Students can learn new
marketable skill

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Some public high school teachers spent the past two weeks reconfiguring routers, running and pulling computer cables and mounting wall jacks.

But it will be their students who will benefit.

The 18 teachers from 11 high schools completed a semester's worth of computer network training at Honolulu Community College, the regional Cisco Systems networking academy for Hawaii.

They'll be teaching networking classes to their students this fall, which can lead to certification and jobs right out of high school.

Training for teachers will resume during the Christmas break and next summer until they complete the four-semester course.

Cisco Systems, a major supplier of networking switches and routers, provides faculty training and curriculum at no cost -- and offers equipment packages -- to make computer network training available to community colleges, which serve as regional academies.

High schools that will become local academies include Kaimuki, Kaiser, McKinley, Roosevelt, Moanalua, Mililani, Waipahu, Kealakehe, Konawaena, Honokaa and Pahoa high schools.

The schools will be designated Cisco Networking Academies and be committed to purchasing a $14,000 equipment package and providing computers to create labs, where students learn the ins and outs of designing, building and maintaining the school's network.

Students who finish the four-semester program at their schools can take a national test and become a Cisco Certified Networking Associate recognized by the industry.

Or they can enroll in the Computing Electronics and Networking Technology associates program at HCC and continue on to undergraduate or graduate work.

There is a nationwide shortage for qualified technicians, whose salaries can start at $40,000 a year.

"There's a big demand for people with basic skills and knowledge in installing and running networks," said Dallas Shiroma, one of two HCC instructors trained by Cisco.

"The biggest thing coming out of this is you have a marketable skill coming out of high school -- that hasn't happened much in the past."

The Information Technology Association of America estimates anywhere from 190,000 to 350,000 jobs in information technology available in the United States.

"This is just another door for us," said electronics teacher Milton Lau, one of two McKinley faculty members who went through the training. "The vocational area is dying. We've got to look for other trades to survive."

The Department of Education offered similar training for teachers statewide this summer and is hoping to begin a pilot project in the spring that will be systemwide, and not just at selected schools, said Diana Kaapana-Oshiro, interim superintendent for telecommunication services.

"We're trying to make sure it's comprehensive and built into the technical standards we try to promote," she said.

Public schools usually have a technology coordinator to oversee installation and maintenance of its computers, but he or she usually has no time to teach classes.

The training has allowed teachers an opportunity to network with other teachers and share resources, said McKinley teacher Jeroldine Chun.

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Hawaii schools to start
teaching ethical values

Seven Hawaii public schools this fall will be infusing more citizenship, justice, fairness, respect, honesty, responsibility and other ethical values into their curricula.

The state Department of Education next month will begin a three-year pilot project in each of the school districts to teach character education and develop models that Hawaii schools can learn from.

While Hawaii's public schools already have some aspect of character education in their curricula, most are piecemeal and are not taught consistently throughout grade levels.

A Board of Education policy passed in September requires schools to incorporate character education into every grade level.

A $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will be used to hire a project manager and secretary, purchase curriculum materials and provide training and support for teachers.

Each pilot site will choose from national, state or local models to implement at their school and evaluate their progress over the three years.

School task forces will be established at each site to guide the implementation of the models.

At the end of the three years, the department hopes to produce and distribute a resource handbook to all schools outlining how they can incorporate the seven models into their curricula and show how to involve parents and community in delivering character education beyond the classroom.

A Website and clearinghouse for character education also will be developed and made accessible even after the pilot ends.