Thanks to today's rapidly evolving technology — from the Internet to text messaging — it's easy for people to get lost in the sea of virtual socializing and become less involved in their communities.

Unfortunately, this is especially true of our younger generation.

If we are to teach this generation the value of civic engagement, it's going to take both education and example, something that Castle & Cooke and the Department of Education have successfully managed to do in their inaugural "Make a Difference" poster contest.

The contest challenged all O'ahu public school students to create posters demonstrating how they have made a difference in their communities. With more than 5,394 entries from students K-12, the themes ranged from recycling to cleaning graffiti and to simply "speaking peace."

That exercise alone was valuable in teaching civic engagement — but that was only part of the project. In addition to cash prizes, first-place winners from each grade category were given $250 to donate to a charity of their choice. As a result, organizations such the Hawai'i Foodbank, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Institute for Human Services benefited. The contest winners were honored recently at the state Capitol — a fitting venue to recognize our future community leaders.

Through the corporation's sponsorship and the DOE's involvement, these students have learned more than the definition of civic involvement — they've learned the value of making a difference, something technology can't replace.