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<br />LANDERS: Yes. <br /> <br />BURGESS: Okay. <br /> <br />AU: Okay, thank you. Okay, so, yeah, you can go ahead and start your three minutes now. <br /> <br />BURGESS: Okay, thank you. I come here today, this is the first time I’ve ever testified. But I <br />feel this is very, very important. And to me from listening to the discussion for the first time <br />today it seems like there’s quite a conflict of values. But in any case, I’ve come, and my mother <br />has come, because we have chosen to live here. We’re both educators. She came to the Big <br />Island of Hawai‘i about 80 years ago and was a teacher along with her sister at one of the schools <br />in Hilo. And since then she’s been involved in education until now; and she’s now 106 ½. And <br />I also am an educator. I was a teacher at the University of Hawai‘i in Honolulu and up, one of <br />the founders of Leeward Community College. And I’m, have a long, sincere value for <br />education. So when I heard about this project, I thought, oh, that’s great. And as I heard about <br />some of the features of it, I thought it was even more great because it followed some of my <br />personal concerns. <br /> <br />One is a concern for the elderly person. And the reason, one of the reasons we live here is <br />because my mother is treated with great respect; and I appreciate that. And so does she, I know. <br />And she was in a program that involved children and adults at the University in Washington <br />which worked out very well because she was in a program where her four grandchildren were <br />also involved, and I her daughter was involved. And it was a very nice concern for educating <br />older and younger people together. It’s a very nice project, very positive. And I understand that <br />the Connections School has a similar, not exactly the same, but the idea for older people who are <br />going to be involved in the school, which I think is a very good thing. <br /> <br />And a second personal concern is for the land. I find, I’m not a Hawaiian person, but I really am <br />moved by the statement that the Life of the Land is Perpetuated by Righteousness. And in our <br />society, in our world today, we’re experiencing the ravages of the weather; and it’s going, it <br />looks to be worse. So any environmental project that can educate children to start caring for the <br />aina in an educated and intelligent way is important. And I understand that this project is <br />planning to plant native plants and have agricultural training as part of their curriculum, which I <br />think is a very good thing. <br /> <br />And I think the third value that I personally really like about Hawaii is aloha. I mean who <br />doesn’t like to be loved? And the school from my observation of it is one that is very, is positive <br />and promotes good feelings among the children. So at least for me, my values are to educate, to <br />preserve the aina, and to perpetuate aloha. And my mom is now, we’ve come to thank you for <br />this project, not just this project but for planning, because you can see what happens in <br />communities where planning isn’t done carefully. So, anyway, my mother has, is going to give <br />you a toast of congratulations for your hard work, not only the Connections people but all the <br />people who have taken their time and effort to try to make their communities good, and for you <br /> 21 ATTACHMENT C <br /> <br /> <br />