Every town wants to have someone be an effective liaison between its schools and community, and Waianae is fortunate to have Calvin Endo. Because of his relentless efforts with the local parent-teacher associations, he was recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House in 2012. Not only has he served as the PCNC, a parent and community representative, for eleven years at Waianae High School, but he also serves as a member and chairman of the Education Committee on the Waianae Neighborhood Board, a city and county body for community representation. Moreover, he has been the president of the high school’s Parent Teacher Student Association for the past six years. In this way, he effectively links the schools with community leaders which facilitates direct communication and discussion concerning common issues and problems. Presently he is active with the coalition Hui for Excellence in Education (HEE), a statewide organization with more than 30 members who interact with representatives of the Department of Education. The main purpose of this body is to write and process proposals for educational bills to be presented to the Hawaii State Legislature for consideration. This year’s proposed bills to the 2013 Legislature will center on the issues of bullying in the schools, regulation of early childhood education, and teenage suicide.
Endo will hold his next Education Committee meeting for the Neighborhood Board on Thursday, January 10, 2013, starting at 4 P.M. at the Waianae High School, Room B104 (near the library). The focus of this public meeting will be the topic of bullying in the schools. Endo is willing to help the schools seven days a week, even when he is asked to open the high school’s facilities for the weekly Farmers Market on Saturday mornings at 5:30 A.M. Now, that’s service to the community!
