Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Tafuna HS social studies teacher, Edney Gasmig Apulu, is the 2020 Territorial Teacher of the Year. The selection was announced yesterday by Education director, Dr. Ruth Matagi-Tofiga, who said Apulu was selected by the TTOY Committee comprising ASDOE assistant directors.

She acknowledged that this is the second year in a row that a teacher from Tafuna HS has taken the TTOY honor. The 2019 TTOY was Tafuna HS math teacher Jordanna Maga.

“Congratulations Edney and also to all school and district teachers of the year,” Matagi-Tofiga said, noting that Apulu “dedicates this honor to Tafuna High School, Home of the Warriors, his parents, wife, and children.

Information provided to Samoa News by the ASDOE director states that Apulu graduated from Tafuna HS in 2004, and he holds a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies degree from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Apulu has been a teacher for 8 years at Tafuna HS, where he is the department head for social studies; chairman of the National Honor Society; and advisor to the history club, Close-Up and JSA. “When he is not in the classroom, he is an ASHSAA official,” said Matagi-Tofiga of Apulu, the son of Apulu Lafaele and Ruth Solaita-Apulu, a retired librarian.

Apulu is from Nu’uuli and serves as a deacon for the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Leone, where he is also the assistant director of the Leone SDA Pathfinders Club.

ASDOE will announce soon, when the official ceremony will be for the TTOY.