Carl taught history in the Punahou Academy, ran the Russian club, and served as an assistant coach for the softball team. In 2005, Carl launched the Clarence T. C. Ching PUEO (Partnerships in Unlimited Educational Opportunities) program at Punahou, and served as the PUEO program director for 15 years. During that time, he built partnerships with other schools and community organizations, recruited students, developed curriculum and helped secure generous contributions to support DOE students with high academic potential but low economic opportunities. In 2020, Carl published a well-received book based on his PUEO experience, “A Success Story in Public Education: The Clarence T.C. Ching PUEO Program at Punahou School.”

 

Dr. Lyn Ackerman taught at Punahou School as an elementary summer school teacher, drama instructor and teacher supervisor for the PUEO program. She also supported PUEO students’ international trips and taught a course developing gaming technology for middle school students. Previously, she worked for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and at the University of Hawai‘i College of Education, training teacher candidates and fundraising for student scholarships

 

Dr. Lyn Ackerman retired just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and Dr. Carl Ackerman retired after the shutdown in 2020. The Dr. Carl R. Ackerman and Dr. Lyn K. Ackerman Endowed Fund was created by their daughter, Dr. Laura K.G. Ackerman-Biegasiewicz ’05, to honor her parents’ educational legacy and to highlight the need to support the PUEO program. Laura and her sister, Jennifer ’20, hope that this fund will continually remind everyone of the hard work their parents devoted to PUEO and to educating young people. They hope it will inspire students to look outward, as their parents did, toward ways that education can serve a public purpose.