Waikiki Elementary School teacher Catherine Caine is in the running for the 2015 national teacher of the year award — the first Hawaii finalist in more than a decade.

The second-grade teacher is one of four finalists for the award, considered one of the country’s most prestigious education honors. Teachers from Alabama, Indiana and Texas were also named finalists by the Council of Chief State School Officers, which started the awards program more than 60 years ago.

Caine was recognized late last year as the 2015 state teacher of the year by the Department of Education.

Her teaching career has spanned 34 years, the past 24 at Wai­kiki Elementary, where she is a proponent of critical thinking and project-based learning. She also is a mentor teacher and coordinator for teacher development programs at the University of Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific University.

"Teaching presents joy and an intellectual challenge on a daily basis for me," Caine said in a news release. "The process of guiding my students to learn how to think and not what to think sustains my love for the profession."

Caine is Hawaii’s first national finalist since Kailua High’s Derek Minakami earned a nomination in 2001, the DOE said.

She holds a teacher education diploma and a master’s degree in curriculum studies focused in pre-kindergarten to third grade from UH-Manoa. Caine earned an undergraduate degree in child development from San Diego State University.

The winning teacher will be announced in April and spend a year traveling the country to represent and advocate for educators, the council said.