College of Education’s Manoa Partnerships launches future in teaching program

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Margit Watts, (808) 956-4040
College of Education
Posted: Mar 28, 2008

HONOLULU - The College of Education‘s Mānoa Partnerships at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has initiated a new program for students interested in teaching as a possible career. Mānoa Partnerships provides opportunities for students to collaborate with each other, faculty, K-12 students, and the wider community to connect learning to life.

Through the Get FIT: A Future In Teaching program, students will have access to faculty advisors, two special courses over two semesters, activities designed to introduce students to the field of teaching, service learning experiences with K-12 students, a private lounge on campus where they can meet and learn more, guidance from COE advisors, and many more opportunities to explore the profession of teaching.

There are residential and non-residential options for participation in the Get FIT program, and each is open to students who maintain at least a 2.75 grade point average. The residential Get FIT program offers students the opportunity to live together on the same floor of the newly designed Frear Hall. Their resident advisor will be a College of Education major who will be participating in the same experiences mentioned above. The non-residential Get FIT program offers activities, special courses, and guidance for those not choosing to participate in the residential experience at Frear Hall.

"Learning communities have always been helpful to students by offering them peer support, the ability to share perspectives, and comraderie while pursuing their academic studies," said the Director of Mānoa Partnerships Margit Watts.

The College of Education is committed to preparing more teachers for Hawaiʻi schools and is working diligently on a number of programs to encourage entry into the profession. The Get FIT program is one of those initiatives. In order to create a more seamless approach to considering teaching as a profession, Mānoa Partnerships also will pilot a program with high school students next year.

For more information on this new program, contact Dr. Margit Watts at 956-4040 or at watts@hawaii.edu.