Thompson Academy administrators dedicated and talented

I have a unique perspective of Diana Oshiro and Kurumi Kaapana-Aki, principal and elementary administrator of Myron B. Thompson Academy.

It started in 2002 when Diana Oshiro, the third principal of Hawaii’s first online charter school, approached our family, shared her visions and introduced the idea of renaming the charter school after the late Myron Pinky Thompson, my father.

Pinky Thompson strongly believed that every child must have the very best chance for success in life and that education is the vehicle to achieve success. He knew that education must grow and evolve. He realized that this could only occur with innovative leadership and an intelligent mind of an exceptional educator and administrator.

Our family knew of Diana’s background as a courageous visionary, a just and caring principal who had risen in the ranks within the state Department of Education to be an assistant superintendent. Without hesitation, our family decided that day to name the school the Myron B. Thompson Academy in honor of Pinky’s legacy.

Diana also asked if a family member would join the school’s governing board in 2003, so 13 years ago, we began this journey.

I agreed to assume this responsibility to ensure that the legacy of my father be carried forward and continually work toward a better education model. I am currently the chairman of the governing board.

Over the many years, Diana continues to amaze me with her innovative ideas and depth of understanding of what works for our students. Such an example of her progressiveness is the innovative TEA program (Thompson Extension Academy) that she founded, offering rigorous online courses to all public and private high school students throughout the state of Hawaii. Incredibly, it is offered tuition-free, and has benefited thousands of students who otherwise would be short on credits for graduation, or who simply want to fast-forward through the academic years, to pursue their careers sooner.

Throughout this journey, I have had the pleasure also to meet and get to know Kurumi Kaapana-Aki, the creator and administrator of our elementary program. I have observed Kurumi’s admirable work ethic, managerial skills, creativity and hard work that produced a highly successful and popular K-6 elementary program that results in maximum enrollment capacity, annually.

Diana and Kurumi have designed and implemented our excellent program. Together with the work and support of faculty and staff we are and have been the top-ranked public high school for the last several years, as rated by the Hawaii State Strive HI program. We also have a notable college attendance rate of over 79 percent.

Their commitment to the assurance of student success is evident in their dedication of extremely long work hours into the evening, over weekends, and through intersession periods.

I am honored to work with these two incredible educators who continually demonstrate their purpose to ensure that all students have the help they deserve, the opportunity to learn and continue to be lifelong learners and be successful building healthy lives as contributors of a better world.

I am extremely proud of them both, and I wouldn’t hesitate to say that if Pinky were here today, he would be very proud of them as well. He would also applaud them for their service to MBTA, our children, and our community.

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Editor’s note: Diana Oshiro pleaded no contest to tampering with a government record; she was sentenced Wednesday to one year deferral supervision and 40 hours of community service. Kurumi Kaapani-Aki pleaded no contest to theft and to tampering with a government record; she was sentenced to four years and one year deferral supervision, respectively, and 75 hours of community service.