Otani Will Go To D.C. As A Top Principal
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Mitchell Otani
Kaneohe Elementary School principal Mitchell Otani has been selected as the state’s 2007 National Distinguished Principal, and he will travel to Washington, D.C., in October to claim the honor.
“He is a good instructional leader,” said Windward schools superintendent Lea Albert, who nominated Otani.
“He has created a stable, nurturing environment of trust. He has systems in place to support families, and students. He is acknowledged as a leader by other principals.”
Otani has served as Castle Complex chairman for the past eight years, presiding over meetings with other principals, and he’s also an officer of the Hawaii Elementary and Middle School Administrators Association.
“His students are consistently high performers,” Albert added, noting that 80 percent of students’ reading scores and 87.6 percent of their math scores are at or above the national norm on the Stanford Achievement Test. “He is a strong supporter of character education and his campus has the five R’s as street names - labeled respect, resiliency, responsibility, resourcefulness and relationships.”
“I’ve got a great staff, supportive parents, and great kids (about 600 of them),” Otani said with pride. But what he likes best about his job:“You get to impact more students, and you get to make a difference in the lives of our community.”
One of the challenges of being principal, he said, is inadequate funding and lack of resources for the schools.
In 1991, his first year at Kaneohe Elementary, Otani established track meets that invited other schools in the compete. “I added other activities, so the students will be better behaved,” explained Otani, who also teaches sixth-grade math every day.
Otani’s love for running comes from his 17 years as a track coach at Kaiser High School. The Hawaii Kai resident and Kalani graduate continues his involvement as a head timer/head finish judge with the OIA.
He also coordinates a graduate luncheon for former sixth-graders during the weekend of graduation so they can catch up with their classmates and teachers. He said some students exchange email addresses. There are about 15 of his elementary school students that still keep in touch with him - some of whom are now in college.
In addition to the black-tie dinner and three days of programs in D.C., Otani also gets a $1,000 check and a year of Road Runner service from the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
Joining him on the trip will be his wife,Nanette,and their two children, Courtney, 10 and Schuyler, 5. They also will make time to visit with his brother Wayne’s family, who have been in Virginia since 1975.
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