Lucky fourth-graders. And their families.

Thanks to President Barack Obama’s "Every Kid in a Park" initiative, American fourth-graders have the opportunity to obtain a pass for free entry for them and their families to more than 2,000 federally managed lands and waters nationwide through August.

And thanks to musician Jack Johnson and his Kokua Hawai’i Foundation, many of Hawaii’s fourth-graders will get to experience one of those nearby natural wonders during a school field trip.

More than 200 Oahu fourth-graders Thursday got a sneak preview of the outdoor fun during a visit to the remote and rarely visited James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge at Kahuku Point, that rugged spot where the Windward coast meets the North Shore.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Smokey Bear and officials with the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service used the opportunity to introduce a partnership with Johnson and his wife, Kim, who committed $100,000 to an effort that aims to send all 17,000 fourth-graders in Hawaii on a field trip to the state’s federal lands or waters.

Johnson grew up surfing and playing guitar on the North Shore, and his albums have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

On Thursday, to the delight of his young audience, he played his smash hit "Upside Down."

Kim and Jack Johnson founded the Kokua Hawai’i Foundation in 2003 to support environmental education in Hawaii’s schools and communities.

Among the programs offered by the foundation are initiatives to encourage sustainable local food and the reduction of plastics. The foundation also offers grants for school field trips specifically for hands-on learning about Hawaii’s environment.

"We thought it was a great fit," Johnson said, recalling the decision to support Every Kid in a Park. "It’s what we already do."

Every Kid in a Park recently released a video with Johnson encouraging youngsters to visit public lands.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael Connor said partnerships like the one with Kokua Hawai’i Foundation will help fourth-graders put down their electronic devices and video games and get outside, allowing them to bond with the great outdoors.

Research shows that children in the 9-to-11 age group are starting to make a connection to the world around them, he said.

"So it’s a good time to expose them to the outdoors and be part of that competition for their time and interest," Connor said.

On Thursday Johnson, Connor and U.S. Forest Service Associate Chief Mary Wagner joined fourth-graders from Sunset Beach, Kahuku and Laie elementary schools as they engaged in special hands-on activities that included a marine debris beach cleanup, native plant restoration and the dissection of an albatross bolus, which is the indigestible material that is "thrown up" by the large seabird.

Moving from station to station, set up amid the coastal dunes and grasses, students also learned about sea turtles, the yellow-faced bee and habitat preservation for endangered water birds.

The event was hosted in partnership with the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, a national coalition of groups that aims to connect children and families with the outdoors.

Each child received an Every Kid in a Park pass that provides free entrance for them and their families to any of the federally managed lands and waters across the country, including national parks, wildlife refuges and national forests and grasslands.

"This is one of the more exciting programs coming from the federal government in years," Schatz said. "It’s going to make a real difference in kids’ lives to give them the opportunity to explore the world. And for Hawaii kids, to have access to all of the federal lands for free is an incredible gift. Hopefully it will create a new generation of people who care for the land."

Schatz said that while Hawaii students might not make it to the mainland, the islands still have a lot to offer, including a number of spectacular wildlife refuges, the Arizona Memorial and Volcanoes and Haleakala national parks.

"There are people who fly across the planet to visit places that are just 15 or 20 minutes away from us, so it’s a good reminder for all of us," he said.

Johnson said he holds fond memories of the outdoor field trips when he was growing up on the North Shore.

"One of the things that stuck with me was the impact of those field trips," he said. "Sometimes (kids) don’t know they are learning, but that’s when they are learning the most. There’s so much you can learn in a class, but there are different kinds of learning outside."

Any fourth-grader can log on to the website at every- kidinapark.gov and complete an educational activity in order to obtain and print a paper pass. Students may also trade in their paper pass for a more durable pass at participating federal sites nationwide.