Lehua Parker

Lehua Parker

is originally from Hawaii and a graduate of The Kamehameha Schools and Brigham Young University. So far she has been a live television director, a school teacher, a courseware manager, an instructional designer, a sports coach, a theater critic, a SCUBA instructor, a playwright, a web designer, a mother, and a wife. Her debut novel, One Boy, No Water is the first book in her middle grade Niuhi Shark Saga. Book 2, One Shark, No Swim, will be be published by Jolly Fish Press in August 2014. She currently lives in Utah with her husband, two children, three cats, two dogs, six horses, and assorted chickens. During snowy Utah winters she dreams about the beach.

Professional Synopsis

After working too many years to count in video production in Hawaii, Utah, and California as an on-air talent, writer, producer, director, and eventually studio manager, Lehua was dog tired. Leaving L.A. for snowier pastures, she and her family moved from California to Utah in 1991 where she found gainful employment with Allen Communication, a Times-Mirror Company. Working on the bleeding edge of technology, she created computer-based training programs for Fortune 100 companies including American Express, Prudential, Cellular One, AT&T, and the United States Air Force. Initially hired as an instructional designer and media specialist, Lehua soon became a Courseware Manager who mentored and built teams of award-winning instructional designers, graphic artists, and programmers. Eventually feeling a little anemic, Lehua left Allen Communication in 1997 as a full-time employee, trading her impressive title of Courseware Manager, New Product Development, Tools, and Research, for the less impressive but more rewarding title of Mom. She continued to work as a consultant for Allen Communication until 2002.

In 2003 when her children began attending The Colby School, a not-for profit private preK- 8^th grade school located in Park City, Utah, Lehua began to put her talents to work to benefit the school and its community. She designed and programmed the school’s website, provided technology in-service training to the Colby staff, and taught the K-8th multimedia/computer lab courses, a natural fit for her instructional design background and unorthodox sense of humor. Through her guidance in the MM Lab, students created various classroom projects using common Microsoft programs, digital photography, videography, graphic design, and web programming skills. She also served as the 7/8th grade warden, under the misleading title of class adviser, served on accreditation, curriculum, outdoor education, and marketing committees, and for three years led the Middle School on international adventures. Lehua ended her association with The Colby School in August 2009 when her children began attending public schools in Heber City, Utah. Subsequently, The Colby School merged with Park City Academy to form Park City Day School.

Lehua has also moonlighted as a theater critic for The Daily Herald, published a few poems, short stories, and plays, taught video production at elementary, high school, and college levels, taught scuba diving while living in a desert, created websites and internet-based training programs for various companies, and even coached her kids’ soccer and baseball teams.

She is currently working on a MG/YA novel series, the Niuhi Shark Saga,  set in her native Hawaii. Book 1, One Boy, No Water, was published in September 2012 by Jolly Fish Press. Book 2 is tentatively titled One Shark, No Swim and is scheduled for publication in August 2013.

Educational Synopsis

Lehua received a BA from Brigham Young University in Communications, specifically in Mediated Message Design and Research, which is really just a fancy way of saying “knows how to take information and effectively put it into people’s heads using technology.” She also minored in English, with an emphasis in creative writing and  video production.

Growing up in Hawai’i, she graduated from The Kamehameha Schools after attending the Kapalama campus from 7th to 12th grade, Kahului Elementary on Maui from Kindergarten – 4th, and Kamiloiki Elementary on Oahu for 5th-6th.  She spent many years in Hawai’i's Summer Fun programs as a participant and junior counselor and considers herself a survivor.