Not only did Leilehua High School natural resources teacher Jackie Freitas not expect to be named Hawaii State Teacher of the Year, but she originally didn’t even start out intending to teach high school or agriculture.
Freitas, 36, was named this year’s winner of the Hawaii public schools’ top teaching award at a Tuesday ceremony at Washington Place.
She was selected from a field of 16 finalists representing the best of the state’s 13,000-plus teachers in 15 public school complex areas and public charter schools, and will represent Hawaii in the National Teacher of the Year Program in the spring.
In a Honolulu Star-Advertiser interview after the ceremony, Freitas recalled the unlikely journey she took to this point.
“I went to school to be an elementary school teacher. … I was supposed to teach kindergarten,” she recalled with a chuckle. “And I did not want to be an ‘ag’ teacher because of how much dedication and how much work you have to do to become one.”
Back when she was a teen, Freitas witnessed firsthand the long hours and sweat labor that went into teaching the subject: She took agriculture classes as a Leilehua student so she could spend more time with her father, a retired heavy equipment operator who was volunteering at the school.
But after Freitas received her teaching degree, her former agriculture teacher at her alma mater, Russel Wong, was getting ready to retire, “and he said, ‘You’ve got a degree, just come teach at Leilehua for one year,’” Freitas said. “I said, ‘One year is what you’ll get, then you gotta find a replacement.’
“I fell in love,” she continued, grinning, her eyes brimming with emotion. “The students are amazing at Leilehua; the Central (Oahu) community, the Wahiawa community, is very supportive. And Mr. Wong left me a really good foundation. So I was just able to grow and grow and grow.”
Thirteen years later Freitas is the natural resources teacher and Future Farmers of America adviser at Leilehua, and her program runs one of the largest high school agricultural farms in the state.
The 3.5-acre operation includes traditional farmland, three greenhouses, hydroponics, beehives, “off-the-grid” vertical towers for plants, and about 54 animals, including pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, goats, a farm dog and, fittingly, given the school’s mascot, a mule.
Freitas, who is two weeks from her due date for her fourth child, is on campus seven days a week, even during summers, weekends and holidays, making sure that all living things are fed and watered and kept alive.
It’s become “a family farm,” Freitas said.
“My dad is still working with me. My mom comes in and helps to harvest, as do the students. My husband is a diesel mechanic — he fixes all my tractors. And my kids have sections in the field.” It’s not uncommon for a school day to stretch into a 12-hour marathon, with the whole family still in the fields at 8 at night, she said.
“So all my students know my kids, my whole family, and they’re all very supportive. And it kind of helps my students to see that my family is so involved in the farm. They’re like, ‘Uncle, let me help you grab that wheelbarrow!’ It gives them a sense of family. And I treat my kids (students) as if they’re my own.”
“I love it. It’s my passion,” Freitas added. “If the kids are putting in all this effort to make something grow, I need to do my part … making sure that when they come back on Monday, everything’s still alive and they still have hope.”
Freitas has “so much energy,” Leilehua Principal Jason Nakamoto marveled. And she is continuously learning new technology — including “farm bots” that can water and feed plants, and virtual reality environments to practice farming techniques — so that she can teach students to be job-ready in an evolving industry that increasingly requires tech skills, he said. She also provides workshops for colleagues.
Under Freitas, who is affectionately known as “Auntie Jackie,” the program has bloomed, from the 50 students when she arrived to more than 200 today, Nakamoto said.
“It’s clear that Jackie’s passion and innovative teaching methods allow students to reach new horizons,” state schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a news release. “She is a prime example of a teacher leader in our state — pioneering new curriculum to ensure that students are globally competitive, initiating community programs that connect student work with real-world challenges, and connecting with colleagues to support future teacher leaders. We are grateful to have teachers like Jackie, who do so much to help elevate our Hawaii public school system.”
The 16 Hawaii Teacher of the Year finalists received cash awards sponsored by the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Freitas received an additional $1,000 award as the top winner. She also received a one-year lease of a car, courtesy of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association and Cutter Chevrolet.
Yet Freitas said her biggest reward, the reason she teaches, is the sight of her students lighting up with excitement at growing or cooking or selling things cultivated with their own hands.
Whether her students actually end up working in agriculture as adults is secondary.
“It’s the (student) engagement and just giving them the life skills and the heart, the soft skills, whatever they need,” she said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t care if you’re not farmers. But you will be good people in this world. And you will learn how to push a broom correctly. You will clean up after yourself. You will learn a foundation.’ That’s what I want.”
BEST OF THE BEST TEACHERS
Leilehua High School teacher Jackie Freitas represented the Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Complex Area. The other finalists:
>> Laurie Chang, Aliiolani Elementary, Kaimuki-McKinley-Roosevelt Complex Area
>> Laura Cummings, Sunset Beach Elementary, Castle-Kahuku Complex Area
>> Pinky Grace Francisco, Kau High & Pahala Elementary, Kau-Keaau-Pahoa Complex Area
>> David “Kawika” Gonzales Jr., Kaunakakai Elementary, Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai Complex Area
>> Marina Higa, Major General William R. Shafter Elementary, Aiea-Moanalua-Radford Complex Area
>> Jennifer Ilaban, Kahakai Elementary, Honokaa-Kealakehe-Kohala-Konawaena Complex Area
>> Gregory Kent, Kailua Elementary, Kailua-Kalaheo Complex Area
>> Kara Kitamura, Kapaa High, Kapaa-Kauai-Waimea Complex Area
>> Jessica Peterson, August Ahrens Elementary, Pearl City-Waipahu Complex Area
>> Christopher Pike, Kapiolani Elementary, Hilo-Waiakea Complex Area
>> Norman Ray Sales, Farrington High, Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Complex Area
>> John “Parker” Sawyer, Ka‘ohao School, Public Charter Schools
>> Donna Soriano, Waianae Elementary, Nanakuli-Waianae Complex Area
>> Melanie Teraoka, Wahiee Elementary, Baldwin-Kekaulike-Kulanihakoi-Maui Complex Area
>> Ariel Villanueva, Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area, ‘Ewa Makai Middle
