Chaminade University of Honolulu

Education

If Teaching is Your Passion, Save Time and Money with Our New 4+1 Program

Over the past decade, there has been a consistent increase in the number of students enrolling in graduate programs. For some, it is a requirement in their job field. For others, it is the desire to earn more money, those with master’s degrees earn on average 23% more than those with bachelor’s degrees. Others are just looking for a way to stand out from the crowd. No matter the reason, making the decision to pursue an advanced degree means committing to more school and paying more tuition. It also means delaying entry into the workforce.

Imagine being able to complete both your bachelor’s and your master’s in only five years. Our new 4+1 Program does just that. This new program offers students the opportunity to obtain their bachelor’s and their Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in just five years. Meaning, students save on a year of tuition and can enter the job force sooner.

“Although many students desire to or consider pursuing an advanced degree, they are often put off by the idea of an extra two years of school. For many students the option may not even be financially feasible,” says Education Dean, Dr. Dale Fryxell. “However, thanks to accelerated programs, like our new 4+1 Program, more students are able to pursue advanced degrees.”

Normally, deciding to pursue your master’s means committing to an additional two years of school. Students will often decide to enter the job force before returning to school to obtain their M.A. or M.S. With an accelerated program, such as our New 4+1 Program, students are not only able to complete their education quicker and enter the workforce sooner; they are starting their careers better prepared than many of their colleagues.

“An advanced degree is an asset to any person entering the job force,” says President, Dr. Lynn Babington. “It’s a way to stand out amongst the rest.”

The 4+1 Program allows students to pursue their undergraduate degree in any field, as long as they minor in Education. Once a student completes their undergraduate studies with their education minor, they will be eligible to apply for the MAT graduate Program and, thanks to this accelerated program, graduate with their master’s after only one year.

Alumna Schiller’s Smart Yields Agricultural Tech Firm Competing for Vatican-Blessed Accelerator Initiative

Chaminade University alumna Elizabeth “Lizzy” Schiller ’14 and her team from Smart Yields, a Honolulu-based agricultural technology firm, presented a sales pitch in Rome Dec. 4 as the last step in being considered for a Vatican-blessed accelerator initiative.

Smart Yields is one of nine companies participating in the Laudato Si’ Challenge, which locates, funds and mentors startup companies in keeping with an encyclical from Pope Francis to develop sustainable ways of solving the global climate crisis by 2030.

This includes reimagining food production systems to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and guarantee food security for all.

Schiller, who earned a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership, co-founded Smart Yields in 2015 and serves as chief operations officer. The company designed a mobile app that uses electronic sensors, real-time monitoring, data analytics and digital agronomy to improve the crop production of farmers and indoor growers.

Joining Schiller for the sales pitch to Vatican dignitaries, government officials and international business leaders was Smart Yields Chief Agricultural Officer Michael Rogers.

“We believe access to nutritious food is a basic human right,” Rogers said. “We are building a community that grows and learns together using technology to create a future with enough food for all to live peacefully in a healthy environment.”

Chaminade’s Division of Education offers a Master of Education Program with concentrations in Educational Leadership, Teacher Leader, Instructional Leadership, Child Development and Montessori Emphasis.

Dedication to Promoting Social Justice Led Alumna Kyna (Williams) Hogg ’10 to Education Profession

