WHEREAS, the people of the State of Hawaii take great pride in recognizing and honoring the superb achievements and notable contributions of educators who, through their extraordinary dedication and personal efforts, significantly improve the quality of education for the children of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the quality of education rests heavily upon the shoulders of academic instructors and administrators, whose hard work and dedication are important to the character development, happiness, and success of each generation of students; and

WHEREAS, EDWARD OSHIRO, currently the Principal of Ewa Makai Middle School, is the recipient of the 2015 Masayuki Tokioka Excellence in School Leadership Award for his leadership, hard work, and clear vision, working towards making sure that all students are learning and making gains toward reaching their fullest potential; and

WHEREAS, JASON DETTWEILER-PAVIA, a third-grade teacher at Princess Victoria Kaiulani Elementary School, is the recipient of the Hawaii 2014 Voya Unsung Heroes Award, a result of his innovative teaching idea, "Worms at Work," which is designed to develop a school garden consisting of multiple components, such as fruit and vegetable gardens, a native Hawaiian garden, a green-waste composting system, and a vermicast worm system; the project includes all subject areas, including science, reading, writing, math, social studies, health and art; this year, he is expanding the vermicast worm system to include approximately 75 third grade students across all three classrooms; the next step will be to create a large capacity worm system capable of recycling all of the vegetative waste produced by the cafeteria; and

WHEREAS, JANA FUKADA, a kindergarten teacher at Mililani Uka Elementary School, is the recipient of the 2014 Milken Educator Award by virtue of her passion for teaching and continuous drive to refine her lessons to better serve all students by creating an engaging classroom environment for learning; JANA FUKADA's ability to weave the curriculum together to create and teach interdisciplinary lessons helped to develop plans and assessments for the Hawaii Common Core Standards; recent data from her class showed 70 percent of students were at or near grade level in English; 93 percent were proficient in math; 94 percent were proficient in science; and 100 percent met social studies goals; she's been a grade level chairperson for three years and was the only teacher selected to serve on the state's Student Information Systems Evaluation Committee; additionally, she has presented at the consortium for the Hawaii Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Hawaii Writing Conference and has visited other islands to help train teachers on math curricula; and

WHEREAS, RYAN KAGAMI, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Kailua Intermediate School, is the 2014 National Milken Educators of Hawaii "Teacher of Promise", selected due to his commitment to excellence in education and his hands on approach to make his lessons come alive by creating a classroom aquaponics system; the miniature lab draws students’ interest in complex topics such as water and nitrogen cycles, plant biology, fish anatomy, and the role microbial communities play in the earth's ecosystem; RYAN KAGAMI was also a catalyst in launching the Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program at Kailua Intermediate School; this school year, the home of the Jr. Surfriders fully implemented AVID, which promotes college readiness and high expectations; and

WHEREAS, BARON BAROZA, the branch librarian at the newly relocated Aiea Public Library, is the 2014 Librarian of the Year; BARON BAROZA has worked at the Aiea branch since 2012 and has been instrumental in working through the construction period and facilitating the move into the new library building which opened in July 2014; a dedicated public servant, BARON BAROZA has been serving in the public library system since 2007 and has become an exemplary model of leadership and public service; and

WHEREAS, DON RAMOS, a Library Assistant III at Kahuku Public and School Library, is the 2014 Librarian Excellence in Service Award winner, being selected for his dedication to his work, willingness to assist library patrons, and creativity at the library; DON RAMOS started off as a youth worker at Kahuku Public and School Library in 1975 and has since dedicated his time to assist and serve Kahuku Public and School Library and the public; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that this body hereby commends, congratulates, and honors EDWARD OSHIRO, JASON DETTWEILER-PAVIA, JANA FUKADA, RYAN KAGAMI, BARON BAROZA, and DON RAMOS for their outstanding accomplishments and much-deserved recognition, and extends to all of them its sincere mahalo and best wishes for continued success in all future endeavors.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Honoring Various 2015 Education Awardees

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	163
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII