Early Education

Aspiring Teachers Get STEM Inspiration

September 30, 2024

Elementary Education students learn engaging strategies for teaching STEM

What does a girl who dreams about playing the drums have to do with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)? A group of teachers-in-training at Chaminade learned the answer to that intriguing question—meant to challenge traditional divisions between subjects—as part of a recent workshop.

Some 16 day undergraduate students majoring in Elementary Education attended the 90-minute workshop with Karen Ansberry, co-author of the Picture-Perfect Science series and lead speaker.

The professional development opportunity, designed by Picture-Perfect STEM and funded through the Takatani Foundation and School of Education and Behavioral Sciences, was one of four workshops offered to students in September to help them think about new strategies for teaching STEM.

Madison Polendey ’25, who will begin her student teaching in Kaneohe Elementary School in January, said the workshops helped her re-imagine how to design STEM lesson plans that engaged students.

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“These workshops helped me learn how to integrate math and reading into my STEM lessons,” she said.

Like that girl who aspires to play the drums.

Ansberry talked to workshop attendees about the female protagonist in “Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music,” which was inspired by the story of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers.

Using the book, a lesson plan was designed to highlight the principles of sound and math.

In the exercise, students create their own drums, using empty coffee cans, Pringles tubes and other household items. The next step would be to add some confetti or rice in a bowl and seal the top. Once the drum is banged next to the bowl, the vibration of the sound causes the confetti or rice to move.

That action proves to students that sound is a type of energy made by vibration.

“Kids can add some rhythm into their banging, which will also teach them about math,” Ansberry explained to workshop attendees, who were delighted by the example. “Studies have shown that rhythm helps teach such mathematical concepts as fractions, ratios, and pattern.”

Chaminade senior Pūnohu Keahi said the workshops taught her how to better engage students, especially through the use of picture books, which helped her learn when she was younger.

With co-author Emily Morgan, Ansberry wrote the Picture-Perfect STEM series to offer teachers engaging pedagogical approaches for teaching young kids about STEM.

On the final day of the worokshop, students learned how to teach robotics to elementary kids, providing them with resources and lesson plans. — On the final day of the workshop, students learned how to teach robotics to elementary kids, providing them with resources and lesson plans.

“Future teachers didn’t have the skills to teach science,” said Ansberry, before the start of the final workshop. “And picture books didn’t really exist for the sole purpose of teaching STEM courses.”

Picture-Perfect STEM offers an approach to teaching that is designed to encourage students in STEM through a combination of inquiry-based learning and literacy. The approach integrates children’s literature with hands-on activities, promoting a deeper understanding of STEM concepts.

According to Chaminade Director of Teacher Preparation Programs and Associate Professor Katrina Roseler, Ph.D., Picture-Perfect STEM is particularly aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the 5E instructional model, making it a powerful tool for modern educators.

The 5E instructional model is a widely-used framework in science education that consists of five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. The model is designed to facilitate active learning and help students construct their own understanding of scientific concepts. Picture-Perfect STEM complements the 5E model, making it an effective approach for teaching STEM concepts.

Roseler added that the NGSS are the K–12 science standards that guide educators in providing students with a science education that reflects the interconnected nature of science in the real world.

The goal is to engage students in Picture-Perfect STEM activities, which will inspire them to think critically and ask questions, connect ideas across different domains of science, and explore fundamental scientific concepts through both literature and hands-on experiments.

“This integration ensures that students not only learn scientific facts,” said Roseler, “but it also develops a deeper understanding of the scientific process and how it applies to the world around them.”

School of Education Welcomes Alumni

June 14, 2024

School of Education alumni and faculty gathered recently to share stories and trade laughs

The sun hung low in the sky, casting a golden hue over Brogan Hall’s patio deck.

It was a perfect summer evening, one that seemed tailor-made for the occasion: A reunion of School of Education and Behavioral Sciences graduates.

The event had been weeks in the planning, said Assistant Professor of Special Education and Elementary Education Dr. Denise Dugan, who organized the reunion.

Dugan said she wanted to give alumni the chance to talk story and rekindle old friendships. As guests trickled in, each was greeted with warm embraces.

