Board of Directors

James, aka Jim, joined the Kalāheo faculty in 1973 when Kalāheo Hillside Intermediate was converting to a high school. After several years as a Kalāheo English teacher, Jim moved to school administration and served as principal of Sunset Beach Elementary School and Mokapu Elementary School. He returned to Kalaheo in 1997 and served as principal for 11 years, retiring in 2008.  For the 2020-2021 school year when schools were dramatically affected by COVID-19 restrictions, Jim was called back to Kalāheo as interim principal. He recalls fond memories of his Kalāheo years and of the many students he encountered both as their teacher and their principal.

Retired Kalāheo teacher and librarian, Martha was a member of the original faculty in 1966 when the campus was Kalāheo Hillside Intermediate School, Martha chose to remain during the conversion to Kalāheo High School which started in 1973. She was a Kalaheo English teacher for 23 years and librarian for 20 years. She was involved in many schoolwide programs including curriculum development, accreditation, Honors and Advanced Placement, National Blue Ribbon School nomination, library technology installation, and PTSA. She is a founding member of the Foundation and has served on the board since its inception in 1992.

Kalāheo High School Class of 1989

Board member since 2008

Originally from Indiana, Paula trained as an English teacher although frequent military moves made it difficult to find a teaching job. Her husband’s Air Force career brought their family to Hawai‘i where daughter Marisa entered Kalāheo as a sophomore and son Alex as a freshman. Paula was president of the Kalāheo PTSA and also active in many other school activities. Her husband’s job in Hawai‘i after military retirement and the return of their children to Hawai‘i after college kept the family in Kailua. Paula has been a Realtor with Coldwell Banker for many years and is active in Lani-Kailua Outdoor Circle and The Outdoor Circle. She has served on the Foundation board in various capacities since 1994.

Kalāheo High School Class of 1988

In the Spring of 1986. Karen joined the Kalāheo ʻohana when she completed her student teaching in the area of secondary science. After teaching for 30+ years in Hawaii public schools, she retired from Kailua Intermediate School in 2019. An active PTSA member since 2014, Karen has served as the Project Graduation Coordinator since 2018 when her daughter graduated from Kalāheo. She is currently President of the Mustang Athletic Foundation and the Executive Director of the Hawaii Association of Middle Level Education.

Kalāheo High School Teacher, Retired

Prior to her teaching career, Apolonia was in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. She was one of the teachers who opened Kalāheo Hillside Intermediate School as a math teacher in 1966. After teaching at Kailua High School from 1970-72, she returned to Kalāheo in 1973, the year it became a high school, and retired in 1995. In retirement, she has chosen to serve on various boards with a major focus on the Kalāheo Foundation board since 2016. Apolonia believes that, with enthusiastic board members, the foundation will be able to fulfill its mission and continue to develop projects to improve Kalāheo High School.

Lisa attended Kalāheo Hillside Intermediate during its conversion from a middle to high school, graduating in 1977. She credits the home of the Mustangs and internship opportunities there with sparking a lifelong interest in education. She taught special education at Barbers Point Elementary and was a technology coordinator at Kailua Elementary before serving as principal at Kahuku High and Intermediate and, later, Kailua Intermediate. She was also a Complex Area Superintendent in Wai‘anae and Nānākuli and Principal in Residence at the Leadership Institute. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and is currently the principal of Olomana School in Kailua.

Kalāheo High School Class of 1976