Posted on: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Salutes
Dr. John Gutrich, a Hawai'i Pacific University associate professor of environmental science, has been awarded the university's 2008 Trustees' Award for Teaching Excellence. The annual award is given to a faculty member — nominated by students and chosen by a committee representing the entire HPU community — who best exemplifies the ideals of distinguished teaching.
His students say he is a mentor who instills confidence in them and inspires better environmental stewardship.
Mililani Mauka Elementary School students and their families have won $10,000 for their school in the Home Energy Challenge.
Last October, students in 13 elementary schools across O'ahu embarked on six months of energy conservation education, teaching low-cost ways their families could save energy at home.
Winners of $1,000 Home Energy Challenge prizes include the 'Aina Haina, Hokulani, Holomua, Kane'ohe, Kapunahala, La'ie, Makalapa, Manoa, Maunawili and Noelani elementary schools.
UH West O'ahu assistant professor of mathematics Linda Furuto was elected as a four-year college director on the 2008-2009 board of directors for the Hawai'i Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Furuto served as treasurer for the organization in the 2007-2008 academic year.
For the sixth year in a row, a Hawai'i teacher has been selected to receive the Crystal Apple National Teacher Award from Time Warner Cable. This year's honoree is Jennifer Hoof, a 10th-grade teacher at Farrington High School. In addition to receiving a $2,000 cash grant and $3,000 technology grant for the school, Hoof is being honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., along with other teachers who developed winning classroom projects.
Hoof's winning entry, the Kalihi Ahupua'a Project, used programming from the Time Warner Cable networks and added an innovative twist to catch the judges' eyes. The programming is part of Cable in the Classroom, a service of Time Warner Cable.
Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties Realtor Mary Griffin has been elected president of the Jean Charlot Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting and sharing resources relating to the life, values and art of Jean Charlot, and to promoting study of the arts.
Griffin also has experiences in international banking, diplomacy, high-fashion retail and volunteerism.
