MEDIA RELEASE

Big 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) in April on the Big Island.

The Kohala Center and Brown University are offering tuition scholarships for two students to attend BELL Hawaii, which is scheduled April 4–11.

In this select national leadership program, students develop their leadership skills while studying our island’s biology, ecology, and cultural traditions. The program focuses on the interdependence of land, sea, and the life systems they support and is led by leading island scientists, cultural leaders, and environmental experts.

Students will experience incredible adventures as they learn about the culture and history of the island, participate in the restoration of native forests, explore the geological wonders of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, kayak in coastal waters, camp at Kawaihae, and study coral reef ecology and management.

The 2008 scholarship recipients were Olympia Zampathas of Honakaa High School and Faith Ozer of Saint Joseph High School.

“At BELL I came closer than I could ever imagine to other teens from across the country. We camped out without electricity, cell phones, or anything else from the outside world, and I can honestly say that it was the greatest time of my life,” Ozer said. “I learned about the Hawaiian culture and experienced firsthand the one-of-a-kind landscapes of this beautiful island. I learned much about myself through team-building exercises and matured as a young adult and as a leader.”

Application materials for the 2009 program can be downloaded at www.kohalacenter.org/bell. For further information, contact Samantha Birch, 443-2755 or sbirch@kohalacenter.org.

For more program details, visit www.brown.edu/scs/pre-college/leadership/hawaii/program.php.

The deadline to submit application materials to The Kohala Center is Jan. 30. Applications may be mailed to The Kohala Center, P.O. Box 437462, Kamuela, HI 96743, or faxed to 885-6707.

Brown University has partnered with The Kohala Center to offer this competitive program for pre-college students with interests in science, leadership, and cultural studies. The Kohala Center is an independent, not-for-profit 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.