Categorized | Education

Scholarship offered for environmental leadership lab

MEDIA RELEASE

Island high school students are invited to join teens from across the country for a week-long outdoor adventure and an outstanding environmental leadership program—the Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) on Hawaii Island in April.

The Kohala Center and Brown University are offering a full scholarship for one student to attend BELL Hawaii from April 15-22.

This select national leadership program integrates the development of leadership skills with outstanding opportunities for high school students to study the biology, ecology, and cultural traditions of Hawaii Island.

Noa Eads, a 2010 scholarship recipient and currently a freshman at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, describes BELL Hawaii as “a life changing experience.”

“The BELL program had an amazing staff that pulled and tied together every part of the brain, the land, the sea, culture, fun, and social interactions. The experience changed my life, and I made friends from all around the world in just one week,” Eads said.

Students spend the week meeting with cultural practitioners to learn about the culture and history of the island, participating in the restoration of native forests, exploring the geological wonders of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, kayaking, camping near the ocean, and learning about coral reef ecology and management.

In addition to providing incredible adventures and experiences, the program gives students a chance to identify and develop their group building and leadership skills.

“Noa was really inspired by the BELL program,” said his mother, Calley O’Neill. “He came home and said he had not realized that HE could be a leader. Since that experience, Noa has set his sights on leading the way to self sufficiency and ecological restoration for Hawaii Island.”

“The program helped me to see Hawaii in a new perspective,” said Kekai Edens, another 2010 BELL Hawaii scholarship recipient and a senior at Ke Ana Laahana Public Charter School in Hilo. “It taught me to pay attention to each different organism that makes up this very bio-diverse environment and to appreciate its place in the overall system.”

The deadline to submit all application materials directly to The Kohala Center is Monday, Jan. 31.

Application materials can be downloaded at www.kohalacenter.org/scholarships/bellhi.html or are available from The Kohala Center, 808- 887-6411.

The application must include an official school transcript and a one-page essay describing what you hope to learn during this course. Hawaii Island students applying for this scholarship do not need to pay the deposit or application fee.

Brown University partners with The Kohala Center to offer this competitive program for precollege students with interests in science, leadership, and cultural studies.

The Kohala Center is an independent center for research and education about and for the environment, and links together a diverse network of island-based institutions with expertise in the physical and cultural sciences, politics, education, and history.

Brown University and The Kohala Center are committed to helping Hawaii Island residents care for and celebrate Hawaii’s unique natural and cultural landscape.

— Find out more:
BELL website: http://brown.edu/ce/pre-college/leadership/hawaii/program.php
The Kohala Center: www.kohalacenter.org

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