WHEREAS, the arts are a fundamental component of a student’s comprehensive education and engage the mind in complex analytical, reasoning, and problem-solving processes, resulting in the consideration and appreciation of the contextual, social, and cultural aspects of human learning and understanding; and

WHEREAS, the arts enhance education by encouraging and nurturing the creative energy, imagination, and self-expression of a child; and

WHEREAS, Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 1999, and Act 306, SLH 2001, established and formalized a partnership between the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Department of Education, the College of Education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH), the College Arts and Humanities at UH, the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and the Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education, now nationally recognized as the Hawaii Arts Education Partners (Partners); and

WHEREAS, Act 80, SLH 1999, and Act 306, SLH 2001, required the Partners to:

WHEREAS, in the quest to meet State and federal legislative mandates to integrate the arts as a core content subject, the Partners have emerged as a national leader in professional development through its ARTS FIRST institutes, and as a pioneer in the development of a sequential, standards-based arts-infused curriculum for the generalist elementary-level classroom teacher; and

WHEREAS, the Partners are working to fulfill their commitment as one of only five entities in the nation to receive full funding for a Challenge American Technology grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; and

WHEREAS, the Partners are demonstrating to the nation how technology can facilitate the dissemination of standards-based educational curricula in a cost-effective, timely, and accessible manner, as well as assist in the teaching and assessment of students and educators; and

WHEREAS, the Partners, in recognition of its precedent-setting partnership and groundbreaking work for generalist K-5 classroom teachers in arts education, were invited by Apple Computer, a world leader in educational technology, to become a founding affiliate of its state-of-the-art, web-based site, Apple Learning Interchange (ali.apple.com), to disseminate the curriculum developed by the Partners; and

WHEREAS, the innovative and collaborative efforts between the Partners and Apple Computer, through the Hawaii Learning Interchange site (apple.com/ali/hawaii), creates opportunities for educators across the nation to access not only a standards-based, arts-infused curriculum, but also curricula for all ten core subjects; and

WHEREAS, in addition to direct educational benefits, the Hawaii Learning Interchange allows Hawaii to showcase to the world its greatest attributes and accomplishments as the 1.25 million weekly site users navigate from the Apple Learning Interchange to the Hawaii Learning Interchange, and then to the websites of each of the Hawaii Arts Education Partners, and affiliate organizations; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that this body, through its hosting of the public unveiling of the Hawaii Learning Interchange's archetype, salutes the work of Apple Computer, the Hawaii Arts Education Partners and its affiliate organizations -- Mid-Pacific Institute, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Honolulu Theatre for the Youth, and Hawaii Parent Teacher Student Association; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body hails the national collaborations between the Hawaii Arts Education Partners and Apple Computer, and amongst the Hawaii Arts Education Partners, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and Arts Education Partnership; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body congratulates the Hawaii Arts Education Partners for creating a national model of academic excellence, being a national leader in the field of education, and contributing to the national dialogue and practices of educators and artists across this great nation; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this body applauds the achievements and accomplishments of this exemplary private-public partnership by offering its continued support of the

Hawaii Arts Education Partners’ innovative approach to education and vision of "Arts First, Arts Last, Educate the Whole Child!"