On Dec. 6, Growing Our Own Teachers on Kaua‘i presented six scholarship awards of $4,000 each to teacher candidates at the Hanalei Bay Rotary Club luncheon held at St. Regis Hotel, according to a news release. Growing Our Own Teachers
On Dec. 6, Growing Our Own Teachers on Kaua‘i presented six scholarship awards of $4,000 each to teacher candidates at the Hanalei Bay Rotary Club luncheon held at St. Regis Hotel, according to a news release.
Growing Our Own Teachers on Kaua‘i began as a community service project of the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay. Rotarians realized that a North Shore club, even with the help of other Rotary Clubs, could probably not sustain an island-wide effort of this type so the decision was made to incorporate as a separate entity, the release states.
Each year, funds are raised for a new group of perspective graduates who start their student teaching semester. Their last semester before graduation requires them to student teach full-time in the classroom with their mentor teacher, pay $5,000 for tuition and receive no pay for their service in the classroom, the release states.
Since 2007, the organization has raised more than $200,000 and supported 43 local teachers now teaching in Kaua‘i schools.
The six recent recipients of the scholarship awards plan to graduate in May 2013, and will add to the Kaua‘i teaching population. They still have a difficult road before them with a teacher’s salary and paying back loan debts of $30,000 or more, the release states.
On Dec. 2 Willie K In Concert was a sold-out event at the Kaua‘i Community College Performing Arts Center, which was a successful fundraiser for Growing Our Own Teachers on Kaua‘i.
