THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	187
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of education to rename noelani elementary school to President Barack obama noelani elementary school in honor of united states president barack obama.

 

 

        WHEREAS, United States President Barack Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Oahu; and

 

        WHEREAS, in 1960, United States President Barack Obama's parents, Barack Obama, Sr., and Stanley Ann Dunham, met as students while attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and

 

        WHEREAS, United States President Barack Obama began his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago where he worked with churches to improve housing conditions and established job training programs to support a community devastated by steel mill closures; and

 

        WHEREAS, in 1988, United States President Barack Obama attended Harvard Law School, becoming the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review; and

 

        WHEREAS, in 1996, United States President Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate; and

 

        WHEREAS, in 2004, United States President Barack Obama was elected to serve in the United States Senate representing Illinois; and

 

        WHEREAS, in 2008, United States President Barack Obama was elected as the forty-fourth president of the United States and the first president of African American descent; and

 

        WHEREAS, during his tenure, United States President Barack Obama signed three signature bills:  an omnibus bill to revitalize the economy after a devastating economic collapse; legislation to provide accessible, affordable health care; and legislation for financial institution reform; and

 

        WHEREAS, United States President Barack Obama also advocated for a fair pay act for women, consumer protection, climate change action and environmental protection, and civil rights; and

 

        WHEREAS, before entering Punahou School, United States President Barack Obama attended kindergarten at Noelani Elementary School in Manoa, Oahu, while his mother finished her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and

 

        WHEREAS, since its opening in 1962, Noelani Elementary School has grown from a one-building school to its present design of over six buildings that serve three hundred eighty-nine students; and

 

        WHEREAS, committed to equity and academic excellence, meaningful learning, caring relationships, and connections to the larger community, Noelani Elementary School's student population has become more diverse socially, economically, ethnically, and culturally; and

 

        WHEREAS, given his legacy as the first African American president and first president born and raised in the State of Hawaii, this body believes there would be no better way to honor the legacy of United States President Barack Obama than to have an educational institution he attended bear his name; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the Department of Education is requested to rename Noelani Elementary School to President Barack Obama Noelani Elementary School in honor of President Barack Obama; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Obama Hawaiian Africana Museum.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

Department of Education; Noelani Elementary School; Barack Obama