Government leaders take over classrooms Bryan Baptiste was in command. But the Kaua’i County Council member and recently announced mayoral candidate wasn’t leading a political discussion. He was reading about the Loch Ness monster. Was the huge, mythical Scottish water
Government leaders take over classrooms
Bryan Baptiste was in command.
But the Kaua’i County Council member and recently announced mayoral candidate wasn’t leading a political discussion. He was reading about the Loch Ness monster.
Was the huge, mythical Scottish water monster recently sighted in the ocean off Kaua’i? Not exactly. Baptiste was one of 75 government leaders statewide taking a turn at teaching Hawai’i’s next generation as part of the Hawai’i State Teachers Association’s inaugural Back to School Day.
Baptiste was in charge of teacher Annette Oda’s fifth-grade class at Wilcox Elementary School in Lihu’e all day Tuesday. And all in all, Oda, a 20-year veteran of the classroom, gave her temporary replacement a passing grade.
Baptiste led the class of nearly 30 10 and 11-year-olds through a reading assignment about the Loch Ness monster.
Although this was his maiden effort at the front of the classroom, Baptiste spread the questions around like an old pro. When one little girl asked Baptiste whether the monster was real, Baptiste recoiled in feigned surprise.
“Of course. You think we talk about false things in here?” he replied.
Like any new teacher, Baptiste had his moments. When a boy, tired of sitting, decided to start recess a few minutes early and sauntered out the classroom door, Baptiste looked nonplused. The cavalry, represented by Oda, had to ride to the rescue. “Go get him,” she ordered another child, and it was done.
Afterward, Baptiste rated his own performance: “I’ve always said teaching is the hardest job in the world. There was a great fear factor for me, but the most pleasant surprise is how well-behaved the children are.”
Up the road at the same time, fellow council member and mayoral candidate Ron Kouchi was taking the third-graders of teacher Patty McCloskey at Kapa’a Elementary through their math, phonics, reading and creative writing paces.
After his class had gone home for the day, Kouchi said he hadn’t been surprised by the work involved. “I’m married to a teacher,” he noted.
The students “asked me if I would be their substitute again tomorrow. It was very touching,” he said, adding he’d be happy to teach again for one day next year.
“The best thing was just the enthusiasm of the students,” he said.
County attorney Hartwell Blake and Councilman Gary Hooser also were teachers for a day on Kaua’i.
“This is an invaluable opportunity for people to learn about the wide range of skills that qualified teachers use,” said Karen Ginoza, president of HSTA, the state teachers’ union.
The hope is that “they will learn what it is really like in Hawai’i’s public schools.” she said.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
