THANK YOU MS. NISHI

Blythe Emler band and ukulele teacher: “For me, it’s working with her during Homecoming. Coordinating the band with her at the parade and watching for her cues from the press box during the halftime court presentation. It won’t be the same working that event without her for sure.”

Jackie Ku class advisor: “Oh my god. I’ve known Ms. Nishi since I was a teenager, she was a Japanese teacher here at Nānākuli High School, so I graduated ‘87 so that’s how long I’ve known Ms. Nishi. And now that I came here back in 2004 to work here she was the leading advisor for student government. In the beginning, it was kind of hard to understand policies when it came to student activities, so I got to learn a lot from Ms. Nishi when it came to student activities because this is where I’m at this year. It’s saddening that she’s leaving and I made her cry because I brought it up the other day, and she’s very soft and I just couldn’t help it because I’m going to miss her. I mean who can fill her shoes? And I’m gonna be honest with you, there is no one on this campus that can fill those shoes or what Ms. Nishi has done because she has such a big heart for these kids. And there is no one; I’ve been here long enough, 14 years, I’ve been here long enough to know that there is no one that can fit the needs of a student activities coordinator.”

Jasmine Kamana`o Senior: “In my opinion, she is very caring and extremely organized. She has love for her students in Student Government. I am truly going to miss her telling me how I can improve on things, showing that she really cares about the person I will become in the future or her giving me snacks when I accomplish things. I’m truly going to miss that sense of having a family member at school”

Rosalie Hobbs former Student Body President: “I remember walking into ETL for the first time, I transferred schools at the begging of Junior year and got placed in her class at default, as soon as I walked in and sat down she asked me if I wanted to be Vice President for Student Body before she even asked my name. She played a big role in my decision to go into political science after making me the HSSC rep. She taught me to focus on what I can and have achieved. She’d still celebrate something even though we made mistakes on the way because she already knew we’d work to improve next time. She has a special way of being both motivational and empathetic and being a SAC truly was her natural calling in my eyes.

Irene Ohashi retired NHIS teacher: “I remember early in her career, Mrs. Nishi was willing to go back to college to pick up credits in Japanese language in order to offer the courses at NHIS.  Because of her outstanding efforts, the Accreditation team gave her commendations and made our school look good.”