Name: Gail H. Kuba
Age: 46
Position: Teacher, Haiku School
Education: Seattle Pacific University
Pastimes: Pottery, making haku lei

After school, Betty Higa came to Kuba's home to help her with her studies because Kuba was frequently sick with asthma. Higa also brought words of encouragement from students at Puuhale School in Kalihi.

"She'd come to my home with letters from classmates," Kuba recalled.

Kuba has outgrown her asthma but not her dedication to learning and teaching. She is Haiku School's lead teacher in the arts and works as the school liaison with the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

"She really has developed our children's artistic expression," Principal Fern Markgraf said.

Kuba said through the arts, she teaches her students to listen and follow directions and shows them a step-by-step approach to drawing.

Kuba enjoys pottery and making haku lei and tapa. She uses different plants to make dyes for her tapa designs.

She learned pottery while she and her husband worked for Campus Crusade for Christ in Papua, New Guinea, in the 1970s.

Kuba hopes her students will someday help to solve economic and environmental problems facing the world. She sees her mission as helping them love learning.

"You go to the (greatest) degree to teach your kids how to be lifelong learners," she said.