Sean Witwer
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About me
About me
I became a special education teacher at Farrington High School nearly 22 years ago out of a sincere desire to make a difference in the lives of teenagers. After 17 years of teaching, I was overwhelmed with feelings of frustration and burnout because of an inability to adequately meet the needs of my students and the lack of student achievement in class. I reinvented my teaching practices out of sheer necessity. I’m now passionate, determined, and excited to raise student achievement and bring innovative practices into my blended-learning math class. I’m proud of my students for showcasing their math talents and creating ‘Govs Math Lab’ — our YouTube channel, and for embodying our school’s values of Trust, Empowerment, and Collaboration. I’m very grateful to the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation and the Department of Education for providing grant money and supporting my dream of creating a multimedia rich classroom. I’m also very humbled to have had the opportunity to share our story with Hawaii News Now, the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation, Midweek, the DOE newsletter, and at the Model Schools Conference in Washington, DC. As HSTA's 2021 Pono Award recipient, I’m committed to transforming education and bringing systemic change to our schools.
I became a special education teacher at Farrington High School nearly 22 years ago out of a sincere desire to make a difference in the lives of teenagers. After 17 years of teaching, I was overwhelmed with feelings of frustration and burnout because of an inability to adequately meet the needs of my students and the lack of student achievement in class. I reinvented my teaching practices out of sheer necessity. I’m now passionate, determined, and excited to raise student achievement and bring innovative practices into my blended-learning math class. I’m proud of my students for showcasing their math talents and creating ‘Govs Math Lab’ — our YouTube channel, and for embodying our school’s values of Trust, Empowerment, and Collaboration. I’m very grateful to the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation and the Department of Education for providing grant money and supporting my dream of creating a multimedia rich classroom. I’m also very humbled to have had the opportunity to share our story with Hawaii News Now, the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation, Midweek, the DOE newsletter, and at the Model Schools Conference in Washington, DC. As HSTA's 2021 Pono Award recipient, I’m committed to transforming education and bringing systemic change to our schools.
"Every person has infinite value and deserves to live a life that reflects that value."
"Every person has infinite value and deserves to live a life that reflects that value."
~Sean Witwer
MY PASSION PROJECTS
MY PASSION PROJECTS
Govs math lab
Govs math lab
Our Govs Math Lab channel was started to showcase the skills and talents of my students at Farrington High School, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
We were awarded a Good Idea Grant from the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation that provided the funds we needed to purchase digital media equipment that allowed us to produce these YouTube videos.
the speducator fellowship
the speducator fellowship
The SPEDucator Project is made up of 20 Hawaii DOE special education teachers selected for their passion, ingenuity, and excellence in the field of special education. This inaugural project is a collaboration between the Hawaii Department of Education and UH Mānoa's College of Education, Department of Special Education.
These "SPEDucators" advocate for equity to better serve special education students, parents, and community. The focus is to change the narrative and improve educational outcomes and livelihoods for individuals with disabilities.
house bill 1291
house bill 1291
This past year, I worked with my student, Nicole Dolor-Bala and Representative Takashi Ohno to successfully introduce and pass House Bill 1291. HB1291 changed the definition of academic excellence within our Hawaii Revised Statutes to include students with disabilities. It allows applicants to the University of Hawaii who earned a high school diploma from a public high school in the State with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and also provides evidence that they qualified for and received special education services for two or more years during enrollment in grades seven through twelve to be eligible for the Hawaii state scholars program. This was truly a historic win for students in special education in Hawaii and hopefully it can become a legislative model that other states can follow to create similar legislation throughout the U.S.
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