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This article, written by Diane Ako, originally appeared on KITV 4 Island News.
HawaiiKidsCAN: The Hawaii Campaign for Achievement Now introduced itself to the community on Monday with a half-day Educational Equity Symposium. Over 70 attendees including teachers, school leaders, DOE members and more participated in interactive learning and partnership-building opportunities around topics such as special education, English language-learners, Native Hawaiian education, and teacher professional development.
Featured speakers included new Hawaii Department of Education Superintendent Christina M. Kishimoto, Ph.D. and Senator Mee Moua, Asian American and Pacific Islander civil rights advocate, Racial Healing and Transformation Consultant with the WK Kellogg Foundation and the first Hmong-American elected to the Minnesota State Senate.
Launched in 2017, HawaiiKidsCAN: The Hawaii Campaign for Achievement Now is a local nonprofit organization that empowers community-driven grassroots voices and collaborates with policy makers to advocate for an equitable, high-quality education for every child in Hawaii. HawaiiKidsCAN is a branch of 50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now.