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TheBuzz

BY ERIKA ENGLE

Teachers giving,
getting education

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A trio of Oahu teachers is acquiring on-the-job training in the publishing business by releasing the inaugural issue of Building Bridges magazine.

Oahu's newest publishers, editors and writers include Cheryl Kojima, a teacher at Salt Lake Elementary; Joanne Tabor, a teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in Wahiawa; and Marsha Wittig, a teacher at Our Savior Lutheran School in Aiea.

Building Bridges is a free quarterly publication with issues delivered to schools and hospitals, Tabor said, but it is also available online at www.buildingbridgesmagazine.org.

The trio's mission is to "strengthen the bridge between home and school specifically for parents and teachers of children kindergarten through sixth grade," according to an introductory letter in the magazine. It states that development of basic skills covered in the magazine "begin at home, transfer to the school environment and form the foundation for life success."

Headlined, "Organize, organize," the thrust of the maiden effort is to assist in the process of preparing for and moving into the school year.

Features include, "Teaching the Art of Listening," "Fostering the Love of Learning Activities" and "Yummy Math and Science." The latter turns out to be practice in measurement and following instructions disguised as a recipe for peanut butter cookies.

As they have worked to share knowledge, they are also gaining knowledge.

"We're working toward being a business," said co-founder Joanne Tabor, but the effort is to keep advertising at a minimum.

"We're conflicted," she said. "We want to offer the service, getting the information out there more than generating income."

Advertising in the inaugural issue covered about half of the production costs, Tabor said, "So we've doubled the price of the ad space for the next one. We're just hoping to meet publication costs."

Toward that end, the teachers are working to round up grants.

The Web site offers e-mail addresses to contact editors, for story submissions or advertising inquiries and lists its regular mail address as P.O. Box 2533, Ewa Beach, HI 96706.

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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com