Knowing that education promotes social justice, alumna Kyna (Williams) Hogg ’10 gravitated to the teaching profession and then to Chaminade University. Now she serves as principal of Gatewood Elementary in Seattle, Washington, a school where “we believe that changing the world is possible.” “I always knew that I wanted to work with children,” said Hogg, who earned a Master of Education degree. “And as I learned more about the education system in the United States, I became more and more interested in thinking about how education intersects with social justice.” Kyna Williams This realization prompted Hogg to join Teach for America after receiving a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Before long, she “simply fell in love with working in education” by teaching sixth graders at Kamaile Academy, a charter school in Waianae. Hogg said she was attracted to Chaminade’s Master of Education program because its flexible schedule allowed her to earn a degree while working full time at Kamaile. “It was a terrific experience for me to be working as a teacher while, at the same time, I was learning how to be a better teacher through coursework and collaboration with other educators who were in similar situations as I was,” Hogg said. “Not only did Chaminade help me build a variety of skillsets through participating in readings, coursework and collaboration,” she continued, “it also provided me a level of confidence in my work as an educator.” Although Hogg had a busy schedule during her Chaminade days, she still found time to play the role of “Marian the Librarian” in a campus production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.” When reminiscing about her Division of Education professors, Hogg said she’s grateful for the strong relationship she built with Mary Pat Sjostrom. “She truly cared about me as a learner,” Hogg said. “But more importantly, she cared about how my own students were doing. She offered resources and opportunities to learn and was always available to answer questions and to simply talk about challenges that were going on in my own classroom. “After completing my master’s program, I knew I still had a lot to learn about education,” Hogg continued, “but felt like I had a foot in the door to ask more questions and to continue to learn more from the colleagues around me. Ultimately, it was my education at Chaminade that provided me the opportunity to begin to pursue educational leadership, my current field of work.” Following this new career path, Hogg became assistant principal at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., where she facilitated teacher engagement programs, oversaw a teaching residency program, taught math and science and tutored literacy skills. She later became an assistant principal at Green Dot Public Schools Washington State in Seattle/Tacoma, and then served as the founding assistant principal and eventually principal of Destiny Middle School in Tacoma. When Hogg applied for the principal post at Gatewood, hiring committee members were impressed with her commitment to social justice and experience with school culture building. She was hired effective July 1, 2017. Hogg said Gatewood is focused on developing student academic progress and social emotional growth “while at the same time fostering a love for learning.” “Our families, students and staff are all aligned towards doing what is best for our students,” Hogg said, “which leads to a welcoming and warm environment for everyone.” While carrying out her leadership duties, Hogg follows one of her lessons from Chaminade, which is to stay in a learning orientation, “no matter where you are in your own journey of learning about education.” “There is always room to grow,” she said, “and it is important that you are vulnerable and reflective enough about your own practice that you continue to ask questions.” Chaminade’s Division of Education offers a Master of Education program with concentrations in Educational Leadership, Teacher Leader, Instructional Leadership, Child Development and Montessori Emphasis.

For ‘Outstanding Graduate’ Melissa Cortez, Aiding Needy Families in Lima, Peru, was Life-Changing

Melissa Cortez, who’s earning a Master of Arts in Teaching (Elementary Education) degree at Chaminade University, received an education of a different sort when she volunteered to construct houses for needy families in Lima, Peru. She learned about a vastly different way of life by witnessing the gratitude, generosity and steadfast faith in God that impoverished South Americans possess in abundance. Accordingly, Cortez – who will be honored in December as the Division of Education’s “Outstanding Graduate” – received much more than she gave on a life-changing, 12,000-mile, roundtrip journey. “It was good to experience what the less fortunate experience,” said Cortez, a sixth-grade teacher at Damien Memorial School in Kalihi. “We left our phones and laptops behind. We traded all we knew for a simple life.” Selecting Cortez and a small group of Mainland educators for the two-week home-building project was the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a religious order that sponsors Damien and other Edmund Rice Catholic schools in the U.S. and Canada. The humanitarian mission’s primary focus, Cortez explained, was “standing in solidarity with those who are marginalized by poverty and injustice.” Peru is so overpopulated, she said, that families often live in small, flimsy houses high above the flatlands where there’s a lack of running water and electrical service. “The Brothers dedicate their whole lives to helping these people,” Cortez said. “Every day they’re going up into the hills, getting to know the families, seeing what hardships they’re going through. They’re building solid and positive relationships with the people, especially those who are suffering – those who truly need help.” Melissa Cortez in Lima, PeruCortez and her team assisted two families. The father of one family has a lung disease and can’t afford proper medical care. The other father is afflicted by seizures – caused by worms in his brain – and can no longer support his wife and two young boys. When the volunteers finished their strenuous construction work each day, they wrote down their thoughts in journals. “The Brothers asked us to reflect on what we did, the people we met,” Cortez said. “But the question wasn’t: What did we do for the less fortunate today? The question was: What did the less fortunate teach us today? The less fortunate taught us to be grateful. They taught us to have faith.” Although Cortez only spent a fortnight in Peru, she left as a changed person. “I realized that a lot of things I take for granted on a daily basis are luxuries to these people,” she said. “But they have an unwavering faith in God and they have their families. That’s really all they need to survive.” The Master of Arts in Teaching program offers licensure in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Secondary Education and Special Education.

