Donor Stories
Rich and Eileen Wacker
Rich Wacker, from St. Louis, Mo., is chairman and former CEO of Korea Exchange Bank. Eileen, a Boston native, is launching her children's book series, the "Fujimini Island Adventure Series," this summer. They met and married in Europe while working for General Electric and have lived in New England, Italy, France, Belgium, U.K. and South Korea.
They made Hawai'i their home because, "We can't think of a better place to live and raise our four children," Eileen says.
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"When moving from Seoul, Korea, in 2007, we applied our son, Ethan, to Punahou. When he was accepted, we decided to move the family here and Rich would commute to Asia. Ethan's experience in kindergarten gave us a good taste of Punahou's unique approach to educating our kids. We were hooked," says Eileen.
"The Omidyar K – 1 Neighborhood promises to set Punahou apart in creatively developing the minds of children from the earliest stages of formal education," Rich says. "We have seen a lot of schools in our travels and feel that many are too focused on test results, which can overemphasize rote teaching to the detriment of art, music, PE and fundamental learning skills. The principles behind the K – 1 Neighborhood resonate with us: a comprehensive approach fostering hands-on learning; combining math lessons with art, or science with music; and stimulating critical-thinking skills."
The Wackers gave generously to the Omidyar K – 1 Neighborhood and chose to make a second donation when they learned about the Omidyar challenge: "We were happy to give again to push the project ahead and contribute in a small way to the Punahou tradition of being at the forefront of educational leadership," Rich says.
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