Sponsored by Hawaii State FCU
It’s common to hear that Hawaii’s public school teachers are spending their own money on classroom supplies. Hawaii State Federal Credit Union recognizes these efforts and wants to help teachers through its Education Grant program. Last year, the credit union increased funding to meet demand and will be awarding about 80 Department of Education teachers a total of $40,000.
Over the past decade, Hawaii State FCU’s Investing in Education program has grown to support the needs of educators on nearly every island in Hawaii. The credit union has funded the classroom needs of more than 500 grant recipients, with almost $250,000 awarded to support Hawaii’s teachers. Last year, Hawaii State FCU doubled its investment and awarded even more public school teachers with grants. It even surprised a few recipients, including Miki Cacace at Ewa Makai Middle School, by doubling their award money while hand delivering the check.
“My computer science students love to code and spend a lot of time on the computer, but there’s not a lot of additional funding allocated specifically for my computer science class,” Cacace says. The grant helped her fulfill the goal of providing students with opportunities to become inventors, build upon their 21st century skills, and gain interest in computer science careers.
Cacace used the grant money to bring the Little Bits Code Kit and Droid Inventor Kit to the classroom. “These kits provided my students the opportunity to integrate STEM and coding and expose them to the engineering process,” she says. “As students explore and engage in hands-on, collaborative projects, they will discover ways to connect their learning to real-world experiences and computer science careers.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The code kit included over 100 coding activities and materials to invent four engaging games while the Code Kit app provided tutorials, sample lessons aligned to computer science standards and video resources. In addition, each of the Droid Inventor Kits is an add-on feature, which allows students to create their own Droid and bring it to life. Students were able to control their droid, give it new abilities with block-based coding and take it on over 20 different missions.
“I love that my credit union gives so much back to our community,” Cacace says. “I have witnessed their generosity not only in my classroom, but in my colleague’s classrooms as well. I’m very appreciative that Hawaii State FCU values education and invests in our classrooms to better help students learn.”
Teachers interested in applying for Hawaii State FCU’s Investing in Education Grant program can submit their application online, and the deadline to submit is October 31. Submissions will be reviewed and awarded as they are received. For more information on eligibility, teachers can go to hawaiistatefcu.com.
For more information: HawaiiStateFCU.com, facebook.com/hawaiistatefcu, youtube.com/user/hawaiistatefcu