Alumna Lorna Gomes ’05 Finds Her Life’s Calling in Elementary Education

At one point in her life, Chaminade University alumna Dr. Lorna M. Gomes ’05 thought her future belonged in the financial industry. Accordingly, the Sacred Hearts Academy graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and launched a banking career. But something was missing. “I had always wanted to teach,” Gomes said, “so I decided to return to college to pursue this dream. The Chaminade program was convenient to my lifestyle because classes were online and in the evening.” Lorna GomesWhile earning her master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Gomes served as a student teacher at Lanikai Elementary Public Charter School – now called Kaʻōhao School – in Kailua. Today she teaches language arts, mathematics and social studies to fourth graders at Kaʻōhao, where she also worked as a curriculum coach and media coordinator. This dedication to helping students succeed prompted School Director Ed Noh to recognize Gomes as an “outstanding teacher.” “Dr. Noh consistently includes me in school-wide decisions,” Gomes said, “and I am currently a grade-level chair as well as a mentor to a University of Hawaii student teacher. I have been on numerous hiring committees and the strategic planning committee. This is my 14th year here.” At the encouragement of a previous school director, Gomes earned a doctorate in Education Leadership in 2014 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her dissertation focused on “helping reluctant readers become better readers.” Reflecting on her time at Chaminade, Gomes said the Division of Education program “allowed me to feel successful in pursuing my master’s degree, and I did make some nice friendships that I still maintain today.” “The collegial atmosphere with small classes were definitely highlights,” Gomes said, adding that she was especially influenced by Dr. Margaret Mize’s children’s literature class. “I just would like to encourage anyone considering a higher education degree to give Chaminade a look,” Gomes said, “because it is a fine institution with excellent professors!” Chaminade University’s Master of Arts in Teaching program is part of the Division of Education, and offers state-approved licensure in early childhood education, elementary education, secondary education and special education.

Teacher Candidates Explore Hawaii Military History Through Partnership with Pacific Aviation Museum

Under a new partnership, the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor is helping preservice teachers at Chaminade University gain a greater understanding of Hawaii’s military history so they can share this knowledge with students.

The future teachers are accessing the museum’s non-formal education resources that will eventually reinforce and expand formal classroom instruction in local schools. This includes materials from museum STEM camps, which integrate science and history for children as they explore aviation topics such as weather and atmosphere, flight planning and flight physiology.

The preservice teachers are also gathering information by visiting other Pearl Harbor historic sites, including the USS Arizona Memorial, Battleship Missouri Memorial and USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park.

The museum intends to use this partnership with Chaminade’s Division of Education as a springboard for outreach activities involving teachers statewide.

Working with the museum and other historic sites benefits teacher candidates in multiple ways, according to Chaminade Assistant Professor of Education Katrina Roseler, Ph.D.

“First and foremost, their final products for the Pacific Aviation Museum are a performance assessment demonstrating the integration of their three years of education coursework,” Dr. Roseler said.

The museum’s outreach to Chaminade is also beneficial, Dr. Roseler said, because it “models the types of relationships teachers should expect from their local educational resources.”

“This partnership demonstrates that teachers have resources available to them beyond their classroom and school,” Dr. Roseler said, “that can and should be leveraged to the benefit of K-12 students.”

Located on Ford Island, the nonprofit Pacific Aviation Museum is housed in two historic seaplane hangars that survived the attack on December 7, 1941, by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The museum features an extensive collection of warplanes and helicopters, including an iconic B-17E “Flying Fortress” heavy bomber from World War II.

Chaminade’s Division of Education offers bachelor’s degrees in early childhood, elementary and secondary education, and master’s degrees in teaching and education.

Cover Image courtesy of Pacific Aviation Museum