Leeward Community College broke ground Wednesday, April 18, for what will be the first new permanent building on the Pearl City campus since 1977.
The Education Building, designed by Urban Works, will be located on the east side of campus on the lower level adjacent to the theatre.The 24,105-square-foot building will be home to the college’s Associate of Arts in Teaching program, which aims to prepare student-centered, culturally-sensitive and community-focused educators.
Featuring classrooms, offices, a community events space and collaborative workspace for students, the building is also designed to reduce energy consumption with the goal of attaining LEED Silver certification.
Associate of Arts in Teaching program
Leeward’s Associate of Arts in Teaching degree program is designed to provide a career ladder for teaching. The program prepares students to be effective educators and provides a solid foundation for those interested in pursuing a baccalaureate degree in education. Led by a passionate team of faculty, the program’s vision honors the teaching profession and aspires to inspire future generations of learners.
Provisionally approved by the UH Board of Regents in 2005, the program had 24 majors in fall 2006. Since then, enrollment in the teacher education program has grown by more than 1700 percent with 425 declared majors in 2011. The program is particularly attractive to traditionally underrepresented student populations with more than 30 percent of teacher education students being Native Hawaiian and nearly 22 percent of Filipino ancestry.
The teacher education program addresses the critical teacher shortage in the state and especially in the Leeward Community College service region, and the new facility will help support this initiative.
