it are negative, untrue, and misguided. The following is an attempt to both refute untrue statements made and express our personal opinions regarding the issues raised.

The co-director has been a member of the WHEA staff since the creation of the school in 1996. A dedicated public servant, he taught for over 25 years on both Oahu and the Big Island prior to his position at WHEA. Since then, he has served as Vice-President of the Hawaii Public Charter School Network and currently as co-director of WHEA. Most recently, he has been one of the main reasons behind the construction of the beautiful new campus that WHEA students now have the privilege to enjoy and attend. In our personal experience, the co-director is a reasonable, hardworking, and dedicated man. Ultimately, he is an all-around wonderful person. We believe that the petition and its supporters are highly misguided and ill-willed in their words against him.

Throughout the petition, the co-director is accused of a variety of false allegations and exaggerated claims. Accusing him as a “bully Co-director” is simply a direct attack and a personal opinion. It does nothing to further the cause being argued for in the petition. In addition, claims of the co-director “continuing his kingdom,” and instilling a “code of silence that forbids teachers from talking freely,” are completely unsupported claims with similarly negative motives. Also, accusing WHEA of chasing away sixth grade teachers is inaccurate and is unnecessarily damaging to the school’s reputation. Overall, the verbal attacks throughout the petition are highly inappropriate, detrimental, and contradictory to the goals of the petition itself, the credibility of WHEA as an institution, and the personal reputation of the co-director.

In the petition, the first point states that the graduates do not have the “ability to select our own guest speaker for our 2015 Graduation Ceremony”. In our experience, the guest speaker is not selected by the students (and never has been). At a large ceremony such as a graduation that has the potential to be covered in local news and media, the presence of an important guest speaker is beneficial for the success of the school as a whole. The petition also claims that the co-director said one of the sixth grade teachers was “inappropriate to have as a guest speaker”. However, she is indeed speaking at graduation, making this an invalid point.

The second point demands “non-censoring of teacher’s graduation messages to 2015 Graduates.” This in itself is an unreasonable demand. During the 2014 graduation ceremony, the messages were read prior to being presented. This is simply a precaution that must be taken, and does not impinge on the content of the messages at all. To require the messages to be censored is not an unreasonable requirement, as “censorship” only constitutes making sure they do not contain inappropriate material. In addition, we are unsure of why the word “censoring” is used at all. In the past, (and for the 2015 graduation as well), the teachers have put together a collaborative document where all teachers have an opportunity to add their messages for each student. The entries are then edited down to equal lengths to give each student equal celebration at the graduation ceremony.

Lastly, the third point requires that “uncensored teacher graduation messages are read by teachers, and not the non-teaching Co-Director.” While planning our graduation last year, we also hoped that the teachers of our choice would be able to read their messages at the ceremony. However, this was not possible mainly because it would take a lot of time to rotate in and out teachers for each individual student and was logistically impossible. Also, the staff decided against it because they did not want certain teachers to feel left out if students did not select them to read their messages. Overall, the decision was made with good intentions and complete necessity.

It is with all of this in mind that we are taking the time to voice our opinions with regards to the controversy currently taking place. In the end, we loved the time we spent at WHEA as well as the teachers, staff, and students. We do believe that the petition got one thing right- WHEA is a family. It is our hope that the future of this family is not jeopardized by this conflict. To the seniors graduating this weekend, we would ask that you take some time to put all of this into perspective. We understand your frustration with the staff and know where you are coming from, but we ask that you reconsider both your demands and your approach. Consider the legacy that you would like to leave behind as a class and please, do not take this time for granted. It’s never too late to make things right.