Early History:
From 1991 to 1996 there was some effort to resolve the existing problems with respect to in-service training of teachers in the CES schools in the Pacific. The moving force behind the early development of the ITEP program was Jack Johnson, then Associate Vice President of BYU-Hawaii, and Dan Andersen, CES Consultant for the Pacific. The first effort was initiated in the summers of 1991 and 1992 with task force visits to the islands. Included in these visits were Jack Johnson, Randy Day, Rex Frandsen, Riley Moffet, Robert Goodwin and James Kahalewai. Math courses were then taught in 1992 and, 1995 and TESOL courses, in the summer of 1994. Meetings between CES and BYU-Hawaii representatives were held semi-annually starting in the winter of 1994 and have continued to the present. (See appendix # I, part A, for note from Jack Johnson on the early activities). A Memorandum of Understanding document was first developed in 1995 and updated in June, 1996, with the following individuals involved: Jack Johnson, Theresa Bigbie (Director of Continuing Education at BYU-Hawaii), John Jeffrey (Pacific area Director of CES), and A. Bryan Weston (CES Zone Administrator). It was proposed that a B.A. Degree be offered through BYU-Hawaii in Education. The problem with the program was that the School of Education at BYU-Hawaii was not involved in the early planning and no process to approve a baccalaureate degree for teachers in the Pacific had been carried out. (See appendix # I, part B, for a copy of June 1996 Memorandum of Understanding).
Dan Andersen was called in June, 1994, to act as a CES Consultant for the Pacific and to assist in the calling and training of educational missionaries in the Pacific. Russ Osguthorpe was later called as the BYU-Provo Director of ITEP and Bill Phillips was called as the BYU-Hawaii Director of ITEP. David Williams from BYU-Provo was asked to be a consultant to assist in developing the evaluation procedures for the ITEP program. It was decided to call missionary couples to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Kiribati to coordinate the in-service training programs and to teach educational classes. This would require retired educators with competencies to teach education courses. Gary Kemp was already serving with his wife in Fiji. He was a retired educator and was assigned to begin the program of in-service training in Fiji. Blaine Moore and his wife, who had worked in Tonga as student teacher supervisors, were called in April 1997 to serve there for a six month mission to assist in setting up the ITEP program in Tonga. Floyd Sucher and his wife were called in January 1997 to serve a two year mission in Samoa to set up the ITEP program there. These missionaries were designated as the Teacher Development Coordinators (TDC) for each country. The TDC missionary couples assigned to each of the target countries also serve as adjunct faculty for the School of Education at BYU-Hawaii. They are specifically called to these positions because of their professional credentials and experience in higher education. They provide university authorized course work and clinical supervision to cohorts of teachers in the CES schools and student teachers from BYU-Provo. The course work and related experiences are coordinated through the CES Country Directors and the International Teacher Education Program Director at BYU-Hawaii.
Wilbur T. Walton and his wife, Wilma, were called to serve in Kiribati in setting up the ITEP program. However, due to Elder Walton's heart operation in 1994, the missionary committee denied their call. Dan Andersen then contacted Roy Winstead, Dean of the School of Education at BYU-Hawaii, and they agreed that there was a need for a missionary couple to be assigned to the School of Education to assist in the coordination of the ITEP program from there. The Waltons were then called and approved by the Church Missionary Committee to serve as Coordinator of the ITEP program at BYU-Hawaii. Bill Phillips, a faculty member at BYU-Hawaii, had been called as the BYU-Hawaii director of the ITEP program. The Waltons were called mainly to assist him in the program. Elder and Sister Walton arrived in Hawaii the 7th of March 1997.
Upon the Waltons arrival in Hawaii, Bill Phillips and Elder Walton evaluated what had occurred in relation to the ITEP program and found that there had been many breakdowns in communication. One of the major breakdowns in communication was that the TDCs on each island had been misinformed that there was a baccalaureate degree in place at BYU-Hawaii for the CES teachers on each island. The TDCs informed the teachers of the possibility of working toward a degree at BYU-Hawaii. Bill Phillips and Elder Walton found that such a program did not exist and thus informed the TDCs. The TDCs were justifiably upset since the teachers they were working with now had to be told that no such program existed. Elder Walton then wrote a memo to Russ Osguthorpe, Bill Phillips, Roy Winstead and others outline what he saw as existing problems in the ITEP program that would need to be addressed. (See also appendix # 1 part C for a copy of the memo to Russ Osguthorpe, dated April 15, 1997, along with Jack Johnson's comments on early history of the ITEP program and a copy of the 1996 Memorandum of Agreement).
The Dean of the School of Education at BYU-Hawaii with the support of the faculty committed a significant part of their budget to the ITEP program. It was felt that another year could not pass without efforts being made to resolve some of the existing problems. Money was diverted from other programs in the School of Education to the ITEP program in the way of materials, communication costs, travel expenses, etc. Space was made available in the School of Education for Elder and Sister Walton so they would be able to carry out their assigned duties and a half time secretary, Colleen Jensen, was hired to assist in the ITEP program.
