Continuation of ITEP Program in 1998:
After returning to Hawaii, Bill Phillips and Elder Walton compiled a list of recommended future activities and goals for the ITEP program. These activities and goals came out of comments and recommendations made in the Fiji conference. Such a list will be modified as the needs of the ITEP program changed and the policies and goals of CES were modified. (See appendix # 12 for the International Teacher Education Program Recommended Future Activities and Goals)
To assist in the delivery of classes that would help in the development of skills in the CES teachers, the School of Education at BYU-Hawaii developed a group of seminars to be taught by the BYU-Hawaii faculty in the targeted countries. Each faculty member presented a proposed seminar and the TDCs and Country Directors were asked to choose the ones they felt would be most useful to their in-service program. Throughout the summer term and into the fall semester of 1998, faculty members taught seminars in the four countries. (See appendix # 13 for an outline of the proposed seminars and a list of those that were taught). Feedback on the seminars from the countries was very positive. In every country there was a desire to have additional seminars in the future.
On May 4, 1998, Elder Hanks was replaced by Elder Karl Farnsworth as the CES Missionary Coordinator for the Pacific in Salt Lake City. Shortly thereafter word was received from Kiribati that Sister May had a tumor that could prove to be malignant. Because of this problem Elder and Sister May left Kiribati for the U.S. early May for evaluation and treatment of Sister May's problem. On May 29 a memo was received from Elder Karl Farnsworth that Sister May had undergone extensive surgery and the tumor was found to be malignant and was removed. The prognosis from her doctor was very positive and indicated that she would not need chemotherapy. Elder and Sister May had a great desire to return to Kiribati and finish their mission. Because of the complexity of the operation the Church Missionary Committee felt it was best that they not return to Kiribati. On June 30 Elder and Sister May were officially released from their mission in Kiribati and were reassigned to serve a mission as CES missionaries in Washington D.C. They will be missed very much since they were performing a great service and were loved by the people in Kiribati.
On June 18, 1998, John Jeffrey sent a memo indicating that Dan Andersen had been released as CES consultant for the Pacific on June 1, 1998. Brother Andersen had played a major part in the development of the ITEP program. He will be deeply missed. He was called to the assignment on July 11, 1994 and prior to that, he and his wife served in Samoa where Brother Andersen was the CES Country Director. Brother and Sister Andersen's influence in the Pacific will be felt for many years to come.
From July 25 to August 10 Elder and Sister Walton traveled to Kiribati where they taught SpEd 200, Education of Exceptional Students, to 17 teachers from Moroni High School. Elder Walton had recommended to Brother Tune, the Country Director, that it might be a good public relations effort to invite some public school teachers to take the course also. Brother Tune contacted the Director of Education for Kiribati and indicated to him that we would have room for two or three public school teachers in the class. Later the Director of Education asked if we could handle five teachers. These five teachers from the public schools in Kiribati also took the class. The Waltons also assisted in the supervision of three student teachers from BYU-Provo. It was found that the student teachers were doing an outstanding job and were a great asset to Moroni High School. After returning back to Hawaii Elder Walton received word that one of the non-member public school teachers, Mrs. Tiete Neemia, had been baptized a week after the Waltons left Kiribati. This was very joyful news. While the Waltons were in Kiribati much love was expressed for the Mays and sadness in their not being able to return to Kiribati.
In August 1998, it was learned that Sister Rodgers in Fiji had a tumor that required medical treatment in Utah. Elder and Sister Rodgers left Fiji on September 1, 1998, not knowing if they would be able to return. Shortly after arrival in Utah, Sister Rodgers had surgery and it was found that the tumor was benign. The Rodgers requested that they be allowed to return to Fiji and complete their mission. Elder and Sister Van Orden developed health problems that required their return to the U.S on September 21, 1998. It was decided that they would not return to complete their mission because of the health problems and were reassigned to Bloomington, Ill. It is discouraging to see so many of our TDC missionaries going home with serious health problems.
In October another CES meeting was held at BYU-Hawaii. October 21 and 22 were set aside to cover 11EP items. The major goal of the ITEP meeting was to finalize and come to a unified agreement on the Memorandum of Agreement and Understanding(MAU) document with all of the appendices. All parts of the document were approved except the appendix on a Leadership Seminar. This segment of the MAU was then deleted. All remaining segments of the MAU were approved with minor modifications. A list of future activities and goals was developed, (See appendix #14 for the agenda of the meeting and a list of the future activities and goals).
Another important event, as was indicated earlier, was the release of Elder Dan Andersen from his mission as CES Consultant in the Pacific. Elder Andersen was at the October meeting and was honored for his involvement in the ITEP program. There is not enough honor that can be given adequately recognize his countless hours of work and devotion to the ITEP program.
On November 16, 1998, a memo was received from John Jeffrey indicating that he had received an e-mail from Steve Iba dated November 7, 1998, officially confirming the approval of the Memorandum of Agreement and Understanding document by Stan Peterson, with the exception of the Leadership Seminar portion. John Jeffrey indicated that CES would take care of the development of appropriate salary levels to match the track levels in the ITEP document. This has to be considered a milestone in the ITEP program. Officially CES, BYU-Hawaii, and BYU-Provo are in harmony and agreement on the policies and procedures that will shape the ITEP program in the coming years. With the reaching of this milestone, those involved can now look toward the future and make plans that will assist the CES teachers in the Pacific to better prepare to be , skillful teachers with appropriate English skills. (See appendix #15 for full copy of the January 1999 updated Memorandum and Agreement of Understanding between CES, BYU-Hawaii, and BYU-Provo, and approved by Steve Iba and Stan Peterson).
On December 5, 1998, Elder and Sister Floyd and Gerry Sucher were released from their mission in Samoa and returned to the U.S. They accomplished a great deal in their labors there and will be missed. Elder Sucher's background and knowledge was very helpful in assisting in the development of the policies and procedures for implementing the ITEP program, not only in Samoa, but in the rest of the Pacific.
At the conclusion of 1998, a survey of the courses taught in each country during 1997/98, was taken. There were five courses taught in Fiji, three courses taught in Kiribati, sixteen courses taught in Samoa, and fourteen courses taught in Tonga. It can be seen that there is an imbalance between the countries with a greater need for courses in Fiji and especially Kiribati. (See appendix # 16 for a list off all courses taught and the number of teachers taking the courses for each country).
