The Hawaii Public Charter Schools Network will be hosting a gala this Friday to honor the state’s visionaries and award-winning charter schools.

The 2nd annual fundraising gala is titled “Honoring Our Past, Shaping Our Future.”

The Hawaii State Department of Education presented $1 million worth of awards to high-achieving public schools Friday for the first annual "Strive HI" awards ceremony at King Intermediate School.

The 32 schools received awards between $12,500 and $100,000 for demonstrating significant academic progress for two consecutive years. It's part of the DOE's "Strive HI" campaign that aims to transform public education in Hawaii. The funds come from the state's Race to the Top federal grant received in 2010.

ANAHOLA — When the Kanuikapono Charter School first opened 11 years ago, classrooms where wherever director Ipo Torio-Kauhane could arrange for them, under tents with students sitting on lauhala mats or in the gymnasium of a Kapa‘a church.

So it was an especially joyful occasion recently when the school’s teachers, 150 students and their parents held a blessing for three like-new portable classrooms at Kanuikapono’s now-permanent Anahola campus.

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 14, 2012

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 13, 2012