Bill Arakaki has lived a life believing in the importance of education. He began his career teaching at-risk students for eight years at Waipahu High School. Today, he serves as the Kauai Complex Area Superintendent and doesn’t have any plans of retiring in the near future as long as he can make an impact on Hawaii’s youth. The Garden Island newspaper recently caught up with Bill in the midst of a busy day.
TGI: You’re pretty much always tied to your phone for anything that comes up within any of the schools in Kauai, it seems.
Bill Arakaki: Yes, so basically as a complex superintendent and with anybody in education, the work hours go beyond a regular work day, our job never ends. For me, any situation may occur after hours. We may have weather conditions, like we may have unexpected rain, it does occur after hours. We may have a situation where the power goes out, or an emergency situation, for example a fire or a break in, not only myself, but if it occurs at the school, the principal is contacted. So basically we can ensure the safety for things to be addressed before things need to be opened the next day, we have to do that. During a regular school day like right now, we can take care of things right away, but after hours, it’s the same thing. It’s part of the job.
TGI: Where do you get that dedication to education and serving the community?
Bill Arakaki: I’m a product of the public school. I’m fortunate. There are others that are within the schools, students that are adults now or even current students, where there is a significant person that impacts your life and for me, I had teachers and coaches that supported me. Particularly for me I had a teacher/coach who was the Boy Scout executive director. He passed away.
TGI: What was his name?
Bill Arakaki: Kaipo Kealalio. He was my teacher and my coach when I was in high school. He influenced me as far as the values of athletic competition, teamwork, character building, as coaches do. It’s not only about sports. He would talk to me about what my plans were after high school, so he was the one to influence for me to be able to get into Cuesta College. My scores in order to get into the University of Hawaii, my SAT scores were not up to par, so I had to go to a junior college, keeping me involved in athletics, and allowing me to transfer to the University of Hawaii after two years. I got my bachelors in health education, taught in Oahu and then came to Kauai. I graduated in 1979 from the University of Hawaii and I student taught at Kailua High School then I moved over to Waipahu High School and I taught there for nine years and moved to Kauai in 1988 as a teacher.
TGI: What did you teach for those nine years?
Bill Arakaki: I taught at the alternative learning center. This is a program they used to call it CSAP, Comprehensive Student Alienation Program. These were the students who were adjudicated, teen parents, students that had failed courses, had different needs areas, potentially at risk for dropping out. Adjudicating meaning they’re involved with the law.
TGI: How did that nine years impact what you do today?
Bill Arakaki: You know the underdogs. I think for me it taught me to always support the underdogs. How can we support those students so they can be good citizens and productive in the society and community? So they can reach their dreams and aspirations. We have varied levels of our students in our system. As you know the mission and vision is that all students are college and career ready. What we mean when we say all students in this category including special needs students, students that are economically disadvantaged or students that may be English second language learners. I have a heart for that population of students.
TGI: Do you ever get out into the schools and meet students today?
Bill Arakaki: One of the best things in my job is to be able to get out to our schools or any event that our students participate in to see the successes. My recreation is to be able to go to the spelling bee, go to the football games, go to different events, the robotics. During my time off or on the weekends, those events fill my calendar. I enjoy it. Being that I had my five children, all of my children have participated in those events. For a family, as a teacher, principal, vice-president, I’ve been involved in all of that. I have a great family and wife who supports that. I know this is about me and my job and what I do, but for me all the credit goes to the teachers, the principals, the students, the support staff. They are the ones on the front line. I have a system of support for their goals. I support them, I lead them, I keep us on the path. There are also community partners. Without them we wouldn’t have the successes and gains that we’ve made. I can’t do it alone. That is my philosophy.
TGI: What are your outside interests?
Bill Arakaki: Kauai is a special place. I love the beaches. I love to go to my favorite fishing spot. I’ll meet a student or a parent or a family member. That is just part of Kauai. They see me like a normal person with a family. They get to see me in a different light. It’s not the title. I’m a real person too. Because we’re a small community, I’m very fortunate to be able to be in contact with the mayor, heads of different departments here on the island, the county council, the state Legislature because we’re connected. We’ll see each other at the store. We’ll see each other at events, and family gatherings. When I say Kauai is a special place, there are opportunities for all of us to work together to really support our children and families as far as education because education will enhance the opportunities for jobs and sustainability. I’ve been here 25 years so far and have had great support.
TGI: Are there any pressing issues as far as education goes that weigh on you right now?
Bill Arakaki: There are issues that have been around for a while, like bullying.
TGI: What are you implementing in the schools to curb that?
Bill Arakaki: There are activities that schools do, such as the Aloha Peace Project. They are a group that comes in and teaches values at the elementary school level.
TGI: What are some positive comments/stories you’ve heard from people about the Kauai school system?
Bill Arakaki: For me, when a student tells me they were struggling and they have turned it around and they have a success story where this person took the time to help them with social, personal or academic issues. That’s significant. It happens.
TGI: How many more years is Kauai going to have with you at the helm?
Bill Arakaki: My commitment to Kauai will be as long as I’m effective at what I do. What are the indicators that I’m successful? If I see a drop in performance, if there is dissatisfaction. We do have a school quality survey which shows how schools and educators are faring? How is that faring? Am I serving? I want to do my best for the families. If I’m able to show that with data through the assessments and with the soft data, which you can see as you walk around, then I’m doing my job. Definitely there are concerns, we’re not at the place we should be. You know the schools, they do good things. The question is how do we help support that, so we can get to a better place?
TGI: So as long as you’re effective?
Bill Arakaki: You know I’ve been in the system for 34 years and my passion is to really be able to make change and as long as I am able, I will continue to.
• Lisa Ann Capozzi is a features/education reporter for The Garden Island and can be reached at lcapozzi@thegardenisland.com.
