Kīpuka Moʻolelo | Pōkiʻi Seto

ʻŌiwi Educator, Scholar, Writer, Musician, and Co-founder; Dr. Pōkiʻi Seto is the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Education Coordinator at Nā Wai Ola Public Charter School in ʻŌlaʻa, Puna, Hawaiʻi. Prior to this, he was the Program Coordinator of the Hoʻopūliko Kumu Hou Title III Project of the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu, a program that certifies teacher candidates whose education developed from schools in the Waiʻanae-Nānākuli complex areas to return to those complex areas as teachers rooted in their community and committed to their kuleana to Hawaiʻi students. He graduated with a Doctorate Degree in Education: Professional Practice from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, defending his dissertation on christian influences on ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and kanaka indigeneity. He holds a Masters in Education in Curriculum Studies K-14 Immersion from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, a post-bachelor’s teacher certificate from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Certification Program, and a Bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian language from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language. He has taught ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi for over 15 years in PreK to university, public and private, English and Hawaiian medium schools, including Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo, Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, Hālau Kū Māna, Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Elementary and Middle School campuses, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo-Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani Hawaiian Language College, and the University of Hawaiʻi at West Oʻahu Humanities Division. He is the writer of original compositions including Hoʻi Hou I Ka Mole and Kūʻauhau. He is a musician leading a solo-career under the name Pōkiʻi. He was a lead vocalist for the reggae band Ooklah the Moc and was a co-founder and lead vocalist of the Steppas, ʻAi Pōhaku, and Rockers. Dr. Pōkiʻi Seto is from Waiʻanae, Oʻahu and lives in ʻŌmaʻolala, Puna, Hawaiʻi. He and his wife are raising two sons as simultaneous bilingual speakers of Hawaiian and English.