 I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is the highly respected principal of Mid-Pacific Institute. He is Dr. Dwayne Priester, and today we are going beyond education. A.D., welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hey, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure and an honor. D., I so much enjoy our lunches and talks together. I mean, you're all about building that superior culture of excellence, but before we talk about the culture, can you share a bit about your background? Sure. Rather than citing my resume, I'll give you a quick reader's digest version of who I am, where I came from. So originally from North Carolina, and from North Carolina, lived and worked in Arizona for about seven, seven and a half years, then moved to the Big Island of Hawaii, where I was at Hawaii Preparatory Academy for three years, and then migrated to Oahu, where I've been here the last 16 years. My wife is a native of Hawaii, and she always makes sure that I let everyone know that she's a proud Lillihuah graduate. And I've been serving kids for over almost 30 years now, so it's a pleasure to continually do this job and strive for excellence, as you mentioned earlier. Now, D., tell me about Mid-Pacific. I mean, I really enjoy coming to your campus, but tell me about the school. Sure. So we are this amazing school that's tucked away here in Manoa. And there are a number of quality programs. We are known for our School of the Arts. We have a well-known baseball program recently, and we'll probably talk a little bit about this later, but our girls just won their back-to-back state title in air riflery. We have a robust athletics program. We also are known for our Mid-Pacific baccalaureate, international baccalaureate program. We are extremely proud of the work that we do, the fact that we have maintained that sense of humility while continuing to strive for excellence. Now, D., why is Mid-Pacific school thriving? I think one of the things that really make us unique is our ability to pivot. We have our fingers always on the pulse of change. We are research-driven in everything that we do, both academically as well as the social side of school. And based on those changes, the changing heartbeat, we are willing to make those necessary adjustments for the sake of our students. So a number of our parents really appreciate the work that we are doing and the fact that we are constantly focused on the future while embracing the wonderful things in our past. Now, you and I are all about character development, and I want to know how you guys are really focusing on the character development of your students. It's a great question. So I believe it begins from the top down. I continually talk to my students, to the faculty, about the things that are important. And I use this word integrity quite a bit in the things that we talk about. And I remind my students that integrity is what, it's the amazing things that you do even when people are not looking. It's that sense of always being forthright, being focused on taking care of one another, building a strong sense of community, and really just always focused on doing what is right. And that's the thing that I emphasize. We see that message moving down from the administration into the ranks of the faculty, and it's something that we encourage in our students, we encourage them to do on a daily basis, to always live with a sense of integrity. And because that is so much a part of who we are as an institution, we see it walking out in the lives of our students. In fact, I often quote to my students to school motto, the honor of my school is mine. And that simply means we encourage them to remember wherever they are, whatever they are doing, they are reflecting an institution. And it is their responsibility to remember that they are part of something much greater than themselves. I like that motto, Dee, and what kind of qualities do you expect your mid-Pacific graduates to possess? So it's that sense of honor, and remembering who they are, where they come from, and always recognizing that whatever they do and whatever they say, they represent a generation of people that have come before them. And whenever they step out to be good model citizens in the world, to remember that they're always being watched because we expect them to be mid-Pacific wherever they are and whatever they are doing. And Dee, you mentioned about your girls varsity air rifle re-team. I mean, they won back-to-back ILH championships. I mean, the whole school and the alumni must be so proud of them, right? Very proud. It's really interesting to watch students as they begin the season and watch who they develop into as the season comes to an end. That sense of pride, that sense of focus, that sense of dedication, knowing that each time they step into that competitive environment, that they are giving a part of themselves, most of all, that they are representing the institution, that they attend. Now, Dee, when I was coaching at Punahou, I know that the mid-Pacific tennis teams are always really good. I mean, they're strong, they're very competitive. Yes. But all of your sports teams are consistently competitive. Why is that? There seems to be this spirit, this thread that it runs through all of our athletic programs and it's simply be the best that you can be. We may not have the fastest, we may not have the strongest and we may not have the biggest. However, we do have that sense of we are one