HCR156

WHEREAS, a well-rounded, enriched learning experience can motivate students, spark their enthusiasm for learning, develop special interests, foster individual artistic creativity, and encourage scientific ingenuity; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's public school students spend each school day focusing on the core curriculum, including the basic 3R's of reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as some science, history, social studies, and computers; and

WHEREAS, a proposed "Pono Plus(+) Program" during after school hours could enrich the student learning experience by offering a wide variety of courses, including visual, literary, and performing arts, health and wellness, sports and fitness, and physical sciences; and

WHEREAS, such a program is envisioned as a collaborative effort of public and private partnerships involving the Department of Education, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the County Department of Parks and Recreation, sports leagues, private schools of arts, crafts, music, dance, and drama, and retired professionals from these arenas; and

WHEREAS, the "Pono Plus(+) Program" promises to equip our State's children with special knowledge and skills needed for a bright future and to benefit individuals, families, and ultimately communities; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to study the benefits and costs to implement a "Pono Plus(+) Program" in the public primary, intermediate, and secondary schools and to submit a report to the Legislature with findings and recommendations no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2009 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Pono Plus After School Program

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	156
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII