McREL Board of Directors, REL Pacific Governing Board convene

Honolulu —For the first time since being awarded the Regional Education Laboratory contract for the Pacific Region (REL Pacific) in January, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) brought together its corporate board of directors, the new REL Pacific Governing Board, and members of McREL’s executive committee in Honolulu September 20‒21.

The meeting is an opportunity for the two boards to discuss the challenges and needs of educators in the Pacific Region, goals for the REL, and areas of opportunity. McREL intends to convene the two boards on an annual basis.

In an effort to continue building and strengthening relationships with educators and education stakeholders in the region, board members are also meeting this week with a variety of organizations including the Hawai'i Department of Education; the offices of Governor Neil Abercrombie, Senator Daniel Inouye, and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono; the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Kamehameha Schools; the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture; the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs; The Harold Castle Foundation; and The Learning Coalition.

McREL’s 10-member board is comprised of stateside educators, business people, and policymakers who are responsible for guiding the work of the organization and ensuring its responsiveness to the needs of educators and the students they serve. The REL Governing Board guides the work of the REL Pacific and includes 16 educators and policy experts from the entities it serves in the region: Hawai‘i, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.