Educator Michelle Le Iwasaki put her hand over her mouth in shock when Gov. David Ige announced her as the recipient of the $25,000 Milken Educator Award at a surprise outdoor assembly Monday at Kalihi Kai Elementary School.

“I was just so surprised. I think I was just frozen and speechless,” Iwasaki said.

Staff, faculty and students clapped, cheered and greeted her with lei at the assembly as Iwasaki, an academic coach at the school, was honored with the prestigious award, which recognizes exceptional elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and specialists who are furthering excellence at schools across the nation.

Iwasaki is the only educator in Hawaii and among 60-plus educators nationwide to be honored with the Milken Educator Award in the 2021-2022 school year.

An academic coach for kindergarten, first, fourth and fifth grades, Iwasaki develops long-term solutions to support and serve students. When the school partnered with the Turnaround Arts national program eight years ago, she led the process of adding the program’s arts integration strategies into the school’s curriculum.

“The kids love it so much. We’ve seen many great things happening ever since we became an arts-integrated school,” she said.

Iwasaki earned her bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has been an educator at Kalihi Kai for 18 years — 10 years as a fifth and first grade teacher and the past eight years as an academic coach who trains and mentors Kalihi Kai teachers in art integration strategies.

She also conducts professional development and leads presentations at other schools.

“She is incredibly instrumental in everything we do and our success as a school,” said Kalihi Kai Elementary Principal Marc Kawahara. “We were previously a struggling school, and she helped us to develop a lot of systems. She’s an extremely hard worker.

“She plays a very huge part in our success and growth as a school,” he said.

“The best part about her is she’s very selfless. She doesn’t want any accolades or attention. She’s truly here for the students and to support our staff.”

In an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the assembly, Iwasaki said she didn’t feel deserving of the recognition. It’s truly the classroom teachers who are with the students all day, every day and working so hard, she said.

When asked what she enjoys most about being an educator, Iwasaki replied, “I just love the students, and, honestly, the thing that keeps me coming back to work every day is both the students and my colleagues.”