Aloha!
As 2024 comes to close and we prepare to begin a new year, I would like to thank the HEA board, staff, and all our members for their support this past year. It’s hard to believe another year has gone by already.
Your support has allowed HEA to continue its mission of promoting teaching as a profession. We have been able to provide scholarships to high school graduates who are majoring in education and support college graduates who are ready to begin their teaching career. We have also been able to provide financial support to educators who want to learn more about a subject so that they can share their knowledge with their students and other educators. They are model examples of life-long learning.
Everything Counts
These efforts are helping to make a difference for Hawaii students. There are more than 200,000 students statewide in private, public, and charter schools across our islands. While these numbers are impressive, there is still a chronic shortage of teachers.
The Hawaii Department of Education is working to improve recruitment processes to address the shortage of educators and has been able to reduce the number of vacancies. However, retaining teachers is a continual challenge. The DOE reports that about half of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years on the job.
Annual Educator Summit
The HEA will kick off the new year by tackling this challenging topic at the HEA Annual Educator Summit on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. It will be held in Elizabeth Fuller Hall at the YWCA at 1040 Richards Street in downtown Honolulu.
We will have two groups of panelists for the summit to discuss current and future strategies to engage high school students who are interested in teaching and how we can support these aspiring teachers. Be sure to register early!
We hope it will be a robust community discussion as we will be inviting educators, policymakers, students and others to hear firsthand both the challenges and solutions to this issue. Be sure to mark your calendar!
Have a safe holiday season, and thank you in advance for your continuing to support our mission and provide ongoing support to make a difference in 2025 for Hawaii’s educators and students!
Mahalo,
Joan Kamila Lewis
Board President
