Ms. Tui Moe has known she wanted to work with kids since she was in elementary school. She first started working with special education students in 2003, when she applied at Child and Family Service, a school specializing in special education, not knowing that she would be working with students who had disabilities. Luckily, she found she had a passion for it.

“That’s the first time I actually was introduced to the population with autism, and I fell in love,” Moe says, “I just, I don’t know how to describe it, being able to work with individuals with disabilities… Gave me a purpose, something I really enjoyed. I already loved working with children, but this was a different challenge. I found a path for it and made it my career.”

Moe worked at Child and Family Service for about 12 years, starting as a program aid, then as a group leader, autism specialist, staff supervisor, and finally, a special education teacher.

While at this first job, Moe was also enrolled in the University of Phoenix, then graduated with her bachelor’s in business management and master’s in special education.

“I actually wanted to open my own school, I was thinking about having individuals with special needs and typically developing children, starting from birth, already in inclusion from that point on,” Moe shares, “That’s why I went into the business portion of my degree and then had to make sure I had my education portion. But then I had four kids, and life changed.”

Eventually, Moe ended up in the Department of Education (DOE), teaching at Kaimuki High School for seven years. The school year of 2023-2024 will be her eighth year in the DOE, now at Kalani High School, where her daughter, Alina, attends as a sophomore.

“ I’m excited to be at the same school my daughter’s at,” Moe says, “But, I also hear a lot of great things about Kalani… The classes, the clubs, the culture.”