Scholarships Awarded, New “Spotlight” Interview and More Fun Stuff…

 

We are proud to introduce our latest award recipients: Chandlyn Harada, Marina Folsom, and Chazlyn Harada. Yes, we have twins — both finishing their Masters Degrees and becoming teachers at the Kawaikini New Century Public Charter School in Lihue. all three of these young women have the skills and commitment to help their students excel!

They have worked hard to achieve their goals of being credentialed teachers to our Kauai keiki and we are invested in their success.

Like all our recipients, they have come highly recommended from their teachers and mentors. We wish them great success in the achievement of their goals.

Read more…

 

Spring 2024 Student Teachers — Apply for a Scholarship!

Classes are back in session and time flies when you’re busy studying and meeting your program requirements. If your final student teaching semester is next Spring and you’re not sure how you will make ends meet, now is the time to get to work on your application.

You will need to provide the following to us in order to be considered for a scholarship:

  1. Personal essay,
  2. Two (2) recommendations from your program advisors and teachers you’ve worked with over the course of your program, and
  3. Completed application form.

 These things take time to gather, so starting now is not too early. The deadline for your completed application with all the required documentation is November 30, 2023

Go to the How to Apply page to review the qualifications and requirements. We appreciate it if you submit the application with all the necessary documents together. Separate submittals may result in lost documents making your application incomplete. We do not have the resources to remind applicants to send us their missing documents prior to the deadline.

We want you to succeed! Kauai’s schools need you! Apply now and make sure you can rest easier and focus on your final student teaching semester!   

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A TEACHER? A KCC Announcement

An announcement from Kauai Community College (KCC)

Meet with Courtney Tsumoto, Academic Advisor at UH Mānoa’s College of Education, Office of Student Academic Services (OSAS). Her role is to support current and future students in UH Mānoa’s statewide distance teacher preparation programs. She would love to help you understand admissions requirements and help you plan for and embark on your journey toward becoming a teacher no matter where you may be in the process.

What: College of Education Statewide Distance Teacher Preparation Programs, Kaua`i CC Visits

When: First Wednesday of the month:
9/6, 10/4, 11/8/ and 12/6

Where: Meet In-Person at Kaua`i Community College
One Stop Center (OSC) 204 Conference Room

Time: 10 am – 4:30 pm

Schedule an Appointment.
First-come, first-served.

Please reach out to Courtney (catsumot@hawaii.edu) if you have any scheduling conflicts. She looks forward to meeting you!

Also, please find important UH Mānoa COE updates here

Courtney Tsumoto, Academic Advisor, UHM COE Office, OSAS

Courtney Tsumoto, OSAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Time to Apply for Spring 2023! The Deadline is 11/30/2022!

Aloha!
The deadline to get your application for the Spring 2023 scholarship is right around the corner! Get your required documents together and fill in your application today! The deadline is November 30, 2022.

Visit our Student Teaching Grant Applications page for more information.

Fall 2022 Applications Deadline Looming

The deadline for Fall 2022 Student Teaching Grant Applications is July 31, 2022. Because it’s in the middle of summer and your resources may be difficult to reach, this is a friendly reminder.  If you are entering your final student teaching semester this fall, you must have your completed application (including all supporting documents) to us by July 31, 2022. 

Plese go to our Student Teaching Grant Applications page to get started. Don’t delay! 

Submit Your Application for Spring 2022

It’s that time of year again! The holidays are coming, travel plans are coordinated, and gift-buying is on the rise. Amidst all this flurry of activity is the application deadline for a Spring 2022 scholarship from Growing Our Own Teachers on Kauai! 

If you are completing your student teaching semester this coming spring, the deadline to submit your scholarship application is November 30, 2021

Visit our website to upload the required documents and fill in the application. We will get in touch with you to set up an interview with members of our board. We want to help you succeed and fulfill your dreams of becoming a teacher! It’s our mission! 

