Hawaii’s first lady focuses on education

Dawn Amano-Ige and her husband, Gov. David Ige, first met while they were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa and both running for student government positions — that was their first campaign together.

It would be decades later when her husband would run for governor, defeating former Gov. Neil Abercrombie in 2014.

Although Amano-Ige said her husband’s gubernatorial campaign kept them extremely busy, the grassroots campaign was purposeful and special.

“You really got to know people in the campaign. They became your friends and they became part of your extended family.”

Amano-Ige is on leave from her position as vice-principal at Kanoelani Elementary as she promotes education and health initiatives as first lady. She doesn’t think of herself as an adviser to her husband on education, but they do have discussions on the issue and she weighs in “as a constituent.”

When their three children were little and learning to read, it prompted Amano-Ige to pursue a professional diploma in elementary education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UH-Manoa and a master’s degree in business from Chaminade University.

Amano-Ige will be celebrating her Mother’s Day a little late, when she and the governor travel to New York and Washington, D.C., soon to mark their children’s academic accomplishments. Their oldest, Lauren, 25, is graduating from Georgetown Law, and Amy, 24, is graduating from nursing school at the University of Rochester. Matthew, 20, has another year at Johns Hopkins University where he studies computer science.

“As parents, we all want our children to come home,” Amano-Ige said. “It’s great for our young people to get away to learn in a different environment … then come back and share what they’ve learned. That always enhances our community.”

While they’ve been away at college, the Iges have made Sunday family conference calls with the children a priority. It’s a time to catch up and from time to time the kids will ask for snacks.

“They like things like li hing mango. That’s something their dad will always buy for them,” Amano-Ige said.

Having all five family members in one place is a rarity.

“I’m looking forward to mainly seeing all of my children all together at one time,” Amano-Ige said. “Of course they’re not children anymore, they’re adults. But they always will be my children. They cringe when they hear that.”

Question: As first lady, how do you define your role?

Answer: The role of first lady, of course, has no job description, which makes it even more challenging. So really I’m focusing on what I can do as first lady. Of course the areas I support are two particular areas: education and health.

Q: Could we go over education first?

A: It’s quite exciting for me. I am looking at global education. STEAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math — I like the art in there. It’s really innovation and arts, the area I’m focusing on. As well as reading. Reading is a fundamental skill that students should have in order to be successful in all academic areas.

Q: At what point did you find yourself getting interested in education?

A: For me, it was after my children were born, in watching them learn and grow and learning how to read. I became very interested in reading and wanted to learn more about that area. I did pursue education as a result of that and became a teacher. I started off first as a part-time teacher at Waiau Elementary. After I received my teaching certificate, I went into a teaching position there and then went on to Waimalu Elementary as a third-grade teacher. So teaching has been one of the hardest jobs I’ve had, and one of the most rewarding jobs. Every day you can see that you can make a difference to all the students in the classroom.

Q: When you were in the classroom, though, did you take mental notes on what could be improved in the public educational system?

A: As a teacher, your priority is your classroom and the students in your classroom and how you can make each individual child in the classroom be more sucessful. That’s your focus on a daily basis. Moving on as an administrator, that’s when you take a broader perspective. … You go though an extensive administrator’s training, and then I moved into a position at Moanalua High School as vice principal, and then to Kanoelani (Elementary).

Q: Going back to your education initatives, could you tell us about global eduation?

A: Our students live in a global society now. They need to be exposed to not only our community, but communities around the world. And particularly, since we are in Hawaii, we have our neighbors in the Asian countries. It’s really a chance for us to establish school partnerships between schools here and schools in Asia and having those conversations. Technology now really allows us to communicate with different classrooms in different parts of the world. … Our high schools are doing a good job building those kinds of relationships. My role is to be able to support that. As I travel to Asia, I’d like to be able to help solidify some of those connections.

Q: How about in the area of STEAM?

A: One of the exciting areas is the arts. … We have a series of musical events here at Washington Place. It goes by seasons. Our last one was “Springtime at Washington Place,” celebrating music in our schools. We had four schools here perform: Kalihi Kai, Kipapa Elementary, the Nanakuli Performing Arts Center — it’s a combination of area schools — and a group from Kaimuki High School. It’s really celebrating the performing arts. It allows them to showcase what they’ve learned and how they incorporate arts into their curriculum.

Q: As far as reading, are there programs you’re supporting?

A: Right now as we move into the summer, I’m working with the state public libraries to encourage students to read over the summer. There’s a program where students are encouraged to read daily, record their minutes and submit their logs to the libraries for an incentive. I’m also working with Scholastic and they have a program for spouses (of governors) across the country where we serve as reading ambassadors. We’re able to donate books to schools … as well as encourage students to submit the number of minutes they read to scholastic.com.

