Well, not only is she a wonderful mother, but she is the most talented teacher I know. Yes, I may seem biased, but I'll let you be the judge of that after you read my story. First of all, let me give you a little background on this terrific teacher.
Gail Teshima has been teaching now for 25 years. She has spent the majority of
her teaching career at Farrington High School, but is currently teaching at
Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School. Gail has been teaching Art to the
G.T. Science students and the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at Waimanalo Elementary
and Intermediate School for the past two years now.
During her two years at Waimanalo School, she has conquered many difficult tasks. Gail has helped beautify our campus by creating two beautiful murals for the cafeteria, 18 flower tile murals for each building in our school, and painted all the rubbish cans for our campus.
She has shared her talents with us through many workshops done on her own time
too. She has introduced our school to other talented artist like Beverly Iwao
(owner of Hawaii Silk Screen), Patrick Ching (Hawaiian Nature Artist), and
David Beatty (potter and UH professor).
Beverly and Gail conducted a free stamp/silk screening workshop for the teachers in the beginning of the school year; Patrick Ching helped Gail create the Cafeteria mural on the stage, and David Beatty conducted a raku pottery workshop for the students, teachers, and faculty members.
Gail has also been very busy printing our school T-shirts, the J.P.O. T-shirts, the Drug Free ribbons, our May Day foil T-shirts, taught many different silk-screening workshops for members in our school and community, and the list goes on and on.
She has introduced many students and opened their eyes to the beauty of Art. She has also brought out their creativity and nurtured their gift. Within the past two years, Gail has created many winners in a variety of art contests an shows, including state and national winners. They have been working with many different kinds of art media; drawing, painting, Hawaiian crafts, silk screening, air brush, boutique, tie dye, ceramics, 2 dimensional pieces, 3 dimensional pieces, paper making, weaving, Hawaiian quilting, water color, etc. Every piece of artwork she has her students produce is an outstanding and unique piece of work itself.
She is a very caring and supportive teacher too. She will go to the ends of this earth to make sure you succeed, if you put your mind and heart to it. She will sacrifice her time and weekends to be there for you. She is someone who you can really count on. No matter what the job is, Gail Teshima will get it done!
When I was younger, I never understood why she had to spend so much time at work. I used to be frustrated that she spent so much time and effort with these students, and never enough time enjoying her own free time. She was constantly busy. Rushing here, rushing there, no time to sit down and relax.
After hearing her explanation of why she did these things, I was touched. I thought to myself... "Geez, I wish I had dedicated teachers like that!" (Wait a minute, to all of my teachers. I am grateful of what you've done, believe me... but... we're talking about my mother here). I guess that's why I became a teacher too. I wanted to be just as important as she was. I wanted to make a difference in someone's life like she has been doing for years. I want to receive calls from my former students like she does, and have them tell me, "You're the greatest, Teshima! I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for you! You were the one to make me believe in myself! Even when everyone else didn't believe in me, you believed in me." These kind of commends students have made to her have been very rewarding and has kept her going for years.
However, it is sad to say, but Gail Teshima will be leaving Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate to return to Farrington High School next year. Well, Gail has touched so many lives here at Waimanalo School that she will be sorely missed. However, she will always be remembered for all of her talents and the contributions she has made for our school. Her legacy and talent will always remain with us here at Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School.