Hello, and welcome everybody to the Home City Council.

Thank you all for being here.

The City Council's honorary certificate program honors and acknowledges those individuals and groups who have made an impact in our local, national, and international communities.

Mr.

Clerk, our first recipient.

Good morning, Mr.

Chair, Council members, and members of the public.

Our first presentation congratulates Wilson Elementary School, recognized and designated as a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School.

This presentation is made by yourself, Council Chair Waters.

Thank you.

Today, Councilmember Val Okimoto and I have the privilege of recognizing two Oahu schools in our district selected by the Hawaii State Department of Education to receive the prestigious honor of 2025 National Blue Ribbon School.

For over four decades, the National Blue Ribbon Program has honored elementary, middle, and high school-based schools based on their stellar academic performance and the incredible progress they've made in closing performance gaps among their students.

Although the federal government made the decision to dismantle the program last August, the achievement is no less remarkable and worthy of exceptional recognition.

So I'll go first by congratulating Council District 4's very own Wilson Elementary for being named a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School, an incredible milestone that reflects the school's unwavering commitment to excellence and student growth.

Joining us today is Principal Ryan Amine.

Catherine Donahue, third grade teacher.

Terry Drown, fifth grade teacher.

Alison Kimoto, academic coach, and grades K through three.

Wendy Machita, academic coach, and grades three through five.

Under the leadership of Principal Amine, Wilson Elementary School stands out as a model of innovation and excellence, empowering its students to be globally competitive and locally committed.

The school's dedication to excellence is evident through its academic achievements, exceeding statewide averages by 21% points in English language arts, 33 points in math, and 24 points in science.

Absolutely amazing.

Serving more than 500 students, Wilson Elementary fosters a strong growth mindset and prioritizes social emotional learning to ensure that every child feels safe, valued, and ready to learn.

The school also offers a robust curriculum that includes STEM, music, library studies, physical education, world language, Hawaiian studies, and computer science, and inclusive after school programs such as band, sports, performing arts, and language clubs.

Wilson's mission statement is help all students progress towards our maximum potential.

This is not just an aspiration, it's not just aspirational.

It's something that the students, teachers, faculty, and the entire school community live by.

Now, therefore, be resolved on this behalf of the city and county of Honolulu, the Honeless City Council commends all who have worked so tirelessly to achieve the well-deserved recognition award to Wilson Elementary School by the National Blue Ribbon School Program.

Great job, everyone's one of the questions.

Thank you.

Mr.

Clerk, our next recipient.

Our next presentation recognizes Manana Elementary School, also named A2025 National Blue Ribbon School.

And the presentation also congratulates Jody Katoyama, a 2026 Teacher of the Year for the Pearl City Waipahu Complex Areas.

This presentation is made by Councilmember Okimoto.

Thank you.

Aloha and good morning, everyone.

It is my pleasure this morning to introduce to you, Jody Karayama and Brian Liu here in honor of Manana Elementary School.

Jodi was named the Pearl City Waipahu Complex Area Teacher of the Year in 2026 and has been teaching for 14 years and is currently serving as a curriculum coordinator at Manana Elementary School.

Jody exemplifies the profound impact our dedicated educators have in preparing our students to become globally competitive and locally committed.

She has been praised as an expert in her field who advances growth and learning opportunities for students as an inspiring educator, going above and beyond the call of duty.

She provides school-wide support in literacy, math, science, and social studies.

Joy bridges the gap between the state and complex area goals and their implementation at the school level.

She demonstrates excellence, innovation, and strong collaboration, regularly mentoring new teachers by providing guidance on curriculum implementation, classroom management, and effective teaching strategies that have led to some of the highest marks in the state of Hawaii.

When she's not doing all of that, whenever I go to the school, Jodi is often running around, making sure that assemblies are run smoothly, and she actually will volunteer the services of our of our council chief of staff here, Duncan to be volunteering with singing, um, having the kids running off the field.

So I just know that Jodi fills so many capacities, and we're thankful for your service.

If we could give Jodi a round of applause, everybody.

Thank you.

With teachers like Jody, it's no surprise that Manana Elementary School has been named as Chair Watersid, a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S.

Department of Education.

They have been recognized for their high academic achievement under the exemplary high performing schools category for ranking among Hawaii's highest performing schools.

They were among 356 school winners nationwide announced in twenty in August 2025 by U.S.

Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon.

Manana Elementary School serves approximately 270 students utilizing project-based learning, data-driven instruction, and social emotional learning with performance exceeding state averages in English, language arts, math, and science.

Under Principal Brian Liu, who's here with us today, the school's performance has been increasing significantly, and in 2025, notably outperformed state averages, exceeding them by 24 percentage points in English language arts, 39 points in math, and 36 points in science.

If we could give him a round of applause, he served so gratefully in the DOE.

And so I had to sort of just not be fully transparent.

But Brian, you're here today, and I want to make sure that we were honored and recognized you for devoiding your career and success and student to student success, staff well-being, and strong community partnerships across the state.

Brian moved from the classroom into the administration at Wai and I Elementary School in 2000.

And then he moved to Highlands Intermediate from 2002 to about 2006, where I had the honor and privilege of being one of his teachers as he was the vice vice principal there.