At Aikahi Elementary School in Kailua, teacher and grade-level chair Lynne A. Johnson shows her third-grade students the connection between the classroom and the real world. They learn about the wetlands by creating a miniature marsh with real grass and mud; they then participate in a mock city council hearing on preserving the marsh, with actual legislators serving as "council members." Students in her class score exceptionally high on the SAT 9; some are among the highest scorers in the state. Each year, Mrs. Johnson chairs Geography Awareness Week activities for over 600 students schoolwide. A mentor to other teachers and a consultant for the Hawaii Geographic Alliance, Mrs. Johnson was one of only 29 teachers in the nation to receive the Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award from the National Council for Geographic Education in 1999.
1987 University of Hawaii - Manoa, B.A.
