David Ige - Community Notices

[Taken from the Honolulu Advertiser, Tuesday April 4, 2006 edition of High School Sports.]

The Oahu Interscholastic Association has just named its Wrestling All-Stars of 2006!

Congratulations to Matthew Higa (Aiea), Joshua Obena (Pearl City), Nicholas Pait (Pearl City), Christian Pave (Pearl City) and Seth Ohia (Aiea) who made Boys Western Division First Team All-Stars. Bill Takeuchi, Michael Peralta, Mark Passi-Olo, and Tyler Lauifi of Pearl City were chosen for the Boys Western Division Second Team All-stars.

As for the girls,Ren Yamashita (Aiea), Paige Inouye (Pearl City), Kaleolani Souza (Aiea), and Pamela Higa (Pearl City) were picked as the Girls Western Division Second Team All-Stars.

Congratulations to all our district wrestling OIA All-Stars!

(Click here for the honoluluadvertiser.com article.)

The next topic of the next Aiea/Pearl City Town meeting is Junior Kindergarten, headed by the Office of Senator Norman Sakamoto and Representative Roy Takumi.

Starting school is a very exciting time for all our keiki. However, it is also a time of considerable adjustment for the child as well as their family. Some of our youngesters may not be quite ready for this change, thus for children who are five years of age on or after August 2 and on or before December 31 of the school year will be enrolled in junior kindergarten, rather than regular kindergarten.

This town meeting will explain Act 219 and the establishment of a Junior Kindergarten and report on how schools are approaching its implementation and showcase best practices.

The invited speakers for this town meeting are:

• Laureen Dunn- the principal of Pearl Ridge Elementary School,
• Jill Hiromura and Lori Kawabata - PRE Kindergarten Teachers,
• Susan Hirokane - principal of Pearl City Elementary School,
• Karol Nakamatsu - Kindergarten Grade Level Chair,
• Robin Andrade - PCE's Curriculum Coordinator,
• Gary Ginoza - PCE's Tech Coordinator

The town meeting takes place at Pearl Ridge Elementary School Cafeteria on April 10, 2006 at 7pm.

For more information, feel free to contact my office (586-6230) for my information.

To view the DOE's Junior Kindergarten informational flyer, CLICK HERE.

To view the official town meeting flyer, CLICK HERE.

(Please feel free to print, copy and distribute these flyers!)

[Taken from the Highlands Intermediate School PTSA monthly newsletter - April 2006 edition]

This has apparently been a good month for the students from Highlands Intermediate School!

Congratulations to:

• The HIS Chess Team for coming in 1st place in the State Chess Championship. Team members Nathan Nakamoto (also the 1st Place overall and 1st Place 8th Grade), Zachary Prosco, Tyler Oho-Watt, Thaddeus Padua, Jesse Ono, Marissa Wai (also 3rd Place Overall, 1st Place 7th Grade, and Top Performer of the Year at the Intermediate Level) all performed at the top of their game!


• The HIS Math Team for placing 4th in the District Competition! Team members Taro Kobayashi, Jordan Lum, Sean Luster, and Aldric Ulep will all be moving on to the State Competition!


• Jasmine Gatdula for winning Honorable Mention in the State Library's Letters to the Author contest!


• The HIS Robotics Team for placing Honorable Mention in the 2006 National Botball Research and Website Design Challenge! Congratulations to Sia Ah Kiong, Naomi Burkhard, Devin Jeremiah, Lauren Sampson, Arisha Cabrido, Adam Burgo, Kim Byun, Johanna Linschoten, Danielle Sanico, and Dalen Miyashiro!

In addtion, we will be keeping track of all the students who will be competing at the State History Day Competition on April 8th! Congratulations to Sean Chang, Kelsey Kawaguchi, Erika Knudson, Evan Schlaisch, Ren Tachino, Kristen Valdez, and Tyler Yafuso who competed in at the March 11th Leeward District History Day Competition. Good luck to you all!

As a final note, the Highlands Intermediate VICA group came to visit us at the State Capitol this morning! Visit our Session 2006 gallery to view photos from their visit!

The State Board of Education will be holding community meetings for various school complexes during the month of May. Discussions will focus on student achievement, including standards based reform, assessment and accountability and system restructuring.

For our community (Aiea and Moanalua complexes), the meeting will be held on May 10th at Alvah Scott Elementary School. from 6:30-8:30pm.

For more information, contact the Board of Education at 586-3349 or e-mail them at boe_hawaii@notes.k12.hi.us.

Junior Kindergarten was the topic of the discussion at the April 10th Aiea/Pearl City Town Meeting, headed by the Offices of Senator Norman Sakamoto and Representative Roy Takumi.

The evening started with an introduction by Amy Ng, the Primary School Adjustment Project (PSAP) liason for the Department of Education, of Deborah Johnson from the New York PSAP division. Ms. Johnson presented a certificate from the Children's Institute Board of Directors to State DOE Superintendent Pat Hamamoto to congratulate Hawaii as the only state to implement a state-wide Junior Kindergarten program.

The first presentation of the evening was by Pearl City Elementary School Vice Principal Alan Aranaydo and PCE staff members, Karol Nakamatsu, Robyn Andrade, and Gary Ginoza. The video of the school's current implementation of the Junior Kindergarten pilot program, depicts the school's choice to blend Junior Kindergarten aged children with regular Kindergarteners. PCE's program chose to focus heavily on reading, phoentics, and interaction.

