SENATE RESOLUTION

                             1997-8646

By Senators Kline, Bauer, Patterson, McAuliffe, Kohl, Swanson and Wojahn

     WHEREAS, Children are the cornerstone of society=s hope for a healthy, prosperous future; and

     WHEREAS, The quality of our children=s future is directly dependent on the nurturing efforts of parents, teachers, and caring adults; and

     WHEREAS, When Susan Smith Stephens heard that students at Seattle=s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School had run out of construction paper for their art projects, she opened a $350 a month art supply account for the school; and

     WHEREAS, When she learned that a kindergarten class was overcrowded, she contributed the money needed to hire a teaching assistant to help; and

     WHEREAS, It is important to teach children how making wise decisions now can pay dividends well into the future; and

     WHEREAS, Susan Smith Stephens is doing just that by amassing a $25,000 investment fund for about 850 kindergartners currently enrolled in several Seattle Public Schools; and

     WHEREAS, The program,  known as the Seattle Schools Learning Incentive for Children in Kindergarten, will distribute the proceeds of that fund to any of the 850 who eventually graduate from the Seattle Public Schools system; and

     WHEREAS, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School Principal Euhania Hairston and veteran Seattle Public Schools Counselor Mary Browne have been instrumental with Stephens in furthering the program=s goals  and its attempt to ensure that future kindergartners will also share in its incentives; and 

     WHEREAS, The three together have backed up their faith in the public school system with their actions on behalf of children;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the members of the Washington State Senate do hereby honor Susan Smith Stephens, Euhania Hairston and Mary Browne  for their  caring, sensitive support of children and their unselfish devotion to the health of the public schools; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we do hereby urge all citizens of the State of Washington to join us in so honoring Susan Smith Stephens, Euhania Hairston and Mary Browne for their efforts on our children=s behalf; and that the Secretary of the Senate do hereby immediately transmit a copy of this resolution to them. 

I, Mike O=Connell, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1997-8646,

adopted by the Senate April 21, 1997.

MIKE O=CONNELL

Secretary of the Senate