[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 29, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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      COMMENDING HAWAII'S LEXUS ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE CHAMPIONS

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I congratulate the Dream Team, a 
team of eight students from Farrington High School in Honolulu, HI, for 
winning the grand prize in the 2007 to 2008 Lexus Environmental 
Challenge. The Lexus Environmental Challenge is a multiphased national 
competition between 350 middle and high schools from across the 
country. The challenge addressed issues from global warming awareness 
to informing communities about the critical importance of water 
conservation.
  Over the course of 7 months, the Dream Team competed against 350 
middle and high school teams from across America in challenges 
addressing local environmental issues. The Dream Team was one of 55 
teams invited to compete in the final global challenge where students 
were asked to develop a program that could potentially change the 
world. For their final global challenge, the Dream Team took advantage 
of Hawaii's ethnic diversity to educate people around the world about 
the benefits of clean renewable energy by creating a video message in 
11 different languages ranging from French to Samoan to Tagalog and 
Arabic.
  The members of Farrington High School's Dream Team include Genevieve 
Cagoan, Robin John Delim, Carmina Figuracion, Robin Monzano, Minh Trang 
Nguyen, Herald Nones, Maria Sheville Lee, and Princes Rosit. The team 
was led by Ms. Bebi Davis, a Farrington High School chemistry teacher 
who was the team's adviser.
  The grand prize for the Lexus Environmental Challenge is $75,000. Ms. 
Davis will receive $7,000 for various classroom projects, Farrington 
High School will receive $15,000, and the remaining $53,000 will be 
split equally among the eight members of the Dream Team.
  I congratulate the Farrington High School Dream Team for its great 
accomplishment in capturing the 2007 to 2008 Lexus Environmental 
Challenge grand prize. I wish all of them the best in their future 
endeavors, and I urge them to continue to set an example for future 
generations. I extend the same congratulations to all students and 
advisers who participated in the 2007 to 2008 Lexus Environmental 
Challenge.

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