Q: Moving on to politics. On education issues, do you weigh in?

A: David was elected as governor so he is the decision-maker for policy and major issues that he has to face. I am an educator so I think, as an educator we all have our ideas on education, on ways we can improve education. We do have discussions on education. I am a constituent as well. So I serve in that role, as a constituent. (Laughs) But the governor does go out, he does talk to students, to teachers and educators. It is something that he is passionate about as well. He listens to many voices on education.

Q: The governor is putting together a task force to help guide the implementation of the new federal education law. What are your thoughts on that?

A: Every Student Succeeds Act really gives our state an opportunity to look at education, to look at what we’re doing well. I have to say we’re doing many things well as I go out to visit schools. It’s just so exciting to see what students are doing and what teachers and administrators are doing in the school system.

It does give us a chance to also look at areas of needs and improvements and how we can go about making those changes. The task force will be going out into the community to gain community input and community perspectives.

Q: What are some of the positives in our education system?

A: I think the administrators and teachers have worked so hard to provide opportunities for our students. Just last weekend I went to the Chevron Honolulu District Speech Festival for elementary schools. Hundreds of students from schools in the Honolulu District gave speeches.

They memorized stories, poems and speeches and presented them to a panel of judges. … There was so much participation from educators, community members came out to serve as judges and then the students had an opportunity to present what they learned and what they could do.

Q: As first lady, are your days full of activities, appointments?

A: My days are very full with different meetings, different events to attend. I do like to go out into the community to support different events, really to thank people for what they are doing. There are so many good things out in the community and so many people making a difference that it’s something that I’ve really enjoyed going out to see. It’s very inspiring.

Q: As a constituent, not as first lady, do you think there’s been a lot of progress under the governor’s administration?

A: I believe there has been a lot of progress in what he has done. … When he first came into office, I think in his State of the State speech, he talked about making things right to make things happen. Part of his initial actions were to really fix some of the things that he believes needed to be fixed. An area he speaks often about is tax modernization and to be able to fix some of the systems there so we’re able to collect money efficiently. … Those kind of basic improvements in infrastructure help the state to save millions of dollars in the long-term, which really allows us to do more things in the community.

Q: Do you ever have people coming up to you to complain about certain issues or his stance on certain issues?

A: People are generally very polite. Sometimes they will share their disagreement, but not in a negative way, not with me. I’ve been very fortunate.

Certainly I’ve always been willing to listen. I’m one that I would rather have people tell me what they really believe and what they’re really thinking. … I think that’s important, and that’s one of the reasons I do go out into the community. …

Q: Sort of being the messenger?

A: Yes, sometimes the messenger. People who normally wouldn’t come to the Capitol and make that trip to the Capitol to share their stories. I can be out there to hear their stories. I think that’s part of my value. … As I do this job, I find that that’s, to me, the most important — to be able to hear people and to listen to what they have to say.

Q: What does the governor do that people would be most surprised about? What does he like to do?

A: People will be surprised that he likes to barbecue and he’ll barbecue for the family; we have family gatherings here at Washington Place on the lanai of the residence. He barbecued here, we had a get-together for the Cabinet members.

Q: What do you do here at Washington Place? Are you involved with the foundation?

A: Washington Place is a beautiful home and as you spend your time here you feel immediately connected to the home and you want to really do what’s best for the home. … We’re working to begin repairs on the second floor so we can put up galleries that will feature more information about the home and the first families. … Repairs will begin in January and … by this time next year we’re hoping to be able to share it with the public. …

Secondly we will be building an organic garden. There’s a garden in the yard area right now … but we’re working with the (University of Hawaii) College of Tropical Agriculture to … add more beds to the garden, add an aquaponic system and a butterfly garden.

Q: Any other issue you want to highlight?

A: I am working with the Department of Health on a Choose Healthy Now initiative. That’s to encourage healthy eating and healthy living. One of the ways we are doing that is encouraging retailers and vendors to … sell healthy foods and label the healthy sections of their stores. It’s green, yellow and red. Green meaning the healthiest items you can choose. Yellow is kind of in the middle and red is you can enjoy it sometimes. … And as part of that I do go out to schools and talk to the students … about healthy eating and exercise.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

A: I don’t have that much free time. So when I do have free time I use that time to make sure that I work out and stay active. … I do read the Star-Advertiser. (Laughs) My mother reads the Star-Advertiser.

Q: Does she live in the area?

A: No. My mother lives in her home in Waipahu. She’s going to be 91 this year and she is an avid reader of the newspaper and will have discussions with David from time to time.

Q: As a constituent?

A: As a constituent. (Laughs)