Melanie Ching

Mel Ching is a life-long educator and learner. She is passionate about play, curiosity, & the use of ed-tech to amplify student voice. A maker enthusiast, she believes intentionally designing environments in which learners are free to tinker and experiment builds stronger communities and richer connections.

Mel worked for 23 years in Hawaiʻi’s first public charter school as a classroom teacher, technology facilitator and coach, and administrator. She was a 2013 Hawaii Public Charter School Network Teacher Honoree and participated in a professional learning initiative resulting in a guided math training video for the Bureau of Educational Research. During her tenure as a technology facilitator and coach, she advocated for greater integration of technology, redesigned the computer lab into a makerspace, and stewarded an expansion of the makerspace and library into a Learning Commons for students and teachers.