Sew A Lei For Memorial Day Poster Contest Winners

Winner of K-4th grade division, Joel Agacid , 4th grade, Ewa Elementary School pictured with he City's First Lady Judy Carlisle.

By Staff Reports

(Honolulu)– The City’s First Lady Judy Carlisle presented award certificates to the winners of the Sew a Lei for Memorial Day Poster Contest at Honolulu Hale.  First-place winners are Joel Agacid (4^th grade), Ewa Elementary School; Raelynn Kala (8^th grade), Kapolei Middle School; and Mark Mangayayam (12^th grade), Farrington High School.  The winners received recognition certificates from Mayor Carlisle and prizes donated by Pacific Beach Hotel, First Hawaiian Bank, and Menehune Mac.

More than 600 entries were submitted from public and private schools throughout the state.  The contest judges were Stacey Yamashita, Pacific Beach Hotel; Cindy Ng, First Hawaiian Bank; Gabrielle “Gabby” Reznik, Miss Teen Hawaii World 2011; Dr. Gary Saito; and Kirk Matthews and Marisa Yamane from KHON 2.

The artwork of first-place winners will appear on posters and distributed to the Department of Education, private schools and all city parks and offices, encouraging the public to provide lei to decorate graves for Memorial Day at the National Cemetery of the Pacific and other veterans’ cemeteries.  All of the winning and honorable mention posters are exhibited on the third floor of Honolulu Hale through May 31.

Winner of 5th-8th grade division, Raelynn Kala, 8th grade, Kapolei Middle School pictured with he City's First Lady Judy Carlisle.

Each year, the Department of Education is instrumental in coordinating the contest with schools and encouraging students to sew and donate lei for the Memorial Day ceremonies.  Nearly 30,000 lei of the 50,000 required are donated by school children throughout the state, with the majority coming from neighbor island public schools.

The Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony will be held on Monday, May 28, 2012, from 8:30 a.m., at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  For more information, contact

the Department of Parks and Recreation at 768-3002.

Winner of 9th-12th grade division, Mark Mangayayam, 12th grade, Farrington High School pictured with the City's First Lady Judy Carlisle.

The first- through third-place winners for each grade division are as follows:

Kindergarten-4^th grade division

1^st: Joel Agacid , 4^th grade, Ewa Elementary School

2^nd: Caeden Martin, 4^th grade, Ewa Elementary School

3^rd: Mia Alexandria Archer, 3^rd grade, Ewa Elementary School

5^th-8^th grade

1^st: Raelynn Kala, 8^th grade, Kapolei Middle School

2^nd: Kylah Reed, 8^th grade, Kapolei Middle School

3^rd: Keenan O’Kelley, 8^th grade, Kapolei Middle School

9^th-12^th grade

1^st: Mark Mangayayam, 12^th grade, Farrington High School

2^nd: Joseph Pagkalinawan, 10^th grade, Roosevelt High School

3^rd: Teuaililo Petelo, 12^th grade, Kalani High School