Too Cool for School

The Santa Barbara Education Foundation, which serves 15,000 students with more than 15 programs county-wide with a $2 million annual budget, hosted its 20th annual Hope Awards at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum for 200 guests.

The boffo bash in the institution’s courtyard, chaired by Cita Torres, focused on literacy and honored Kinko’s founder and philanthropist Paul Orfalea, a self-proclaimed “poster boy” for attention deficit disorder and dyslexia.

“I hated every second of my schooling,” he admitted. “I was expelled constantly. It was like a hotel, checking in and checking out.”

Paul, who finished eighth from the bottom of his class of 1,200, graduated from USC and started Kinko’s near UCSB in 1970, eventually setting up the copy shop chain, a $2 billion company, at more than 1,700 locations.

As he put it wittily: “Ds get degrees!”

Kate Parker, library director at the Cate School, was also honored. She served for 12 years on the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education.

Dos Pueblos High’s A Cappella Choir entertained, with dinner provided by the Enterprise Fish Company, Eueka!, Industrial Eats, the San Marcos and Santa Barbara High School culinary programs, and Via Maestra 42, among others.

Among the supporters were Chuck Dukas, Teri Allison, Casey Kilgore, Cary Matsuoka, Claire Krock, Anne Darga, Melissa Garcia, Veronica Binkley, Monique Limon, Margie Yahavi, John Daly, Geoff Green, Starshine Roshell, Jane Orfalea, Marge Cafarelli, Richard and Annette Caleel, Barbara Ben-Horin, Riley and Dacia Harwood, and Rogelio and Brianna Aguilar.