LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School, and more specifically Leah Aiwohi of the school’s electronics department, was one of two schools in Hawai‘i to earn the $10,000 CS Leaders Prize for her efforts to expand access to computer science for the school’s students.
Ilima Intermediate School on O‘ahu was the recipient of the second CS Leaders Prize in Hawai‘i.
The prize also makes Aiwohi and her teacher eligible to attend Code.org’s Professional Learning Program.
Code.org, in partnership with DonorsChoose, awarded $1 million to United States schools as part of the 10th Hour of Code to help more students get access to computer science.
“We wanted to recognize the schools who are working hard to recover from the challenges that our education system has gone through over the past two years and support their goals to establish or expand access to computer science, not only for students in their own classrooms, but also in their districts,” states a release from Code.org.
Aiwohi, who heads the Kaua‘i High School electronics section, including media, said she plans to share the award with the state Department of Education Kaua‘i Complex Area and Sean Doi, the DOE’s computer science district resource teacher.
The goal of the award that was presented to 102 schools across the United States is to help establish computer science education for their students. With schools adding new computer science courses in the 2023-24 school year, Code.org estimates it will impact more than 55,000 students, many in underserved areas.
Code.org said the winning schools will also work within their districts to impact many more students in other schools in the coming years.
Aiwohi lost no time demonstrating this, as the check celebration was shared among her
department, where teachers utilize coding to help teach the subjects; Kaua‘i High School feeder schools King Kaumuali‘i Elementary School, where the programs they use are based on the Kaua‘i High School programs; and Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
“From day one, this is not a K12 initiative,” Doi said. “This is district-wide and island-wide. This is equitable computer science for everyone.”
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
