One of our goals at Maryknoll School has always been to produce servant leaders. In the case of Elliott Chamizo, graduate of the class of 1961 and current English teacher at Maryknoll School, his life has been one of a leader, teacher and educator throughout the world.
Mr. Chamizo grew up in Honolulu and attended St. Augustine Grade School in Waikiki. When it was time to attend high school, he was interviewed by Sister Margaret James, former Principal at Maryknoll High School, who told him that he would be a perfect fit for the school. Soon after, he was accepted to Maryknoll where he learned from the sisters there the power of serving others. After graduating from Maryknoll, he attended Seattle University in Washington where he received an undergraduate degree in Speech and Journalism.
Inspired by the Maryknoll Sisters and President John F. Kennedy, Mr. Chamizo joined the Peace Corps in 1966 and was sent to Belize (formerly British Honduras) in Central America where he met once again with the Maryknoll Sisters who were serving the people in bordering Guatemala. He began his work there in an all-girls Catholic school in Belize City called St. Catherine’s Academy where he taught Business Education. Once he experienced what it was like to be a teacher, he made the decision to leave behind his original goal of someday becoming a newspaper reporter or journalist and focus on becoming the best teacher he could be. For that reason, he joined the National Teacher Corps after his time was completed with the Peace Corps and earned his graduate degree in Education at San Francisco State University in California. While there, he taught at Sanchez Elementary School in San Francisco, but his desire to assist others around the world once again led him to Germany. There, Mr. Chamizo was a teacher for three years at Neubrucke American School and a principal for another five in Kerpen American Elementary School near Cologne, Germany. Eventually, his family needed his assistance here in Hawaii, so Mr. Chamizo chose to return home. During that time, Sister Dolores Rosso was in the process of retiring as Alumni Director and Mr. Chamizo was asked to take over the position. Although he enjoyed his experience working with alumni, he missed being in the classroom as a teacher. A teaching position opened up at Maryknoll High School soon after and Mr. Chamizo has been teaching English here ever since 1981.
Mr. Chamizo has served as Yearbook Advisor during all of his years at Maryknoll School. Of the many memories he has of Maryknoll, he is thankful to many of the Maryknoll Sisters who inspired him in many ways. He also takes pleasure in staying in contact with many of his former students through taking part in lunches, dinners, weddings, and baptisms. Unfortunately, he has also had to attend the funerals of some of his former students. In particular, he misses his good friend and former colleague Jared Kaufmann, who spent time with him at Maryknoll High School as a student, fellow teacher, and mentor. Mr. Chamizo also has fond memories of working with Mary Beth Sandla (former Drama teacher), Diane Pike-Bourne (English Dept. teacher and former Peace Corps volunteer), James Wong (former Math teacher and Peace Corps volunteer) and Sister Philip Neri.
It is easy to see Mr. Chamizo continuing to live the spirit of Noblesse Oblige as seen in the picture above at this year’s Maryknoll Alumni Memorial Mass. Like each candle lit for every Maryknoll graduate that has passed on, Mr. Chamizo reminds us who came before us, who we are, and the servant leaders we know our future graduates will be.