HONOLULU – The Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) has received a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Partnership that will allow the Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area to provide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities to kindergarten through eighth grade students at eight military-impacted schools over the next five years. These schools will use Project Lead The Way (PLTW), the nation’s leading comprehensive research-based STEM curriculum, to enhance STEM academic achievement, as well as to equip the students with the skills necessary to pursue STEM-related careers.
“The grant will allow students new opportunities to explore STEM subjects and develop these skills critical to the workforce of today and the future,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “We want to thank our partners at DoDEA for this generous grant that will help to enhance our STEM curriculum at eight West Oahu schools.”
The grant includes seven elementary schools: Barbers Point, Ewa Beach, Holomua, Iroquois Point, Kapolei, Keoneula and Mauka Lani; along with Ilima Intermediate School. Each of these eight schools has significant populations of military-dependent students whose parents serve in the various branches of military service.
“The goal of this partnership program is to improve academic achievement of non-high-needs and high-needs military-dependent students in kindergarten through eighth grades,” said Heidi Armstrong, Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area Superintendent. “We are honored to be a first time DoDEA grant recipient and we look forward to boosting STEM learning opportunities at these schools to get students college and career ready.”
PLTW also has a built-in STEM Professional Development component that offers teachers tools for robust and flexible instructional support leading to increased academic achievement, as well as an ongoing professional community.
“I am very excited to be able to move STEM education for our students forward via the PLTW curriculum and we will also be integrating research-based strategies, such as Response to Intervention, K-8 Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), and extra-curricular activities during each year of the five-year grant,” said Project Director Hope Espinda.
The five-year grant will end in 2020.
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About the Hawaii State Department of Education
The Hawaii State Department of Education is the ninth-largest U.S. school district and the only statewide educational system in the country. It is comprised of 256 schools and 34 charter schools, and serves more than 180,000 students. King Kamehameha III established Hawaii’s public school system in 1840.
