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Michelle Benegas, a �������� School of Education and Leadership faculty member, recently led a two-day workshop on language of identity, language of access (LILA) for educators in the Hawaiʻi Department of Education.

Benegas said a highlight from the workshop was her integration of the Hawaiian framework of Hā – the fourth “breath,” representing relationship and connection – to ground discussions of place, space and belonging in multilingual classrooms.

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.​  

This is Benegas's sixth year collaborating with the Hawai’i Department of Education. Her work advances ��������’s mission of educational equity and supports schools serving diverse linguistic communities.