team, we are focused on excellence and it's about stepping out and giving the best that you can 100% of the time. That sense of being a quality competitor makes us winners when we step on the field, whether or not our number is the largest in the win column, we are still winners and that attitude allows us to thrive in that competitive environment. What are some of the goals of your administration and leadership? I mean, every year, obviously we've went through the pandemic, we've survived the pandemic. What are some of the goals that you guys are trying to achieve as leaders? I would say it's that sense of let's be better today than we were yesterday and let's learn to compete with ourselves or compete against ourselves. So oftentimes I've heard coaches telling the students whether it be on the track field or on the baseball field or on the tennis courts or air riflery, be a better version of yourself than you were yesterday and always think about your score the day before and strive for a higher score tomorrow. Not necessarily because we wanna be better than that person but because we are striving for excellence and that again is a thread that runs throughout our community. Now, D, what kind of improvements do you guys have in plans now to really help improve the campus? So currently we're looking at our facilities, we're looking at expanding some of our buildings. Right now we're focused on building extensions to our middle school program, expanding our arts. We're also looking at where we can improve some of the facilities that we have on campus so that we can continue to provide a quality education for our students. Well, that's exciting. When I was with you on campus the other month, you have such a nice campus and I think the plans to improve those things are just gonna make it even greater. And D, as principal, what are some of the challenges that you deal with? You know, I would say right now, and I'll speak to our past two years, we are still overcoming the pandemic. This really shook schools to its core. It forced us to pivot as educators to really think in different ways that we provide instruction for students. And it challenged us as educators to be better at our craft and to evolve. And that challenge is still before us today because even the students as they've transitioned back to campus have different expectations. And for us as educators, we have to really challenge ourselves to meet the expectations of our students. Oftentimes we see education as sort of the stagnant business where we've done what we've done for many years and we rarely put our fingers on the pulse of change for our students, but we're paying attention to that. We're asking them what they need and we're being responsive to those calls. Now D, let's share with me more insights about what the teachers really have to deal with because the pandemic didn't just affect students and the parents and their families, but like you said, the teachers had to adjust and adapt and to really try to give the best quality instruction that they could give under those circumstances of the pandemic, right? For sure. As I reflect back in 2020, we ended the semester on, excuse me, off campus in Zoom. We went away for spring break and we said, we're gonna extend spring break by a week. We extended spring break through the entire semester and then into the fall semester and into the spring semester. We were forced to really level up in about a five day period of time. Our teachers went away giving instruction inside the classroom and we returned in a virtual environment. That meant that our teachers had to adjust the way that they delivered instruction to create opportunities for students to continue to learn and thrive in that virtual environment. We were learning on the fly and we often use the expression we were building the plane while we were flying it. And that meant that we really had to be on top of our game. We had to be forward focused, not necessarily thinking about what we've always done but what we need to do to be responsive to the changes that were at hand. No, I mean, you're so right. Building the plane as you're flying it. I mean, I really commend all teachers to what they have to do to really adapt and adjust during the pandemic. And D, you and I have some great talks. I mean, we really have some great back and forth conversations about leadership but I wanna ask you, what are some things that stood out to you in my books? It's interesting because I'm currently re-reading the book beyond the game with a couple of the leaders on campus. The thing that stood out most, I'm pretty sure it's chapter three on choices. And chapter three choices, there's a statement that you make about sort of not living in those first three minutes of the day. We are oftentimes confronted with a situation. And I often hear educators or leaders say, I had a bad morning and that affected my entire day. I ask them to consider this, use those first three or four minutes not to have a negative impact on your day but think about the whole of your purpose for that particular day and learn from that. If those first three or four minutes were not the best experience, what can we learn from that? How can we pivot? How can we grow? That's what I asked them to think about. So in that chapter on choices, it really does completely change our frame of mind as we deal with our day, the students that we have to encounter and even for the leaders, the teachers that we have to work with because fundamentally it comes down to one thing, choice. I like that you mentioned choices there because yeah, I want everybody to know that to not let a bad three minutes affect the rest of your day because that might affect your students, it might affect your loved ones, it might affect your friends, but greatness is a choice, resiliency is a choice, positivity is a choice. Some people feel like they're so complacent, they're stuck in a situation. I'm trying to have them understand that they can make a choice to be unstuck, to improve themselves. And D, what are some ways, because I know that you encourage creative ideas and new possibilities. I mean, tell me about that. I mean, because you guys are never complacent, you're always looking for ways to better yourselves. Sure. I fundamentally believe that failure is not a bad word. We have stigmatized in education and there's really a change of foot in education, but we've stigmatized the word failure as the end of the road. I challenge the teachers to think of it as the beginning of something new. I frequently encourage them to try something new in your classroom. Don't be afraid to break out of what has always been done. And because I encourage teachers to fail, when things don't always go as expected, my first question is, okay, you tried it, it didn't work. What now? What are you gonna do different? What are you going to learn from? What direction are you going to move in now? So I tend to treat failure as an opportunity to try something new, to go in a different direction and don't stay down, get up and move forward. That is what I want my teachers. That is what I want my students to embrace. It is an opportunity for forward motion. I completely agree with you. It's so good to try new things because if you don't try it, that might lead to regret about not even trying, right? So, and D, Ryan Tanaka, I mean, his dad is a graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute and Ryan did a big book donation to Mid-Pacific and he's a highly respected business leader and community leader. How is his book donation helping your faculty and students? So currently we have our leadership reading through the book. Right now we're looking at beyond the game and it's really important for us the leaders, us as leaders to be on the same page. So when we're having conversations about how we deal with different circumstances that confront us on a daily basis, how do we respond to that? So to your question, Ryan's book has, it's really been beneficial because we've been able to have a common book read for our leadership and it allows us to have common conversations about leadership and how we move forward together, not individually. I believe that when the leaders are on the same page there's a positive impact on the lives of teachers and ultimately the lives of our students. So thank you, Ryan. We appreciate that greatly because it's allowing us to go through that common book read. And as I mentioned just a little while ago, we're currently reading through the book right now. So we're having those discussions and the reason that chapter three is stuck in my mind is because we were dealing with a difficult situation last week and I encourage them to remember in chapter three, it's choice. How do we deal with situations? Do we make the choice to live in it and see the negative or do we make the choice to dust ourselves off and move forward? Well, Dee, hopefully I can get more generous donors to donate my books, hopefully to your entire school someday. That would be great just to really have everyone strive for that superior culture of excellence that you and I talk about a ton. And Dee, I wanna know if you can share about your incredible international baccalaureate program. Sure. So I'm happy to say that Mid-Pacific was the first school in the state of Hawaii to have an international baccalaureate program. The IB program is a rigorous program that was originally developed for students of diplomats and expats who were outside of the United States. They knew that their students would be applying for colleges not only in the United States but in other countries. The beauty of the international baccalaureate program, it has international recognition. In fact, it is considered one of the most rigorous programs that's offered to elementary, middle, and high school students. And for many of our students who are applying to universities outside of the United States, they know that because they are taking part in this curriculum, they can gain access to institutions across the globe. In fact, a number of our students go on to universities in Switzerland, go on to universities in Japan, across Europe and Africa, because of the IB program that they've gone through here at Mid-Pacific. Wow, that's really impressive. And when I looked into it, I thought, wow, I wanna know more about this program. And I mean, wouldn't you think every school should have a program like that? I do believe programs like this would benefit all schools because the beauty of the IB program is it's so far-reaching. It really is a well-developed curriculum. It is focused on getting students to think about their learning. We have a class called, we have a class that's really focused on helping students thinking about their thinking. It's called the theory of knowledge, helping them understand what they're learning and why they're learning it and how to apply it. The theory of knowledge class is really focused on challenging our students to be deep thinkers, to address novel problems and to see the world in a much broader way. Theory of knowledge right there and theory of thinking, I mean, that's so important just to have a greater understanding of themself and others, how others think and process things. And D, I wanna ask you about leadership. You've been such a successful leader for decades. What are some things that you feel the greatest leaders do? You know, after doing this for so long, more than 25 years, I fundamentally believe one of the greatest characteristics of a leader is recognizing that their greatest responsibility is to be a servant. If we don't understand the importance of serving those that we are responsible for, then we never reach our full potential as a leader. I also believe that it's important to understand the importance of us breathing, our breathing life into people, being responsive to their needs, having the ability to change when necessary and not always being focused on what is always being done, looking at the good of the past, but always having a hand fully grasping the future of change. So D, what in, I mean, again, you've been doing this for decades. Are you still inspired today as you were decades ago and what or who inspires you? And I'm not saying it's just because you're in the room but the conversations that we have, I learn from those conversations. I'm continually asking questions about how would you handle this situation? What would you do differently? What's your advice? I'm not afraid to ask for advice. I'm a huge fan of Simon Sinek as well. Anyone that's, and anyone that's always energetic and focused on what the future has to offer, thinking about where we're going. But, and I mentioned this earlier, not being afraid to look into the past and think, this worked well. There are things that I can carry forward with me. So that's what I'm always focused on. Oh, that's great. And D, when you reflect back on your life so far, what's a valuable lesson you've learned? My grandfather used to say to me all the time, if you're ever going to be king, you have to crown yourself. And as I've gotten older and I replay that statement in my head all the time, it's really about not letting the challenges of the current situation keep me down, but always moving forward. And to recognize that the strength that I possess comes from within. It's just a matter of tapping into that strength and running with it. And understanding also that there are those around us that can support us. And I'm not afraid to ask questions, to build meaningful relationships because I see my growth as dependent on others also. C.D, that's why you're a great leader because the greatest leaders are always learning, which makes them even greater than they were. And D, I want to ask you personally or professionally, what's a big adversity you faced and overcame? I would say the thing that most recent two things. One, we were in the middle of this pandemic and we had two choices. One, when we fold or we move forward, I chose to move forward. And it was a challenge at times because all of this was new. Everything that we were dealing with, the tools that were in our bag, we had to reach deep into that bag and pull those tools out and apply them. We also knew that the playbook that we were operating from was, it was a playbook that dealt with the past. So we had to create new plays in that book. The other thing is taking over the middle and high school. Historically, I was a middle school principal and just as the pandemic was hitting, I took over two divisions. So I'm bringing two divisions together during this process of learning how to educate online and how to work with teachers online and how to work with students online and how to interact with parents and community members online. So those were two challenges. But again, I reached deep into that tool bag and I pulled those tools out and I applied what I did in the past in the sense that how do you address problems? How do you lean into those problems? How do you solve those problems? How do you ask for help? Those are the things that I applied. Those were the challenges that I faced. So through all these years, D, what do you feel is the best advice you ever received? Probably the best advice that I received is the same thing that I tell my students even when I was a coach, be a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday. Don't compete against others, compete against yourself and always, always approach things with an optimistic perspective. Understand that challenge is an opportunity for growth and for learning and being better. And when I take all of those and put them together, I become a better version of myself than I was yesterday. D, I wanna ask you one more question before we wrap up. What do you feel is your purpose in life? To give. I'm an advocate for leaders who are servants. And when I say to give, I go back to this, if you are not a quality servant, you will not be a quality leader. D, you are a man of honor and integrity and I am proud to call you my friend and I can see why Mid-Pacific is thriving under your leadership and they are very, very lucky to have somebody like you as principal. Thank you. And D, I just wanna thank you for being on the show and please keep up the great work. I will, thank you. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Principal D and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.