5th Annual Hawaii Farm to School Conference Registration is Now Open!

The 5th Annual Hawaii Farm to School Conference “Growing From the Ground Up” will be held on O’ahu, on June 1st and 2nd, 2012. This year’s conference is hosted by Kokua Hawaii Foundation, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and Waikiki Elementary School and will include visits to other farm to school sites on Oahu.

School Garden and Classroom Teachers (Pre K-Grade 12) of public/private/charter schools are invited to attend. A special session for school administrators and policy makers will be held on June 1. Click here for registration information.

“Best of Kokua Festival” Benefit Auction & CD

Mahalo to the hundreds of Kokua Hawaii Foundation members who came out to support the foundation by purchasing tickets to Jack Johnson’s upcoming Hawaiian Islands tour. Although the shows on Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Hawaii islands are all sold out, you still have a chance to get tickets through the Best of Kokua Benefit Auction… 

The Best of Kokua Festival Benefit Auction starts today and runs until April 9th! There are some amazing auction items including:

• A beautiful Gibson Les Paul wooden guitar made of sustainable FSC certified wood and autographed by Kokua Festival musicians including Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, Willie Nelson, Ben Harper, Taj Mahal and more.
• A Hawaiian handcrafted Pono ukulele autographed by Hawaii’s own Jack Johnson, John Cruz and Paula Fuga.
• A limited edition collection of all Kokua Festival Posters, framed and autographed by the musicians who performed at the Kokua Festival each year.
• A Jack Johnson autographed To The Sea Biofoam Surfboard custom made by Cobalt Surfboards in Encinitas, California by renowned shaper Brian Szymanski!
• Exclusive VIP concert ticket packages to each of Jack’s sold out Hawaiian Islands shows with John Cruz and Paula Fuga (see show dates below). Packages include 4 premium seats, a gift bag with a Hawaiian Islands Tour t-shirt, an autographed tour poster… and a meet & greet with Jack!
  
  • April 19th - Kauai - Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center
  • April 21st - Oahu - Hawaii Theatre
  • April 22nd - Oahu - Hawaii Theatre
  • April 25th - Maui - Castle Theatre
  • April 26th - Maui - Castle Theatre
  • April 28th - Big Island - Kahilu Theatre
  • April 29th - Big Island - Kahilu Theatre

All auction packages include the new Jack Johnson & Friends - Best of Kokua album autographed by Jack and all proceeds will benefit the Kokua Hawaii Foundation ... so let the bidding begin!

Pre-order your copy of Jack Johnson and Friends - Best of Kokua Festival today to further support the Kokua Hawaii Foundation! All pre-orders include a link to a Digital Download of the complete 13 track album with an additional bonus track of “The 3 R’s” by Jack Johnson with Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds live from the 2008 Kokua Festival. Pre-order packages will be shipped to arrive on or near April 17th, 2012. Digital Downloads will be available at midnight on April 16th, 2012. One fan will be chosen at random from all orders placed by April 10th to receive a thank you gift of a full set of all six Kokua Festival Posters.

Hawaii Nominates Four Schools for the Green Ribbon Schools Award

Four Hawaii schools have been nominated for the the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools award. They include, Pahoa High & Intermediate, Ewa Makai Middle, Waikiki Elementary, and Hawaii Preparatory Academy.

The program, which is in its first year, honors schools that have significantly reduced their environmental impact and achieved energy efficiency, positively impacted the health of their students and staff, and produced students with high levels of environmental and sustainability literacy.

“The national application form was daunting for school-level participants to complete,” said DOE Assistant Superintendent Randy Moore. “There was a short time frame to understand and complete the application, and a number of questions required detailed information on energy usage and environmental curriculum. Schools reported that completing the application was itself a learning experience and will heighten student and adult environmental awareness.”

“This program is one of the most exciting things to come along in quite a while. It allows us to showcase the talents and hard work of our students and our school. This is the perfect venue to show everyone (state, nation, world!) that there are many more ways than just Language Arts and Math tests to make a difference in our world today. Our students ARE making a difference and the lessons they are learning will carry on throughout their lives,” Nancy Iaukea, Principal at Pahoa High & Intermediate School.

Nearly 370 schools nationwide, including 9 schools from Hawaii, submitted applications. The U.S. Department of Education will announce the winners on April 23. “We are grateful to the public and private schools that participated and look forward to more schools celebrating ‘green’ initiatives next year,” said Moore.

Heather Brown 2nd series of iPhone cases

2008 Kokua Festival poster artist Heather Brown has created a second series of iPhone cases with 15% of the purchase of one select case, Sea Siren, to benefit Kokua Hawaii Foundation.

Inspired by her love of the sea, surf and the beauty of Hawaii, Heather Brown has gained a worldwide reputation for spreading the Aloha Spirit. Her unique style of surf art puts a smile on your face and tells a story of happy times. Heather has been a long time supporter of Kokua Hawaii Foundation and designed our popular Plastic Free Haleiwa reusable bags and bottles. This special edition case is just as eco-savvy being made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic in Southern California.

Get your Heather Brown signature Sea Siren case on the KHF online store and further support us!

Celebrate Earth Day with Donors Choose

To celebrate Earth Day 2012, the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation will match up to $25,000 in donations to “green” classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that makes it easy to support public school students in need. Projects qualifying for this offer focus on reducing waste and single-use plastics in schools and communities across the country.

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation was founded by Jack and Kim Johnson to support environmental, art, and music education worldwide. Leading up to Earth Day, the Foundation aims to leverage community support for classroom projects, and to encourage environmental stewardship through youth activities focused on recycling, waste reduction, and creative plastic-free initiatives.

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation will fund 50% of qualifying waste reduction and plastic-free projects, but only if people like you help contribute the rest. Starting April 9, every donation made to these classrooms will have double the impact! Learn more at DonorsChoose.org.