“The main reason I wanted to do this was to get our former students who are current teachers in Hawaii together to network,” Dugan said. “There is so little support for our teachers, so I wanted them to be able to connect and find support systems still here with Chaminade.”

Class reunions play a big role in maintaining a vibrant alumni community, nurturing connections, and supporting the ongoing mission and goals of Chaminade.

Campus leaders say aside from networking and a sense of nostalgia, reunions strengthen the sense of community and belonging among alumni, as well as afford the opportunity to reconnect with former professors and mentors, fostering a continued relationship and sometimes even collaboration in academic or professional fields.

By creating positive experiences and reinforcing the value of the alumni community, reunions can motivate attendees to stay involved with the university through volunteer work, mentoring and other forms of engagement. Attendees also often use reunions as a time for personal reflection, to assess how far they’ve come since their college days and to set new personal and professional goals.

As the evening progressed, the alumni took turns sharing their experiences. They laughed over amusing classroom anecdotes, and offered advice for overcoming common challenges. The conversation flowed easily, a testament to the strong bond these Silverswords had formed during their Chaminade years.

School of Education and Behavioral Sciences Dean Dale Fryxell and Bro. Allen A. Pacquing, SM, flank alumna Dr. Brandy Sato BA '97, MEd '03.

Katrina Roseler, Ph.D., Director of Teacher Preparation Programs and Associate Professor, standing right, posed for a photo with her former students.

Katrina Roseler, Ph.D., Director of Teacher Preparation Programs and Associate Professor, right, wraps her arm around Sarah Sousa BA '17, MEd '19.

Dr. Denise Dugan sits down with alumnae to talk story.

Early Childhood Education

November 30, 2023

Flex program allowed Sienna Delano to work in a classroom and as a fairytale character

She has been Snow White. She has dressed up as Belle. And Sienna Delano ’23 has even donned on the wings of Tinkerbell. Her ultimate princess fairytale, though, came true in May when she slipped into her blue gown and sashayed across the stage to receive her Chaminade University bachelor’s degree at the Waikiki Shell. But, it has not always been an animated Disney fantasy world for the Kapolei resident.

“When I was in high school, I was dealing with health issues that impeded me from actually attending school,” says Delano, who received a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. “The underlying problem was gastritis, which caused me to pass out a lot, and I was throwing up everything I ate. I really hit rock bottom, but I used my mind to heal myself.”

And it worked with the help of her parents, Ken and Jacqueline, who are both psychologists. Delano ended up getting her high school degree online with Penn Foster. And when she finished her last class at 10 p.m., she recalled waking her parents up and screaming “I just finished.” She was only 16 years old, but this self-described “hustler” has always been somewhat of a wunderkind.

Chaminade University president, Dr. Lynn Babington, presented Sienna Delano with her bachelors degree.

“Even though I got better, I was already enrolled in Chaminade’s Flex program, and I decided to stay with it,” Delano says. “Plus, I didn’t have my driver’s license then, and even though I do have my license now, I still don’t really like to drive.”

Chaminade’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) bachelor’s degree is aligned with state requirements and National Association for the Education of Young Children standards. The ECE major is flexible, and is offered through online courses that allow students to fit instruction into a busy schedule.

“We did some surveys and early childhood educators indicated that their life situations don’t allow them to take in-person courses,” says Dr. Elizabeth Park, associate professor and director of the Early Childhood and Montessori programs. “So what we did was really spend the energy and time to design robust online courses, so that we could really meet the needs of our educators.”

Delano understands the importance of early childhood education, and how it lays the groundwork for a child’s lifelong learning journey, contributing to their intellectual, social and emotional development. The positive experiences and skills acquired during these formative years create a strong foundation for success in school and in life.

“I started the Flex program in 2020 and my goal was to become an early childhood educator in a couple of years,” Delano says. “I really liked Chaminade’s online modules, which allowed me to set my own pace.”

Delano decided she wanted to become a second or third grade teacher because she enjoys reading to kids, a skill that she cultivated and strengthened while working at Storybook Entertainment Hawaii, which primarily provides character entertainment for private parties.

“I’ve always loved reading,” Delano says. “When I was young, I would read with my dad in a green chair that was designated for reading. I’ve probably read six to seven books this year alone.”

