HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	138
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

ENDORSING THE RENAMING OF THE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS (STEM) INITIATIVES TO THE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AGRICULTURE MATHEMATICS (STEAM) INITIATIVES.

     WHEREAS, agricultural education is a systematic program of instruction available to students desiring to learn about the science, business, and technology of food safety, food security, plant and animal systems, and stewardship of our environmental and natural resources; and

     WHEREAS, agricultural education first became a part of the public education system in 1917 when the United States Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Act; and

WHEREAS, today, approximately one million students, throughout the fifty states and the United States territories, participate in formal agricultural educational instructional programs beginning in the seventh grade; and

     WHEREAS, the three components of agricultural education are classroom and laboratory instruction (contextual learning), supervised agricultural experience programs (experiential learning), and student leadership organizations (National Future Farmers of America Organization); and

     WHEREAS, agricultural education has a significant impact on student success through the attainment of skills required to compete in the global economy; and

WHEREAS, agriculture is a field equal to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in terms of innovative educational programs, now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the Senate concurring, that the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics initiatives known as STEM initiatives, be renamed to the science, technology, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics initiatives, to be known as STEAM initiatives; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following entities are requested to reconvene and supplement the reports made to the Legislature on the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics initiatives requested by House Concurrent Resolution No. 297, S.D. 1, C.D. 1 (2010):

     (1)  University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Engineering;

     (2)  University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources;

     (3)  Department of Education;

     (4)  Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism;

     (5)  The Hawaii Robotics Organizing Committee; and

     (6)  The Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii, Inc., and the Hawaii 3Ts School Technology Laboratories Fund, pursuant to section 302A-1314, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these entities are requested to provide their respective written supplemental reports to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2013 Regular Session on the following:

(1)  Recommendations on how agriculture can be integrated into current science, technology, engineering, and mathematics initiatives;

     (2)  The economic value of expanded workforce development capacity of agriculture and related industries; and

     (3)  The status of each entity's agriculture initiatives, activities, and recommendations for long-term expansion and funding requirements; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Engineering; the Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; the Superintendent of Education; the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; the Executive Director of the Hawaii Robotics Organizing Committee; and the Chair of the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii, Inc.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

STEM; Agriculture; STEAM; Education; Science; Technology; Engineering; Mathematics