Outside of school tasks, CJ Ancheta volunteers in his capacity as co-director of the Maui Regional Science Olympiad by coordinating the tournament that features middle and high school students.

LAHAINA — The Hawaii State Department of Education recently announced that Lahainaluna High School math teacher Cornelio “CJ” Ancheta was selected as the Complex Teacher of the Year, representing the Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai Complex.

As a complex teacher, he is one of the 16 finalists vying for coveted 2023 Hawaii State Teacher of the Year honors.

“This is a humbling experience for me, knowing that my educational goal is to make a difference in the lives of our young learners and to inspire them to be the best in their education,” said Ancheta.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering Degree from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos. Wanting to pursue higher education, Ancheta received his Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering at the same university, majoring in Agricultural Crop Processing and a minor in Agricultural Machinery.

In 2018, after completing a professional development course on Problem-Based Learning at the University of Hawaii Maui College and a summer workshop on Project-Based Learning (PBL) with Kupu Hou Academy, Ancheta was fired up stepping into his second year of teaching.

Those opportunities motivated and sparked his passion for PBL by creating authentic projects for his classes.

As a staunch advocate, he believes that PBL is a great teaching strategy that enhances the student learning experience by improving their 21st century learning skills in communication, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.

Because of his active contribution and leadership endeavors at the school, Ancheta was selected as a Hawaii State Teacher Fellow in 2020.

Realizing the challenges of implementing PBL in the classroom, Ancheta created a space to support Hawaii educators by facilitating four monthly virtual sessions.

Local educators shared their expertise and discussed topics such as understanding the pedagogy of PBL, and creating and assessing real-world projects.