Exploring Cecilia Chung, Hawaii’s Epic Teacher of the Year: What School Could Be in Hawai’i

This is an episode from Josh Reppun’s “What School Could Be in Hawai’i,” a podcast on the people, technology and methodologies pushing the mantle of education in the 50th state. This episode features an interview with Cecilia Chung, Hawaii’s 2020 State Department of Education Teacher of the Year.

In this fifth on-the-road episode, Cecilia Chung (or CC for short) and host Josh Reppun dive deep into her thoughts on Ted Dintersmith’s film, Most Likely to Succeed, her remarkable education journey, how she became an EdTech Jedi coach, her views on student data, student voice, teacher collaboration and celebration, intentional school design, and the meaning of her selection as Hawaii’s teacher of the year.

CC currently teaches and learns with an awesome group of sixth graders at Kaimiloa Elementary School in Ewa Beach, Hawaiʻi. She has also worked as a technology integration coach for grades K-6. She is a proponent of student voice and agency for (all) students and loves dialoguing about this topic with others. CC is passionate about working with other educators; she leads and facilitates a variety of workshops for and with the education community.

An alumni of the Hope Street, Hawaii State Teacher Fellow program, she has facilitated education-related data collection and focus groups and worked as one of the planning leads for a Hawaiʻi complex-wide teacher conference called Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching (ECET2). CC is a strong believer in the importance of elevating and celebrating teachers, encouraging teachers to tell their stories via platforms like Twitter and blog posts.

She most recently wrote, “Teachers: You Could Be Anywhere Else,” published on Medium. She is President-Elect for the Hawaii Society for Technology in Education (HSTE). She has monitored and provided content for her school Twitter and Instagram handles. She is a self-proclaimed foodie, an accessible introvert and a bookworm! Her Twitter handle is @MSChung808. Oh yes, and she is Reppun’s former student, a now very special friend.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Education Technology Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!
Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Global
IPS Global MKT Meet NYC 2026- Paul Yousif
April 8, 2026

Corporate transformation often falters not at the point of vision, but at the moment when strategy must become execution. For organizations like TekniPlex, recent efforts have focused on driving meaningful internal change—aligning leadership, redefining processes, and setting a renewed course for innovation and customer engagement. Yet the real test begins after the meetings…

Read More
Innovation
Takeway AMI – Innovation and Leadership
April 8, 2026

At industry gatherings, the real story often unfolds not just on the stage, but in the subtle signals of competition, collaboration, and brand presence woven throughout the floor. The recent AMI Single Serve Coffee Conference underscored how even modest investments in visibility—like a well-placed sponsorship or a ubiquitous lanyard—can transform perception and spark…

Read More
Oscar Martin Interview – AMI Single Serve Tampa -2026
April 8, 2026

The single-serve coffee industry is at a pivotal moment, where convenience and sustainability are no longer competing priorities but parallel expectations shaping innovation. At gatherings like the AMI Single Serve Coffee Conference in Tampa, the conversation has clearly shifted from abstract goals to tangible, commercially viable solutions—especially in the realm of compostable and recyclable packaging….

Read More
AMI
Martyna Fong – AMI SIngle Serve Coffee Conference – Tampa, 2026
April 8, 2026

At the close of day one at the AMI Single Serve Coffee Conference in Tampa, a cautious industry narrative began to shift toward renewed optimism. What many had feared was a stagnant K-Cup market revealed instead a quiet but meaningful evolution—one driven not by volume, but by premiumization. As Martyna Fong highlighted, growth is…

Read More