HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

199

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

CONGRATULATING THE PRUDENTIAL "SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY" AWARDS 2004 STATE HONOREES AND DISTINGUISHED FINALISTS.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Prudential Insurance Company and the National Association of Secondary School Principals created the annual "Spirit of Community Awards" nine years ago to acknowledge volunteer activities of young Americans and to promote what they are capable of doing to make their communities better places to live; and

WHEREAS, state honorees are the two top volunteers in each state, one high school and one middle school, and each receive $1,000, a silver medallion, and an all-expense paid trip with a parent to Washington D.C. in May of 2004; and

WHEREAS, from all of the state honorees, ten national finalists will be selected and will receive an additional $5,000 and a gold medallion, commemorating their outstanding achievements; and

WHEREAS, TIFFANY CHOU, of Pukalani, Maui and a junior at Seabury Hall School in Makawao, is the high school state honoree for the Prudential "Spirit of Community" award; and

WHEREAS, TIFFANY's award winning project, which was inspired by her special-needs brother, is the "Dancing Palette Project", a weekend social program offering art, drama, and dance activities for special-needs students and their teenage mentors; and

WHEREAS, the project was so successful in its first year that TIFFANY plans to double the number of students and mentors next year; and

WHEREAS, THEODORE DODSON, of Wailuku, Hawaii and an eighth-grader at Saint Anthony Junior/Senior High School, is the middle school state honoree for the Prudential "Spirit of Community" award; and

WHEREAS, THEODORE won the award of state honoree by volunteering as a senior patrol leader for elementary school children at a Cub Scout summer camp where he was responsible for teaching classes, preparing activities, providing directions for campers and other junior staffers, managing ceremonies, and regularly speaking in front of hundreds of campers; and

WHEREAS, distinguished finalists are the runners-up to state honorees, receive bronze medallions to commemorate their excellent achievements, and are recognized nationally at the event in Washington D.C.; and

WHEREAS, MIKA`ELE PAVAO, a senior at Hana High and Elementary School, is one of the 256 distinguished finalists nationwide; and

WHEREAS, MIKA`ELE directed a project to build an outdoor pavilion at his school so that young students who attended cultural classes outdoors would have shelter from the elements, which required MIKA`ELE to arrange donations, organize volunteers, purchase materials, and build the structure; and

WHEREAS, KELSEY YAMASAKI, a senior at President Theodore Roosevelt High School and the Legislative Committee Chair for the Hawaii State Student Council, is also one of the 256 distinguished finalists nationwide; and

WHEREAS, KELSEY organized an on-line voting ballot to get young native Hawaiians involved in the democratic process and to gauge attitudes on prominent youth issues like drug testing and other youth rights, which required KELSEY to set up the on-line ballot, design the questions, and to recruit assistants to help promote the vote in school across the state; and

WHEREAS, each state honoree and distinguished finalist have helped make our community a better place to live; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that the House of Representatives honors and congratulates TIFFANY CHOU and THEODORE DODSON, the 2004 Hawaii State Honorees for the Prudential "Spirit of Community" Award, and MIKA`ELE PAVAO and KELSEY YAMASAKI, the 2004 Hawaii State Distinguished Finalists for the Prudential "Spirit of Community" Award; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to TIFFANY CHOU, THEODORE DODSON, MIKA`ELE PAVAO, and KELSEY YAMASAKI.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Prudential "Spirit of Community" Awards 2004 State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists; Congratulations