{"id":136270,"date":"2021-02-26T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T01:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=136270"},"modified":"2021-03-03T07:59:17","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T17:59:17","slug":"free-tuition-leeward-coast-educational-assistants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/02\/26\/free-tuition-leeward-coast-educational-assistants\/","title":{"rendered":"Free tuition for Leeward coast educational assistants interested in teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_15341\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-YZZ6zwMxdk?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Nanakuli Educational Assistant Pilot Program\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>In fall 2018, 37 dedicated educational assistants (<abbr>EA<\/abbr>s) living in <span aria-label=\"Waianae\">Wai&#699;anae<\/span> enrolled in a program to help them become certified teachers and earn a bachelor of science degree, while continuing to work full-time in local schools. Pursuing such a degree would normally entail tuition costs of around $36,720. But these <abbr>EA<\/abbr>s received scholarships and stipends that covered 100% of the tuition costs for a bachelor of science in special education.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s thanks to the N\u0101n\u0101kuli Educational Assistant-to-Teacher Pilot Program, a project that aims to improve the recruitment, support and retention of educators from local communities. The program was specifically designed to alleviate the chronic shortage of special education teachers across <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> by recruiting candidates with demonstrated experience and commitment to working with students with special needs and who are from the communities they serve. The <a href=\"https:\/\/inpeace.org\/\">Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture<\/a> (<abbr>INPEACE<\/abbr>) partnered with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.leeward.hawaii.edu\/\">Leeward Community College<\/a> to design the program.<\/p>\n<h2>Untapped gold mine<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136294\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136294\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-eas.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-eas-300x125.jpg\" alt=\"People holding certificates\" width=\"300\" height=\"125\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-136294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-eas-300x125.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-eas-130x54.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-eas.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136294\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students who earned a micro-credential and are on their way to a Bachelor&#8217;s of Science in Education, click for larger image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;We decided to get involved in this N\u0101n\u0101kuli Education Assistant Project because of the teacher shortage, especially in [special education],&rdquo; said <strong>Jeffrey Judd<\/strong>, teacher program coordinator at Leeward <abbr title=\"Community College\">CC<\/abbr>. &ldquo;And we found this beautiful, untapped gold mine here in educational assistants in N\u0101n\u0101kuli.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The program provides comprehensive wrap-around services to support this non-traditional student population, which includes first-time college attendees and students with limited exposure to navigating online higher education. It is leading the charge in establishing a long-term pipeline of locally sourced, highly invested and culturally competent teacher candidates to work in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> public schools with chronic teacher turnover.<\/p>\n<p>Judd said they are working to extend the program up and down the Leeward coast.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If we\u2019re able to do that, I think we\u2019ll actually have an impact on how many teachers are actually being hired on the Leeward coast,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And we can break that horrible, horrible cycle of seeing people coming in and coming out all the time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Hard work pays off<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136295\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136295\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Graduates in cap and gown\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-136295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/leeward-teacher-ed.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136295\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">2019 graduates from the program now working as teachers at Wai\u2018anae High and Intermediate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It is not an easy process for the <abbr>EA<\/abbr>s, even with full free tuition. They still work 40 hours a week, while completing a 120-credit bachelor\u2019s degree. The program also requires 450 hours of field experience in a classroom with students receiving special education services.<\/p>\n<p>Naomi Nihipali, a community recruiter for K\u016blia and Kalama Education Academy, said the <abbr>EA<\/abbr>s see how all the hard work pays off.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it\u2019s important for our keiki to see themselves in the classroom, to see their teacher as someone who lives in their community so that they can aspire to be teachers themselves,&rdquo; Nihipali said. &ldquo;It\u2019s important that we look within our community because we have so many people who just need the right support in order to become teachers here.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Diverse support<\/h2>\n<p>Tuition for the <abbr>EA<\/abbr>s comes from a combination of sources: a Health Resources and Services Administration grant, a James and Abigail Campbell Family Foundation grant, a Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture grant and a University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>&#8211;<span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Department of Education special education grant.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When we develop those avenues, especially when we\u2019re working with <abbr>INPEACE<\/abbr> and everybody else, it gives us the best opportunity to recruit the very best that\u2019s coming out of those communities,&rdquo; Judd added. &ldquo;And here in N\u0101n\u0101kuli, there\u2019s nobody better than the educational assistants, who work with those kids every day, to step up and be their teachers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leeward.hawaii.edu\/teach\">Learn more about Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr>&#8216;s teacher education program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;By <strong>Tad Saiki<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The program was designed to alleviate the shortage of special education teachers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[204,65,933,71,56],"class_list":["post-136270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-education","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-teacher-education","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136270"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136572,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136270\/revisions\/136572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}