PUHI — Kaua‘i Community College announced on Tuesday that it was awarded $1,194,119 by the U.S. Department of Education/Native Hawaiian Education Program.
PUHI — Kaua‘i Community College announced on Tuesday that it was awarded $1,194,119 by the U.S. Department of Education/Native Hawaiian Education Program.
The award is to provide clear, culturally responsive pathways into careers in secondary education for Hawaiian-born students.
Dr. Valerie Barko, Kaua‘i Community College’s Director of Institutional Effectiveness and University Center, said the grant was established to help Native Hawaiian students residing on Kaua‘i become high school teachers without having to leave the island.
“We are a Native Hawaiian serving institution of higher education and that should be ingrained in everything we do,” Barko said. “Hiring a Native Hawaiian liaison will help continue moving the college towards this goal, and will also help further identify and define what it means to be a Native Hawaiian serving institution.”
According to the Kaua‘i Community College Factbook, “Native Hawaiian students fare worse than their non-Native peers. Since the onset of the pandemic, the number of Native Hawaiian students completing a degree or certificate has decreased by 24 percent from 2019 to 2022.”
The Ka Lamaku: Pathways into Secondary Education grant will provide free early college in the three public high schools and at Kawaikini Public Charter school. All students accepted into the online Associate of Science in Teaching Program will receive individualized support, student success plans and be eligible to apply for a $2,000 scholarship.
An aspect of the grant will be to hire a full-time Project Coordinator and Native Hawaiian Liaison at Kaua‘i Community College with the goal of fulfilling kuleana to Native Hawaiians and Hawai‘i by providing cultural professional development, training faculty on indigenizing curriculum and working with Hale Malama, a student support services program, and the Transfer/University Center to offer student support plans.
The fall semester at Kaua‘i Community College starts on Aug. 26. For more information on Kaua‘i Community College, visit its website at www.kauai.hawaii.edu.
