HR0258 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0258 LRB095 11699 MST 34173 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois wish to congratulate the Gibson City Middle School on being designated this year as an Illinois Horizon School: Schools to watch; and

WHEREAS, Gibson City Middle School is one of only six middle schools this year to be designated as one of their Schools to Watch; and

WHEREAS, The award recognizes the school for overall excellence, being labeled as having visionary leadership, a positive school culture, democratic and data-driven decision-making, a dedicated knowledgeable staff, and outstanding students; and

WHEREAS, The award is a culmination of an ambitious plan begun by the district in 1993 to incorporate the middle school model of education, which began with a newly consolidated school district; the Gibson City facility opened in 2001 and is looked upon as "the final piece of the puzzle" to implementing the middle school concept; and

WHEREAS, Important components to the middle school concept include innovative team teaching organized by grade level rather than by subject, an advisory period each day when character education and life skills can be shared, and offering a series of exploratory minicourses;; and

WHEREAS, The students of Gibson City Middle School also take part in the surrounding community by picking up roadside trash, visiting residents of a nearby nursing home, and landscaping their entire school building with little outside help; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Gibson City Middle School on being designated as a Illinois Horizon School: Schools to Watch; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Gibson City Middle School principal Michael Bleich as an expression of our esteem.