Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 1, 1 January 1988 — Nine Students Win Hoʻolako Contest [ARTICLE]

Nine Students Win Hoʻolako Contest

Seven students from Oahu and two from Kauai have been selected as winners of an essay contest sponsored by the Baha'i Committee for the Year of the Hawaiian and Ho'olako 1987. The nine, including first-place winners Marta Wright and Laura Yamada of Oahu, and Miehael Uohara of Kauai, were recognized with U.S. Savings Bonds at an awards ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 6, at Queen Emma Summer Palaee. Top winners eaeh received $100 bonds; second plaee winners, $50 bonds; and third and fourth plaee winners, $25 bonds.

The contest, whieh was conducted among elementary, intermediate and high school students at five school districts on Oahu, Maui and Kauai, was based on the theme, "The Year of the Hawaiian — What It Means To Me." The essays were rated by a panel of judges on content, originality, clarity of thought and expression and sincerity. Marta Wright, a fourth-grader at Laie Elementary School, was named the first-place winner in the elementarv division. Accordina to Wricht. beinq Hawaiian

". . .is a special attitude toward life whieh comes from the past. This attitude is shown in the way we work, share and respect life." Kimberly Shuman, a sixth-grader at Maunawili Elementary, Miehelle Momohara, a sixth-grade student at Kalaheo Elementary on Kauai, and 'Ofa Wolfgramm, a fifth-graderat Waiahole Elementary, were named sec-

ond, third and fourth plaee winners, respectively. In the intermediate division, Miehael Uohara, aninthgrade student at Kauai High School, took first plaee honors. Wrote Uohara, "This uneommon year will give us more practice in Hawaiian customs and traditions than we would normally have in any other year, will help us to further our knowledge of the ancient Hawaiians

and, most importantly, it will give the native Hawaiians the respect that they deserve." In second plaee was Darryl Sato, a seventh-grader at Wheeler Intermediate. Laura Yamada, a Pearl City High School junior, placed first in the high school division. Said Yamada, "The Year of the Hawaiian is a celebration of the people who arrived first in these islands and is also a tribute to all people living in Hawaii, for we are all Hawaiians." In second and third places, respectively, were Darren Kojima, a junior at Leilehua High School, and Tracy Kuranaka, a junior at Pearl City High School.

Judges for the essay contest were Paula Akana of KITV; Lillian Chou, retired from the Department of Education; Neil J. Hannahs of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate; Dr. Rubellite K. Johnson from the University of Hawaii; Edward Miehelman, Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and Leslie Reile, CommunicationsPacific, ine. Celebrate the Hawaiian — Ho'olako 1987 is a yearlong celebration of Hawaii's heritage, its people, its eulture and the aloha spirit.