Series: 2023 Teacher Appreciation Week

Ethan Momohara is a fresh out of college culinary teacher who started working at James Campbell High School in school year 2022-2023. Not knowing anything about the school or the student body he decided to give the school a try. He knew this would be a whole new experience being that he is from Pearl City and graduated from Mid Pacific Institute.

“Campbell chose me and I am glad they did,” he said. Momohara used to believe in the stigma of Ewa Beach. He thought the kids were going to be rascals and have no interest in school. “After the first couple of months I realized I was wrong,” Momohara said. He learned to adapt to the ways of Campbell in a short amount of time and is finally getting the hang of how we roll in the 96706. “There’s so much more to Ewa Beach, something about this place is infectiously inviting and it feels like home.”

Momohara is the realest person anyone could ever meet. He is down to earth, selfless, blunt and caring. Ethan Momohara is young and knows how teenagers think. He knows what to say and when to say it which makes a lot of us very comfortable. The students in his class and kids from other classes know they can always go to Momohara’s class to vent and not feel like a burden.

In turn he said, “When I’m having a junk day I can lean on the students to make my day less bad. The students remind me that I have a purpose.” Momohara also has a lot of love for his students and really shows that he cares about them. 

He supports the baseball and softball teams. He goes to their games after school, watches on TV and even goes to the away games. Momohara was a former pitcher on one of the most elite ILH high school teams, Mid Pac. He knows what it’s like to be a student athlete and always shares his knowledge with the athletes who are in his class. He is very straight up with what he tells the baseball and softball athletes in his class.

Pick yourself up. Good game yesterday. What happened with the defense?

Things like that shows he really cares about his students and how they’re doing in life. He supports us like how we support him in the classroom. 

Not being from Ewa Beach, Momohara had to quickly learn about the culture we have  at Campbell especially with the sports. Momohara quickly noticed that the community is “prideful beyond belief.” Momohara put himself into an environment where everyone is included and the bond the people have is unmatched and unrivaled anywhere else.  “This school stands strong and prideful no matter what the situation is. The people stay together ʻtil the end. The pride here in Ewa Beach is absolutely crazy.” When it comes to James Campbell High School Momohara noticed that the people become one united whole when it comes to sports. There are so many people who go out to watch the games. “Just being there in the environment of all the support and love makes me feel the Saber pride.”

Experiencing the support and the culture of Ewa Beach first hand really showed Momohara how much the community loves their city. “These people ride for Ewa Beach until the end and it shows.”