Delano’s parents have always stressed to her and her three sisters the importance of the mind and how to best use it to their advantage. She believes in the importance of using one’s mind lies in its transformative impact on personal development, cognitive abilities, emotional well-being and the overall quality of life.

“Even though I didn’t have the in-person campus experience, I was still able to create a lot of memories online,” says Delano, who will finish her student-teaching requirement at Kapolei Elementary School in December. “We would have ‘Session Rooms’ and ‘Workspaces” where we could post our ideas and have peer interaction.

“Sr. Malia Wong even had us submit videos of ourselves so it felt like we knew each other,” Delano adds. “She made me cry … in a good way. She called me an inspiration and said to me ‘Maybe I’ll see you as a princess.’”

I Go 2 College

November 17, 2023

Fifth graders experience campus life for a day

Trying to explain Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ (“Praise be to you,” a quotation from St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures”) to 12-year-old kids in a university environment is no easy task. Yet, Bro. Ed Brink, S.M. comfortably stood in front of a group of Sacred Hearts Academy, and St. Theresa and St. Elizabeth students and started his discussion with a simple question: have you ever received a birthday card in the mail?

Raising her hand, Charlie Yim screamed out “from my auntie.” Sitting next to Yim, fellow Lancer, Camryn Abe, echoed the same response. In fact, every student had received a card, either from an auntie or a grandparent. Some even said they had received letters, which was the perfect segue for Brink to ask his second question: Why do we send cards and letters?

Surely enough, students answered with “to let us know they care for us and they love us.” It was a response that could not have been any better scripted than if Brink had pre-written the answer himself. After all, the Pope’s 184-page encyclical letter—Laudato Si’— focuses on care for the natural environment and all people, as well as broader questions of the relationship among God, humans and the Earth. The encyclical’s subtitle, “Care for Our Common Home,” reinforces these key themes.

Bro. Ed Brink teaches fifth graders about Laudato Si.

“Pope Francis’ encyclicals are letters to the people,” said Brink, Vice President of Mission and Rector. “They are letters to show his care and love for the people. Earth is God’s gift to us, and it belongs to everyone, but it needs our protection and immediate attention.”

After shuffling slides of a PowerPoint presentation, Brink handed out sheets of a word search puzzle that contained vocabulary that directly pertained to the environment and sustainability. Working together in groups of seven, students eagerly searched for words in the puzzle, circling “recycle” along a diagonal path and “earth” along a vertical column.

The exercise wasn’t lost on the students who were part of a cohort of 166 fifth graders who visited campus to experience college life. Now in its second year, “I Go 2 College” is a partnership between Chaminade University and Hawaii Catholic Schools.

“The I Go 2 College event exceeded my expectations,” said Llewellyn Young, Ph.D., superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools. “Our preliminary surveys showed that all stakeholders including teachers, parents and students were very satisfied with the experience.

“Anecdotally, several parents called my office when we did our first event last spring to tell me that they thought the program was brilliant and inspiring,” Young continued. “Parents spoke with such enthusiasm. One parent told me that her son talked about it for a few weeks. He never mentioned college before the experience, but now he can’t wait to go.”

St. Theresa students, Heaven Lee and Katelin Nitta, and Sacred Hearts’s Lauren Schofield and Kiara Cruz all plan to attend university, and Chaminade may be their choice. The four fifth graders said this college experience was “fun—even with all the up-and-down hikes.”

Attending for a second year, St. Theresa fifth-grade teacher Alyssa Yabes said last year’s students “really enjoyed it a lot.” “They kept talking that they loved going to college,” she said. “All the hiking, they told me, was worth it.”

Started approximately 16 years ago, the “I Go To College” program aims to introduce 9-12-year-old students to higher education, even before they step onto a middle school campus. “The purpose of this program is to expose the students to college life at an early age and to provide them with a day that is fun and eye-opening,” said Kim Baxter, Director of Early College programs at Chaminade. “Additionally, one benefit to offering visit opportunities for younger students is that when they return as juniors or seniors, the students will be better prepared to participate in traditional campus visit programs.”

Online Education

October 16, 2023

Angie Cabreira enrolls in Flex to become an ECE teacher

As a 17-year-old senior in high school, Angela “Angie” Cabreira ’16 started to panic whenever she was asked about her college plans. Admittedly, she didn’t have any. So rather than attend university, she decided instead to move from Idaho to Molokai to be with her sister, the late Julie Marie Pierson Place.

