Aloha kāua. My name is Kaholo Rickard. I was born and raised in Lahaina, Maui. I graduated from Lahainaluna High School in 1996 and attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo on a baseball scholarship. I graduated from UH Hilo in 2001 with a double major; a BA in Mathematics for Education as well a BA in Philosophy. I started teaching at Lahaina Intermediate School in 2002 and then joined the Kamehameha Maui Ohana in 2005.
My family consists of my wife, Chauna, who is also a high math teacher at Kamehameha Schools Maui. My sons, Logan, who is 14 years old and is in the 9th grade, and Perry, who is 3 years old. And my baby girl, Paisley, who is 1.5 years old. The five of us enjoy our time together very much….we tend to keep each other pretty busy!
Athletics, baseball in particular, have played an important role throughout my life. Being a part of a team on the baseball field has taught me life lessons that I would never have learned in a classroom setting. I’ve played baseball for the better part of my life and it’s a huge reason why I am the man that I am today.
Music is another important component to my life. There is something about music; something concrete and absolute yet at the same time abstract and creative that astonishes me. When you hit the right notes (based on musical theory), you can put together something that sounds improvised yet polished. I love playing any musical instrument I can get my hands on. Music has also transcended over into my professional life as I am also a part-time, free-lance sound engineer as well as a guitar player for a band.
Mathematics is something that I’ve always had a passion for. Numbers always seemed to make sense to me. I do get upset when I hear students say “I hate algebra” or “math is dumb, when are we ever going to use it in life.” I always tell them the same answer; just because you know how to ride a bike doesn’t mean you ride a bike everyday of your life. When you need the skill, at least you’ll HAVE the skill. So goes the story of math.