Our Team
Jennifer Kaleouionalani Metz Kane
Founder & Director
Current Lead Teacher
Jen Kane was born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands. She currently lives with her husband and six-year-old daughter in the little town of Honomu on the Hamakua Coast of Hawai`i Island. Jen spent many childhood days adventuring in the ocean with her best friend and going on night hikes around her neighborhood with a flashlight in one hand and her dad’s hand in the other. It’s these kinds of intimate moments in the natural world shared with friends and family that Jen believes led her to a career in outdoor and environmental education and her desire to create a thriving forest school program in her community.
After graduating from college Jen spent over 20 years working at various residential science camps, nature centers, state parks, national forests and marine reserves around the country, sharing her love of the natural world and gaining a bounty of experience in hands-on, experiential teaching. After three years in the Peace Corps working with youth and women in the Philippines, Jen returned home to Hawaii be with her dad for the last months of his life. While she lost her father during this time, Jen gained a new appreciation for her island home and a desire to protect it. She worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service educating schools and the public about threatened and endangered marine species; and with the Center’s for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) managing programs geared to increasing ocean literacy and science communication. After becoming a mom Jen entered world of early childhood education. When she couldn’t find any outdoor-based programs in her area for pre-K aged keiki, she trained to become a Tinkergarten Leader and ended up leading nature and play-based programs in local parks for her daughter and other little ones in her community for three years. During this time Jen fell in love working with this age group and learned about the immense value of playing in nature to a child’s early education and social and emotional growth. She is thrilled to take the next step and offer a forest school experience, giving keiki more freedom to explore, adventure and flourish in nature and a hand nearby ready to hold and help guide them as needed.
Education
BA English, Minor in Environmental Studies, University of Oregon
MS Environmental Education & Interpretation, University of Wisconsin
Certifications and Training
Forest School Teacher, Forest School Teacher Institute
Forest School Director, Forest School Teacher Institute
Certified Interpretive Guide, National Association for Interpretation
Preschool and Parent & Child Music Classes Teacher, The Learning Groove
Project Wet / Project Wild Facilitator, Project Learning Tree
Heidi Richgruber
Former Assistant Teacher
Keiki Yoga Teacher
Heidi is a mother, daughter, wife, and teacher of many things.
She was born and raised in Wisconsin where she enjoyed sunny summers, crisp falls, snowy winters, and blooming springs. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a bachelor's degree in Rehabilitation Psychology and a minor in Women's Studies. Following university and not ready to commit to a career, Heidi traveled abroad to Australia where she was a nanny for 18-month old twins and a 3-year old on an Outback Cattle Station. Upon her return to the Midwest, Heidi dove headfirst into a career in continuing medical education. She worked with both medical specialty societies and regulatory agencies.
In 2007 Heidi and her partner moved from Chicago to the Big Island of Hawai`i. After having two children, her priorities shifted and Heidi transitioned from her desk job to a more flexible and active role as yoga teacher and studio manager. Heidi has been delivering expert yoga instruction since 2010. She has taught family yoga, children's yoga workshops, and yoga for at-risk high school students.
Heidi currently lives with her family in Honomu on the green and rainy east side of the Big Island.
Jenny Bach
Forest School Collaborator
Jenny Bach is a Hawaiʻi born and raised resident. She feels her life direction is to make Hawai'i a better place now and for future generations. Jenny currently resides on Hamakua Coast, raising her son on a developing organic farm North of Hilo. For the past ten years she has created the Farm to School Program and school garden at a nearby Public Charter School, a program that works with youth ages 4-12 years, providing hands-on, project-based education using the garden as a living classroom.
Jenny has also been beekeeping for over 16 years and loves sharing the experience and magic of honeybees with people. She is the founder of the “Honeybee Education Program,” a Nonprofit project with the goal to increase beekeepers and support the health of honey bees locally. This project offers workshops for adults and farms, trains high school students to become beekeepers and offers field trips to our bee farm. Recently the Honeybee Education Program has implemented a new program focused on building food resiliency in Hawaii by creating food networks, training community members to grow more food at home and to build community gardens.
"Organic gardening and bringing children close to nature is my passion. I believe in living close to the land and reducing my footprint as best as I can. I am a mother and lover of animals and nature. Our farm and home is a reflection of my values and life direction."