By Veronica Kimi
The Social Justice Education in Hawai‘i Project is a Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center initiative led in partnership with the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Education. Since 2018, the project has been growing and supporting local educators who see schools as levers of change for creating a better future world. . Deeply aligned to the mission of progressive schools, social justice educators seek to transform education from merely transferring knowledge to actively promoting equity, fairness, and more inclusive, democratic societies.
Established through the generosity of Jana and Howard Wolff, this multi-year project continues to empower teachers to affirm and uplift the diverse student populations of our islands. Through professional development workshops centered on topics like civic engagement, place-based learning, and anti-bias education, the project provides educators with tools to engage in challenging conversations and foster welcoming environments.
A cornerstone of this work is the Hawai‘i Social Justice Educator Award, which recognizes and supports teachers who are moving beyond theory to take transformative action in their schools and communities. Today, we are thrilled to announce the newest recipients of the award, who go beyond the standard curriculum to address systemic inequities and empower their students to become active participants in our democracy.
We are honored to celebrate the following educators and the vital work they are leading in our community. Each educator is receiving a $2,500 grant to further a project that promotes student agency, challenges inequity, and honors the unique cultural landscape of Hawai‘i.
Meet the 2026-2027 Hawai‘i Social Justice Award Recipients
Dr. So Jung Kim is an Assistant Professor in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Prior to joining the University of Hawai‘i, she served as an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her work centers on social justice in early childhood education, with a particular focus on critical literacy and social studies learning. Drawing on a sociocultural perspective, her research examines how young children engage with texts and media to develop understandings of identity, diversity, and equity. Through more than 45 peer-reviewed journal publications, she has advanced approaches that integrate literacy, media, and social studies to support socially conscious and inclusive learning environments that empower young learners. Dr. Kim will use the Hawai‘i Social Justice Educator Award to continue work that supports early childhood educators in these important endeavors.
About her project, Dr. Kim shares, “While early childhood is a critical period for shaping how children understand themselves and others, opportunities to engage with social justice concepts in developmentally appropriate ways still remain limited. This project examines the intersection of early literacy, the arts, and social studies by exploring how children’s literature with social themes, paired with art-based classroom experiences, can be meaningfully integrated into early childhood settings.” Over the course of two months in spring 2027, Dr. Kim will support a small cohort of teacher candidates completing their university field work with experienced mentor teachers in Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms at several Honolulu-area schools. She will provide resources and training to the teaching teams, observe instruction, conduct interviews with teachers and parents, and utilize other forms of assessment to refine the resources that will be developed out of this project. In the long term, she intends to integrate these resources into the pre-service teacher education curriculum at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, so the work can serve as a foundation for preparing future cohorts of educators to support social justice in Hawaiʻi.
Agnes J. Klosowski spent much of her youth and adult life in California after moving to the United States from Poland at age 10. She has proudly called Waiʻanae home for the past 14 years. As a dedicated 9th-grade Special Education inclusion teacher at Waiʻanae High School, she is deeply committed to educational equity in her community. Ms. Klosowski specializes in designing highly scaffolded, place-based STEAM curricula that make rigorous high school content accessible to marginalized and neurodivergent learners. Currently pursuing a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies (PACMED track) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, she grounds her pedagogy in the Nā Hopena Aʻo (HĀ) framework. By actively removing academic, environmental, and physiological barriers in the classroom, she strives to empower Waiʻanae youth to see themselves as capable scholars and vital stewards of their kaiāulu (community).
Ms. Klosowski shares about her role and contributions at Wai‘anae High School, “In my high-needs Special Education inclusion classroom, social justice means actively dismantling every barrier — physiological, environmental, and academic — that stands between my students and meaningful learning. This project is rooted in the belief that we must meet Maslow before we can meet Bloom.” Her goal is to transform her 9th-grade classroom into a fully resourced, culturally sustaining space where every student can thrive, regardless of the reading and mathematics skills they enter the classroom with. She will use the Hawai‘i Social Justice Educator Award funding to address inequity with a daily classroom pantry to combat food insecurity, sensory-regulating furniture, and highly differentiated, tactile STEAM materials. “By meeting basic needs first and shifting to hands-on, place-based learning — like building 3D models of our local Waiʻanae ahupuaʻa — I can bypass traditional literacy barriers and make rigorous science and math standards genuinely attainable for all of my students.”
The inspirational work of Dr. Kim and Ms. Klosowski adds to a vital and growing movement. They join the ranks of previous award recipients who have used this platform to champion food sovereignty, disability awareness, and student-led journalism, amongst many other meaningful projects. We celebrate these newest awardees as they continue to pave the way toward a more just and inclusive future for Hawai‘i's students. Their dedication reminds us that when we align our teaching with our deepest values of equity and kuleana, we create a ripple effect that extends far beyond the classroom walls.
Want to learn more and get involved? Read about the inspirational work ofall of our past award recipients and stay tuned for information on how to apply for the next round of Hawai‘i Social Justice Educator Awards in the coming school year.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR:
Veronica Kimi serves Hanahau‘oli School as the Professional Development Center Coordinator. Veronica holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from UCLA, a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Chaminade University, and professional experience in marketing, communications, and human resources. She enjoys supporting Hanahau‘oli School’s educators and the greater education community as they pursue the invaluable work of inspiring the next generation of dreamers, thinkers, and doers. Together with her husband Phil, Veronica has three vibrant daughters who make life a true joy.
