Introducing “Seedlings”

As part of our strategy to become more visible in our community, we have established our first-ever newsletter: Seedlings. We have included the copy below.  We hope you enjoy it!

https://mailchi.mp/82a25327e7fa/summer-seedlings-2020

By the way, don’t forget the deadline for the 2021 Spring Student Teaching semester is November 30, 2020. It seems like a long way off, but if you or someone you know will need assistance for their final semester, please download the application to review the required documentation. We have added assistance for Secondary School teacher candidates this year. Please contact us to find out more information about the requirements for this grant.

Aloha!

June 10, 2020 

Servco Grant Award – 2019

Growing Our Own Teachers on Kauai is honored to have been nominated and awarded a Servco Grant of $20,000!  Servco received almost 5,000 nominations for more than 550 organizations. Out of those nominees, 40 were chosen to be reviewed by their employees who then selected the final 19 award recipients.

In honor of their 100th anniversary, Servco decided to celebrate by giving back to the communities where they do business.  We were among the three recipients from Kauai which included Kauai Independent Food Bank and Kauai Humane Society.

We are deeply grateful to those who wrote wonderful letters to nominateus and to Servco for awarding this generous grant to our organization. Rest assured, these funds will serve our mission and help more student teachers on Kauai complete their education!

    

Flex Grant Award!

Growing Our Own Teachers on Kauai is pleased to announce that we were recently awarded a FLEX Grant from Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) through the Robert Emens Black Fund. We are grateful for the award and thank all involved.

We are in the process of re-evaluating our purpose and goals and preparing a strategic plan for the coming years. We intend to refocus our energies in order to better address the increasing shortage of teachers on Kauai. The funds from the FLEX grant will help us complete this critical planning.

As we move forward, we will need more volunteers and funding to help us accomplish our goals. Below are links to donate and to sign up to volunteer.

[wpedon id=65]           Volunteer

FLEX is supported by multiple current and past donors through the Hawai‘i Community Foundation. Nonprofits will beconsidered for funding based on each individual fund’s preferences. Information submitted in the “Organization & Program Profile,” as well as responses to the narrative questions, allows HCF to match applicants with appropriate funds. -- HCF
17
Dec, 2018

OCDE Project GLAD® NTC

Our own board member and a 2014 GOOTOK Award recipient, Monique Kan-Souza, was one of 18 dedicated professionals from various complex areas on Kauai, Oahu, Hawaii and Maui who successfully completed the Cohort 7 2017-2018 Targeted Learning Cycle Series earning 9 PD Credits, and was featured in the August 2018 OCDE Project GLAD Newsletter.  It showed her perseverance and commitment to professional growth and instructional enhancements to serve all students, especially English Learners. We are all so very proud of Monique and all she has accomplished!

Monique Kan-Souza — Dressed up to teach her students about US Symbols

OCDE Project GLAD® NTC has provided exemplary training for educators both resulting in students’ access to quality instruction and high-levels of success, for over 20 years.  GLAD stands for Guided Language Acquisition Design. Their  model enhances teachers’ design and delivery of standards-based instruction through an integrated approach with the intent of building language proficiency and academic comprehension. OCDE Project GLAD® classrooms promote an environment that respects and honors each child’s voice, personal life experience, and beliefs and values their culture.

To learn more about this program, please visit Project Glad.

2018-2019 Application Now Available

Aloha!

We have updated our application this year to make it more in line with what we need to determine the financial need of our applicants.

We invite all teacher candidates entering their student teaching semester in the Spring of 2019 to apply. Deadline is November 30, 2018. 

Please click here to download the current application.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Upcoming Content & Current Activities

Aloha kākou.

As we build our website, we will add important news and announcements to our blog. You can find new teaching projects, ideas, and news here in the upcoming months.  We will also include announcements regarding open grant application periods and the recipients of those funds.

Currently, we are restructuring and creating a new strategic plan to better serve the student teachers and our community.  We have a critical shortage of teachers here on Kauai which leads to larger classrooms and less one-on-one time for our children in school. Many classrooms are being filled by unlicensed or substitute teachers.  This is an urgent issue and we are working to determine the best ways in which we can help.

In the near future, we will be talking to principals and teachers to get their ideas on the matter and any suggestions for solutions. This is an ongoing challenge and we will address it as we move forward.

Stay tuned for more as we grow our own website!