Benegas Delivers Teacher Professional Development in Hawaiʻi

Professor Michelle Benegas recently led a two-day LILA (Language of Identity, Language of Access) workshop for Hawaiʻi Department of Education educators at Leeward District. The session covered historical multilingual education trends, academic language foundations, linguistically sustaining instruction, and practical tools like PATs (Practical Applications of Theory) for building students’ linguistic capital while valuing their home languages.​ A highlight was Dr. Benegas’ integration of the Hawaiian framework of Hā—the fourth breath of the Hā framework, representing relationship and connection—to ground discussions of place, space, and belonging in multilingual classrooms.​ This is her sixth year of collaboration with the Hawai’i Department of Education. Her work advances Hamline University’s mission of educational equity and supports schools serving diverse linguistic communities.