WHEREAS, for more than twenty years, the Castle Performing Arts Center has been producing plays, musicals, and special events, establishing itself as a leader in the performing arts school programs; and

WHEREAS, the Castle Performing Arts Center was recently named one of the top after-school arts programs in the country, receiving the Coming Up Taller Award presented annually by the President's Committee on Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts; and

WHEREAS, the award recognizes the outstanding training that the program has provided in singing, dancing, and acting and producing students who excel in their school work; and

WHEREAS, First Lady Laura Bush and Emmy-award winner and Broadway choreographer Debbie Allen presented the award, including a commemorative plaque and a $10,000 award for the program, to the Castle Performing Arts Center director Karen Meyer and student representative Andrew Johnson, at a White House ceremony on January 25, 2006; and

WHEREAS, the Castle Performing Arts Center was founded in 1984 by Ron Bright, acclaimed musical director, for whom the school's Ron Bright Theatre is named. Although retired, "Mr. B", as he is affectionately called by students, continues to be a guest director for the Castle Performing Arts Center; and

WHEREAS, the Center has trained hundreds of students in grades five through twelve, many of whom have become professional actors, singers, dancers, and technicians; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that this body recognizes and congratulates the members and teachers of the Castle Performing Arts Center on receiving the Coming Up Taller Award and being named one of the top after-school arts programs in the United States, commends and applauds them for their outstanding contributions to the performing arts, and wishes them continued success in all future endeavors.

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Castle Performing Arts Center