Kahuku’s Teacher Ambassador

Dorian Langi of Kahuku Elementary School

National History Day (NHD) pushes students to explore everything from the reintroduction of gray wolves in Yellowstone to railroad strikes in 1877 through its focus on historical research and analysis.

Now it’s Kahuku Elementary’s Dorian Langi who will be pushing teachers to go further. Langi has been chosen by NHD as a regional winner and one of 36 nationwide Behring Teacher Ambassadors to undergo special training to help her improve History Day in Hawaii.

Langi, who has been teaching at Kahuku Elementary for 25 years, will fly to Colorado in August, where she will attend workshops and return prepared to mentor her colleagues in the NHD curriculum. She’ll receive $1,000 for her time.

“Dorian has worked with students on History Day projects for 11 years,” stated Kahuku High and Intermediate principal Pauline Masaniai. “She’s dedicated hundreds of late nights, weekends and holidays to support her students, and she’s very deserving of this reward.”

Langi has seven of her own children – who have attended Laie Elementary, Hauula Elementary and Kahuku High and Intermediate – but she still manages to find time each year to guide her 40 students through the long process of History Day, through both projects and lectures.

“I have seen many lives, including my own, blessed by participating in History Day,” said Langi, who was a finalist in 2010 for the national Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award. The program, she added is a “key component in helping our students become responsible, independent learners empowered with the skills that will help them contribute to society.”