Niu Valley Middle School teacher Zachary Morita hopes to inspire students statewide by creating a musical Olympics with the $100,000 grant he won through the Dream Big Teacher Challenge.

And he plans to level the playing field by using some of the money to buy instruments for schools that can’t afford good ones.

Powered by online voting, the peppy, 33-year-old music teacher was named Tuesday as one of five national winners in the contest sponsored by Farmers Insurance.

“This is truly a dream come true for me, my students and our school,” Morita said after the surprise announcement at a school assembly. “We’re so thankful to Farmers Insurance for providing this opportunity for us.”

Hawaii already had a remarkable showing in the competition, with three local teachers making the cut as finalists. Hundreds of teachers nationwide had submitted proposals, and a competitive review process winnowed them down to just 15 finalists. The eventual winners were chosen by a public online vote.

Morita thanked his students, colleagues, friends and supporters across Hawaii for putting him over the top in his quest to create a statewide Niu Valley Music Olympic Invitational.

“I plan to have students create teams and have them compete against one another in classical music,” Morita said. “We’re going to have members of the Hawai‘i Symphony and Chamber Music of Hawaii mentor our young students in Hawaii.”

He added that he wants “to give underprivileged kids an opportunity to compete with schools that may have more funding. So a portion of the fund is going to go to purchase quality instruments for lower-income areas in Hawaii.”

Melanie Joseph, a Farmers Insurance representative, said Morita’s proposal stood out for its broad impact on the community.

The Farmers Insurance office in Hawaii will give the other two Hawaii finalists $6,000 each to thank and honor them for their efforts, she said.

Health science teacher Ryan Chatfield had proposed creating a Health Science Student Development Center at Aiea High School, and third-grade teacher Leimamo Lind-Strauss of Ho‘okena Elementary wanted to install a telescope observatory at her campus in Captain Cook.

Like many Hawaii kids, Morita learned to play the ukulele in elementary school. He took up the trumpet at Kawananakoa Middle School and played it at McKinley High. But he is mainly a percussionist.

“He’s very passionate about music,” said Vice Principal Derrick Tsuruda. “He represents Niu Valley Middle School really well.”

Morita founded a nonprofit, Hawaii Youth Percussion Ensemble, and tried out his Olympics idea on a small scale for percussion last year, Tsuruda said.

“He’s trying to open up to something a lot bigger and also provide for less fortunate students to enjoy music as well,” Tsuruda said. “I thought that was a really good thing.”

Morita came to Niu Valley after earning his bachelor’s degree in secondary school instrumental education from the University of Hawaii in 2007.

“Mr. Morita, he inspires us to try our best and to work as hard as we can,” said student Caden Hong, who erupted in cheers along with everyone else in the cafeteria when the win was announced. “We want positive publicity for our school, and we want to spread good vibes around.”

Morita’s students had helped him win by holding signs in front of the school over fall break urging people to vote online, spreading the word on social media and even appearing on a morning TV news show. Niu Valley has 860 students in grades six through eight and offers the International Baccalaureate program.

Last year Stevenson Middle School’s Patricia “Trish” Morgan won a $100,000 Farmers Insurance grant to create an Innovative Invention Imaginarium at her campus. It offers something for every interest: computers, 3D printers, video and DJ equipment, construction tools, a T-shirt press and sewing machines, and much more.

Morita credits Morgan with inspiring him to compete in the contest.

“My hope is that other teachers are also inspired by us doing this together, so that more opportunities can come to our great students in Hawaii,” Morita said.