Kirkham

NAPILI – The Captain Planet Foundation, an international environmental education foundation for youth based on the “Captain Planet” cartoon, announced that Maui Preparatory Academy was recently awarded an educational grant of $500.

MPA will use the funds for the school’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Project.

“We are thrilled to present this award to Maui Preparatory Academy,” said Leesa Carter, executive director of the foundation.

“We receive hundreds of submissions each year and have to be very selective to whom we award funding. This is one of the few projects from across the country that we chose to fund.

“We wish the Maui Preparatory Academy great success as they work to implement this important project. It is our hope that our combined efforts will educate, empower, involve and invest today’s youth to cultivate a better tomorrow.”

“We are honored to accept this support and recognition from the Captain Planet Foundation,” said Ryan Kirkham, school principal.

“It is our goal, with the help of the Captain Planet Foundation grant, to educate, monitor, serve as a model school system and ultimately recover 75 percent of all aluminum, plastic and glass cans and bottles from families and partners.”

The first phase of this project, set to take place this month, will focus on expanding the single-stream curbside recycling collection program.

Activities in this phase include the construction of a sheltered sorting area with multi-center containers necessary to ensure a safe recycling environment for student participants.

During this phase of the project, Maui Prep will partner with the County of Maui to provide the necessary containers and bins for recycling single-stream and classroom materials.

The second phase of the project, set to take place in March, focuses on partnership recycling efforts.

During this phase, Maui Prep will develop partnerships with two businesses in the area to divert recyclables into their waste stream.

This will allow Maui Prep to continue to provide cultural programs to fifth grade students and give students the opportunity to develop the habit of recycling at its fullest capacity.

Founded in 1991 and based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Captain Planet Foundation was created to support hands-on environmental projects for youth.

CPF’s objective is to encourage innovative projects that empower today’s children to become environmental stewards. For more information, visit www.captainplanetfdn.org.