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Honolulu, HI---Jan. 21, 2004---How can students living in the outback of Kamuela be trained to become teachers?
Chaminade University of Honolulu received a $150,000 from The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation and the Henry and Dorothy Memorial Fund to meet such a challenge. The University will soon be able to connect teachers and neighbor island students through videoconferencing, as well as a website to support online course work. The long distance teaching will also feature three training workshops on the various islands.
The grant will also establish the Castle Curriculum Resource Center and renovate office facilities on Chaminade’s campus. The Center will house up-to-date curricular materials for teacher research and application in early childhood and elementary education. With a special focus on mathematics and the sciences, funds will furnish the Center with bookcases, tables, scope and sequence curricular materials, children’s books and literacy testing.
Chaminade’s Castle Outreach program was launched six years ago with a $45,000 grant given over three years from Henry and Dorothy Memorial Fund of the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation. Beginning with 12 students in Waimea on the Big Island, the program has grown to 45 students in four locations – Waimea, Hilo, Maui and Kauai.
“The program gives neighbor island students the opportunity to achieve their upper level degrees who might never be able to attain them,” said Chaminade Associate Professor Nanette Sheri Schonleber, who has helped write and monitor the original outreach grant.
Students take core general education courses at community colleges and Chaminade
on-line courses (television and internet). Upper courses (junior and senior
level) are offered through Chaminade's Castle Outreach program in rural communities.
Students graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.
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This new grant will ensure the survival of the program,” according
to Chaminade Education Division Chair Dr. Rosemary Wolfe. Although the program
has been very successful, with excellent student retention rates, its impact
was limited to the availability of staff to travel and the materials on hand,
she said. Chaminade also offers a Master of Education program presented entirely
on-line through distance learning. “With grants like this, Chaminade
can continue to train traditionally underserved populations of students beyond
Oahu,” said Wolfe, “and do our part to help meet the educational
needs of children on the neighbor islands.”
The Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation, founded in 1894, and its component
fund, the Henry & Dorothy Castle Memorial Fund, remain committed to promoting
high quality early education and care for children ages 0-5. The Samuel N. & Mary
Castle Foundation also funds K-12 independent education, select higher education
projects, and culture and arts projects that enhance the quality of life
in Hawaii.
Founded in 1955, Chaminade University is committed to educating future leaders equipped with both talent and character. Chaminade University offers a liberal arts curriculum that prepares students for life, work and service. With 22 undergraduate degree programs and five graduate degree programs, CUH enrolls over 2,500 students at its scenic Kaimuki hillside campus overlooking Diamond Head. CUH offers day, evening, online and accelerated 10-week courses to meet the needs of working adults at 10 satellite locations around O’ahu military bases and Catholic parishes and schools.
Chaminade University is located at 3140 Waialae Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816.
For more information, visit the Chaminade University website at www.chaminade.edu or call
(808) 735-4711.
