About me

Aloha. My name is Karen Kalena Laepa'a. I was born and raised on O’ahu and graduated from 'Iolani School. I first attended Willamette University in Oregon, and then eventually transferred and graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with my B.A. in English with an emphasis in Education. I eventually received my teaching credential and license from Cal Poly and U.C. Irvine. Most recently, I received my Masters in Library and Information Sciences with honors from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. I also have a Global Career Facilitator Degree and am currently the Grade 9 Team Leader. I am currently working on my Masters in Curriculum and Teaching for Reading and Literacy from the University of Kansas.I first taught English at Fontana H.S. in Southern California for 4 years where I became involved in the AVID program. This is where I received my training and certification to become a “study skills” teacher. Finally, my husband and I decided it was time to move back to our home, and I was fortunate enough to teach at my alma matter 'Iolani School for 2 years. Because of my husband’s job, we moved to Maui, and I taught at Lokelani Int. for one year teaching language arts.Eventually, I was fortunate to become a teacher here at Kamehameha Schools - Maui. This is now my 13th year teaching here where I teach English 9 with a lab, Enlgish 10 with a lab, and Freshmen Seminar (Papa Kako'o).