 

 

Partnering with KCC on a New Project

In 2019, Kauai Community College Creative Media instructor Steve Watkins determined that students and lecturers in all Creative Media classes should work together each term to support local nonprofit organizations. Students work with nonprofits producing professional fundraising and promotional video programs, musical compositions, still photographs, graphics, and websites. These are the most heavily weighted assignments and projects. 

Each term, a minimum of five nonprofit organizations are chosen for a variety of digital media projects. Students get hands-on experience with high-quality production processes and open communication channels similar to that of an expert advertising agency. The students, in turn, develop professional relationships with prospective employers and keep KCC active in the community.

This year, Growing Our Own Teachers on Kauai was one of the nonprofits selected. One of our directors, Rose Ramos-Benzel, is serving as the point person for our project. With input from our Fundraising/Marketing Committee, Steve’s Intermediate Digital Video class, along with the Photography students, are creating a video about our organization which will be geared toward prospective donors. Featured in the video will be President Nancy Kanna, Paul Zina, Ron Wiley, an annual donor, as well as past and current recipients. Interviews will be conducted this month, with editing and final delivery of the project by early December. 

We are extremely excited about this project and the many ways we can use the final footage to promote our organization, to attract donors and scholarship recipients, and raise funds.

It’s Fundraising Season!

Multiple Ways to Donate

We are gearing up our end-of-the-year fundraising campaign by focusing on “Giving Tuesday” on November 30, 2021.

Here are some possible ways to help us with that campaign. There are many ways to donate to Growing Our Own Teachers On Kauai.

First, consider Growing Our Own Teachers On Kauai for your Required Minimum Distribution. If you are over 70 years and 6 months old and have a pension plan, such as an IRA or TSA that requires you to take out a certain amount of money yearly, you may have your financial advisor donate some or all of that money to a charity, or 501(c)(3), like Growing Our Own Teachers On Kauai. Consult your financial advisor for details.

Second, many of you are ordering items through Amazon these days. You can contribute to our organization directly through the Amazon Smile program. Just register with Amazon Smile through the Amazon shopping website. If you are not already registered it will ask you to designate a charity. You will find that Growing Our Own Teachers On Kauai is one you can contribute to through your Amazon purchases. The good thing about this contribution is that you are not giving the money, Amazon is!  They give the charity an amount that is a percentage of your purchase cost and the money comes from them, not you.

Third, you can make a direct donation through our website at GrowingKauaiTeachers.org using a credit card. Just click on any Donate button on our site. 

Finally, you can send a check directly to our official address:

Growing Our Own Teachers On Kauai
P.O. Box 1117
Kalaheo, HI 96741

 

Mahalo nui loa

Last month, Growing Our Own Teachers on Kauai held its first online fundraising event. We honored all our current teachers for National Teacher Appreciation Day.  It takes special people to be called into the the teaching profession and we want to recognize those who have become teachers as well as those who are working to become teachers.  

We are excited to say our campaign was a complete success! We exceeded our $5,000 goal and reached $6,300 from private donations alone.  In addition, we have garnered over $17,000 in grants this year to support our mission to assist aspiring teachers on Kauai. 

We are grateful to all of our supporters for their contributions to our cause. 

Our grant recipients also understand that we are funded not only by local foundations and clubs, but by the community members they are working to serve. All of our student teacher recipients from the past few years are still teaching in Kauai schools. This is their promise to you: to teach on Kauai for a minimum of three years. Even in this time of a worldwide pandemic, our recipients are finding ways to continue teaching our keiki and fulfill their promise.

Thank you, again, for your support. 

 

Fall Applications due July 31

As the 2020/21 school year winds down, we are headed into a summer of less restrictions and more ability to enjoy the lovely weather our island is known for.  Even though summer is for vacations and staycations, if you are a student in a teacher training program and you plan to do your student teaching semester in the Fall of 2021, you’ll need to remember one important date: 

Our application deadline for the Fall of 2021 is July 31, 2021

We have provided an online application where you can upload your required documents as well as a pdf version you can download, print, and mail to us with your supporting documents. Please go to our Student Teaching Grant Applications page to start your application process. 

If you have questions, please email us at applications@growingkauaiteachers.org