The second presentation was by Pearl Ridge Elementary School Principal Laureen Dunn and teachers Jill Hiromura, Lori Kawabata, and Winifred Honda. Similarly, PRE's implementation of Junior Kindergarten was the same as PCE's - by intergrating the younger children with the regular kindergarteners. According to their findings, late-borns performed as good or better than the early-borns.

Both schools emphasized that should any late-born child be retained, it will not reflect on the child's school record. Also, a higher degree of care and attention will be directed at students who may be having more trouble than others, regardless if they are early or late-born.

For more information, view this prior community notice.

To view Senator Sakamoto's survey and results regarding Junior Kindergarten, CLICK HERE.

Photos from the Town Meeting are also up for view in our online gallery!

The next Aiea/Pearl city town meeting will be held in July! As more information is made known, a formal announcement will be posted on davidige.org!

[Taken from the Honolulu Advertiser, Tuesday April 11, 2006 edition]

Congratulations to Shirley Yamamura of Pearl City for craftily decorating the egg that will represent our state at the 2006 State Egg Display at the White House! Her easter egg, decorated with the likeness of the Aloha Tower, was chosen by the American Egg Board to participate in the annual display!

Since 1994, 51 decorated Easter eggs (one from each state and the District of Columbia) are sent to the White House Visitor Center from April 6th through April 24th. Each year the artists vote amongst themselves to select the artist to create the following year’s commemorative egg which is presented to the President and First Lady.

[Taken from the Honolulu Advertiser High School Sports, Tuesday, April 18, 2006 edition]

Congratulations to the Pearl City High School girls who were named OIA Western Division Swimming All-Stars!

OIA Western Division Girls Player of the Year: Sarah Billiamosa

OIA Western Division Girls Coach of the Year: Ken Suenaga

OIA Western Division Girls First Team: Shanelle Choi, Delilah Bista, Tasha Takeshita

OIA Western Division Girls Second Team: Sarah Billiamosa, Shanelle Choi, Shelby Takeshita

Congratulations on your spectacular performance in 2006!

(Click here to view the official column.)

[Taken from the Honolulu Advertiser "People" Section, Wednesday, April 19, 2006 edition. Submitted by Derek Paiva, Advertiser Staff Writer]

Congratulations to Pearl Ridge Elementary School for coming in a strong second in Reynolds Recycling's 2006 Cans for Cash Challenge! The school receives $500 from Castle & Cooke and two tickets to the Kokua Festival on Saturday from recording artist, Jack Johnson's Kokua Hawaii Foundation.

Jack Johnson and Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona will present the schools with their award checks on Friday at a ceremony held at the Waikiki Shell. Both schools will also earn the HI-5 recycling redemption value of their collected recyclables.

[Taken from the Honolulu Advertiser "Schools" section, Thursday, April 20, 2006 edition]

Congratulations to Elijah Sanchez of Aiea High School, a recipient of the 2006 Horatio Alger National Scholarship from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans!

As one of the 107 recipients of the $10,000 scholarship reward, Elijah stood out from the more than 20,000 high school senior applicants from around the country. All applicants had to demonstrate through their writing integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity, strength of character, a good academic record, a commitment to pursue a college education, and the desire to contribute to society.

In addition to the $10,000 scholarship, Elijah will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. for the National Scholars Conference - a four-day firsthand exploration of the opportunities available in America's free enterprise system.

Congratulations Elijah Sanchez on your outstanding achievement!

[Taken from coorespondence from DOT spokesperson, Scott Ishikawa]

The resurfacing project for Aiea Access Road has officially begun. Below is a list of lane closures for this workweek.

Aiea Access Road Resurfacing
Moanalua Road to Kamehameha Highway
Project No. HWY-O-01-05M

Weekly Lane Closure Schedule : Monday - Friday (04/24/06 thru 04/28/06)
Possible single lane closure, right lane on Moanalua Road from Uahi St. to Aiea Access Road Bridge over Moanalua Freeway.
Lane closures are scheduled between the hours of 8:30 am to 3:00 pm.
Purpose: Endpost work, barrier layout, and electrical work.

The contractor tentatively plans to close the "loop" ramp (see attached map) during the first two weekends of May (5-8 and 12-15), weather permitting. The plan is to tear off the old asphalt from the loop ramp and pour a more durable concrete surface. The two weekends are needed because it takes about three days for the concrete to cure. The weekend ramp work is being done now as not to conflict with high school graduation (late May) and the fall UH and high school football season at nearby Aloha Stadium.

We will provide more information on the ramp closures later this week.

It appears the remaining repaving work, tentatively scheduled to begin in June, will take place during the weekdays between morning and afternoon rush hours.

We will provide a project update to the Aiea Neighborhood Board at its May meeting. If you have further questions, please e-mail me or contact my office at 587-2160.

(Click here to view the map.)

At the next Pearl City/Aiea complex Town Meeting, we are spending an evening with Mayor Mufi Hanneman!

Keep May 22nd, Monday open from 7:00-8:30pm and we'll see you at Pearl Ridge Elementary School!

For more information, please contact my office at 586-6230.