LIHU‘E — Guitar virtuoso Willie Kahaiali’i — better known as Willie K — returns to Lihu‘e Dec. 2 to, once again, help raise funding for Growing Our Own Teachers (GOOT), a non-profit organization which provides teacher scholarships for Kaua‘i residents.
LIHU‘E — Guitar virtuoso Willie Kahaiali’i — better known as Willie K — returns to Lihu‘e Dec. 2 to, once again, help raise funding for Growing Our Own Teachers (GOOT), a non-profit organization which provides teacher scholarships for Kaua‘i residents.
The Willie Wonderland Christmas Concert is from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Kaua‘i Community College Performing Arts Center.
GOOT Director Nancy Kanna says Willie K is a must see.
“He is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met in my life,” she said. “This is a man that just lives and breathes and loves music. He’s just got talent oozing out of his pores.”
Dr. Kani Blackwell, GOOT’s founder, had equally favorable comments about the versatile Maui-based musician, saying “I guarantee you will love Willie K.”
“He’s probably the most magnificent entertainer that Hawai‘i has,” she said. “His vocalization, his range of music. He can do opera, he can do reggae … he does every genre of music you can think of. He is so talented.”
Over the years, Willie K has played with or opened for a long list of musical giants, including B.B. King, Santana, Willie Nelson, Prince, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Jimmy Buffett, to name a few.
Dec. 2 will be Willie K’s second performance to benefit GOOT.
“He did a benefit concert for us last year,” Kanna said. “(He) called us up and wanted to do it again.”
The GOOT program was founded by Blackwell in 2006 when she approached the Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay and proposed fundraising for a program that would provide financial assistance to students so they could finish the final semester of their teaching degree.
Since its start, the foundation has raised nearly $200,000, which has allowed students to complete course work online through the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and become fully credentialed teachers, while maintaining family and cultural ties to the Kaua‘i community.
Blackwell says students enrolled in the education program face many hurdles, especially during their final semester when they are not allowed to have any other employment while interning full-time in a classroom. Without a grant, she said, many candidates drop out, unable to finish the program.
“We’ve got highly qualified, intelligent, excellent teachers that were raised here, that want to give back to the community, but they can’t make it work,” Blackwell said.
That is where GOOT steps in, providing financial assistance in return for a pledge that the student will teach on Kaua‘i for a minimum of three years. Nearly all have stayed well past that.
“It’s been an amazingly successful program,” Kanna said.
The result of the program, which has expanded to other Neighbor Islands, is that students are continuing their studies while staying on their island. The scholarships have helped 43 teachers earn their certification and become employed at schools on Kaua‘i.
“We’ve got some fantastic teachers in this community,” Blackwell said. “Principals say they are so pleased with the teachers that come through the program.”
Kanna says having local teachers is important because of their dedication to the culture and understanding of local values and customs.
“These are the ones that are dedicated for life,” she said.
In May 2008, GOOT on Kaua‘i received the prestigious Rotary International Significant Achievement Award. The program on Kaua‘i is guided by a 10-member board of directors whose backgrounds include current and past experience in corporate, educational, community and professional work.
For more information about Growing Our Own Teachers or to donate to the program, visit www.growkauaiteachers.org or call 826-6988.
Tickets for the Willie Wonderland Christmas Concert are $35 for regular seating, $45 for premium seating and can be purchased online at www.growkauaiteachers.org.
Tickets are also available at Kujo’s Mini Mart in Kalaheo, King Auto Center in Lihu‘e, Pono Market in Kapa‘a, Savage Pearls in Hanalei, the Mail Service Center in the Princeville Shopping Center and Kapa‘a Business Support Services.
The event will include a silent auction beginning at 6:30 p.m. Willie K takes the stage from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
For more information about the artist, visit www.williek.com.
• Chris D’Angelo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 241) or lifestyle@thegardenisland.com.
