Benefit concert raises more than $45K for Hawaiʻi’s educators

The Hawaiʻi Foundation for Educators teamed up Saturday evening with local performing artists for the third annual “Teach Our Future” benefit concert at McKinley High School. 

Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, donations, and ticket sales, the show raised more than $45,000 to support Hawaiʻi educators and maintain high-quality education for keiki. 

The Hawaiʻi Foundation for Educators works in partnership with the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association to provide Hawaiʻi’s educators with high-quality training to best support our keiki. Since the summer of 2020, HFE has supported the professional development of approximately 5,000 teachers and impacted 250,000 students.

This year’s concert lineup featured Imua, Hālau Līlia Makanoe, The Camarillo Brothers, Eric Lee, and local K-pop sensation Crossing Rain with Billy V returning as emcee. Student performers, including the Hawaiʻi High School Saxophone Ensemble and Jarrett Middle School’s ʻukulele ensemble, Juke, also entertained the crowd.

Nimitz Elementary teacher Logan Okita said, “Tonight’s concert is really important for being able to raise funds to offer professional development opportunities to educators statewide. Professional development helps teachers and educators in and out of the classroom to improve their craft and learn new skills and content in order to improve the learning experiences of all of our students.”

Okita explained, “Just because a teacher can’t afford the registration fee shouldn’t be why they’re not able to learn and improve, and so, we want to make sure that teachers are able to access affordable professional development that in this case can be free.”

HFE board chair Wilbert Holck said that supporting teachers has a big impact on student learning.

“What we’ve done in the last few years is focus on paying for the professional development training of our public school teachers because we know that, and research shows that, when teachers have exposure to quality public education, it makes an impact on their teaching, and it also has a major impact on student learning. So this is just our way of supporting teachers,” Holck said.

Sponsors included: Domino’s Hawaiʻi and Atlantic Aviation; silver sponsors Hawaiʻi Benefits Administrators, Inc., UHA Health Insurance, and Hawaiian Electric; and bronze sponsors Hawaiʻi Regional Council of Carpenters, HMSA, Kaiser Permanente, Hawaiʻi Hotel Industry Foundation, Dr. Kevin Kurohara, and Pūlama Lānaʻi.