Report Title:

WHEREAS, our youth represent the foundation of Hawaii's future, and the Legislature is always proud to recognize the achievements of those conscientious and energetic individuals who epitomize the best and brightest of Hawaii's youth; and

WHEREAS, at the beginning of the 2000-2001 school year, teacher Janet Okamura challenged her seven and eight- year-old students from EWA BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL to perform good deeds for their community to promote literacy for themselves and others by participating in the MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY contest sponsored by Pizza Hut's Book-It! Program and USA Weekend magazine; and

WHEREAS, the MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY contest required originality and creativity and the EWA BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL students decided the best way to make a difference would be to bring their favorite character to life by creating an original Arthur adventure and tell their story in a play illustrating the beauty and heritage of Hawaii, and that would bring together the community, parents, and children of all ages; and

WHEREAS, with dedication and guidance, EWA BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL's SECOND GRADE CLASS diligently spent several months analyzing characters, reading, researching, drafting, revising, and making costumes, props, invitations, and bookmarks, and finally, their perseverance and hard work came together and "Arthur's Hawaiian Adventure-an Original Play" was complete and ready for production; and

WHEREAS, competing in the MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY contest with more than 30,000 children representing 1,388 classrooms nationwide the SECOND GRADE CLASS from EWA BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL gained national recognition and won honorable mention; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that this body hereby congratulates and honors the 24 second-grade students from EWA BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Christina Bowen, Cysha Brewer, Ashley Brice-Digman, Darlene Cao, Angela Cezar, Garen Damo, Alexis Gaui, Dianah Luis-Ramos, Alyssa Peterson, Tiffany Caday, Aubrey Clark, Mark Antalan, Jacobryan Data, Vincent Duldulao, Marc Earley, Daven Lorenzo-Ragasa, Isamaeli Malama, David McAngus, Troy Mulivai, Christian Tennent, Joeryl Villanueva, Liki Villegas, Christian Wilding, Justine Carreon, and their teacher Mrs. Janet Okamura, parents, and school community for their noteworthy accomplishments on gaining national recognition in winning honorable mention for the MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY contest, and extends to them its warmest aloha and best wishes for continued success in all future endeavors.