Kapolei Middle School student Jennifer Wong is the overall winner of the 2008 Hawaii School Bus Safety Week Poster contest sponsored by the The Hawaii School Bus Association,

The association awarded cash prizes to 13 students statewide for their entries in promoting school bus and student pedestrian safety.

Wong, an eighth-grader at Kapolei Middle, received a $500 cash award for her artwork, which will be used in the 2009 Hawaii School Bus Safety Week Campaign.

Two other O'ahu students won prizes. Deven Kaaikaula, an eighth-grader at Kapolei Middle School, won $200 and first place in the division for grades 6 to 8; and Shanel Bernades, a seventh-grader at Mililani Middle School, won $50 and third place in the division for grades 6 to 8.

CHARTER SCHOOL GETS $5K GRANT

Kona Pacific Public Charter School received a $5,000 grant from the Robert C. and Helen F. Nichols Fund of the Hawai'i Community Foundation to support its supplemental education and nutrition programs.

Usha Kotner, director of the school, said the funds will be used to expand the number of students who are offered a reduced rate for the before- and after-school program, and to add a breakfast program as well as an after-school snack.

Kona Pacific, in Kealakekua, is one of the state's three new public charter schools.

ARTS PROGRAM AWARDED $10K

The Contemporary Museum's Transformation and Transportation school program has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, TCM Executive Director Georgianna Lagoria announced yesterday.

"We are so pleased to have funding to support this important school visit program for grades K-5 in light of the severe budget cuts our public schools are facing this year," Lagoria said.

Transformation and Transportation is a free TCM educational program that revolves around five sequential components designed for enhancing students' curriculum through arts education.

The program includes teacher workshops, pre-field trip classroom visits by a teaching artist, free roundtrip bus transportation to the museum, guided tours of the galleries followed by an artist-led, hands-on art activity with the students, and complimentary passes to enable teachers to attend exhibitions and other educational programs.

For more information about Transformation and Transportation program or The Contemporary Museum, visit www.tcmhi.org or call the museum at 526-1322.