“Two years later, in 1988, I relocated to Hilo on the Big Island where I have lived ever since,” said Cabreira during a phone interview. “All I wanted at that time was to get married, have 12 kids, bake, garden and take care of all the neighbors’ kids.”

Dreams of obtaining a bachelor’s degree quickly faded, and Cabreira became more impassioned about motherhood, eventually having three of her own kids and raising a hānai daughter, now between ages 22 and 38. She deliberately chose to be a stay-at-home mom “for a long time,” raising her keiki and establishing a childcare service for local families.

“I love being around kids,” Cabreira said. “So I got a job at Waiakea Elementary School, where I worked for 13 years, mostly as a student activity coordinator and for a few years I was with the Parent-Community Networking Center.”

Cabreira, though, wanted more. She began taking early childhood education (ECE) classes at Hawaii Community College while serving as a teaching assistant with Keiki Steps. She then started a new full-time position with Tūtū and Me, and continued to take ECE classes at Hawaii Community College while now also taking online courses at Chaminade University to obtain her Associate in Science (AS) degree in ECE.

“When I began working full time for Kamehameha Preschools in 2015, I transferred to Chaminade’s online program so that I would have the ability to work full time and still go to school,” Cabreira recalled. “This was not an option at Hawaii Community College since they didn’t offer evening classes nor online classes for the degree I was seeking. Chaminade was ideal because I didn’t have to be in a classroom at a certain time and that was what I needed.”

Angie and Albert Cabreira pose for a selfie.

A hānai daughter, Laura Tanaka is the eldest of Angie Cabreira’s kids.

Dustin Toma is 32 years old.

Nichelle is the youngest Cabreira daughter.

Nichelle Toma is Angie Cabreira’s youngest birth daughter.

Trevor is the youngest Toma son.

When Cabreira entered college in 2011, online courses and degrees were just beginning to gain popularity and become viable options for working adults. Today, advancements in technology, course design and high-speed internet availability are moving online learning forward.

Chaminade’s Flex Online Undergraduate program is WSCUC-accredited (WASC Senior College and University Commission) and has a broad range of study disciplines, including business administration, criminology and criminal justice, historical and political studies, education and psychology. It is designed with working adults in mind, distancing itself from rigid term schedules and due dates to give students the flexibility they need to achieve a work-life-school balance and make progress toward reaching their goals.

“I love the Flex program because there are no deadlines,” Cabreira said. “It’s the reason I decided to pursue my bachelor’s degree at Chaminade.”

In fall 2022, Cabreira enrolled in the University’s early Early Childhood Education bachelor’s program, which is aligned with state requirements and National Association for the Education of Young Children standards, and was ranked by Best Colleges as #8 Best Online Early Childhood Education Programs of 2023.

“I want to be a positive voice for kids and parents,” Cabreira said. “I thought I was satisfied supporting teachers and families. But if I could be a lead kumu, I could make more of an impact.”

As she started the program, her sister, Julie, was diagnosed with a blockage in an artery that supplied blood and oxygen to her intestines. Treatment included 11 surgeries, but it was too late. Her intestines had shut down.

“When she passed, I was sad, depressed and unmotivated to do my homework,” Cabreira said. “During this time, Bro. Allen Pacquing encouraged me to keep going, and gave me time to grieve. All my other professors didn’t give up on me, either, and I knew that my sister would not have wanted me to quit.”

This past September, Cabreira took a single course. In October, she enrolled in four courses. And in February 2024, she will take another four classes. By July, she hopes to be doing her practicum. However, because of her age, she can’t simply skim readings like her younger peers, and she has to watch every assigned video.

“It takes me longer,” admitted Cabreira, 57. “I want to pass with all As, but my daughter—who earned a BA in Psychology from UC Irvine—reminds me that Bs also get degrees.”

Cabreira may not have been able to birth 12 kids, but now she has 20—in her classroom.

“I can’t be a lead kumu without my bachelors degree, and that’s the goal,” Cabreira said. “The plan is to graduate in January 2025. Yes, it will take a very long time, but I’m determined.”