Full Text of HR0436 96th General Assembly
HR0436 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to congratulate Graciela Shelley | 4 |
| on the occasion of her retirement as principal of Darwin | 5 |
| Elementary School in Chicago; and
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| WHEREAS, Graciela Shelley is a native of Santiago, Chile, | 7 |
| where she graduated from Sacred Heart preparatory school; she | 8 |
| met her husband, John, when he was on a two-year Peace Corps | 9 |
| assignment in Chile; soon after their marriage, the couple came | 10 |
| to the United States in 1965; before beginning her career in | 11 |
| the Chicago Public School system, she devoted herself to | 12 |
| raising her three children, Robert, Stephanie, and Michael, in | 13 |
| Evanston; and
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| WHEREAS, Graciela Shelley received her bachelor's degree | 15 |
| with High Honors from Northeastern University, her master's | 16 |
| degree in Administration from Chicago State University, and her | 17 |
| Educational Specialist degree from Northern Illinois | 18 |
| University; she has also attended summer institutes at the | 19 |
| Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain, the Universidad de | 20 |
| Puebla in Mexico, the University of Loyola in Rome, Italy, and | 21 |
| the CIEPE in Paris, France; and
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| WHEREAS, Graciela Shelley has worked for the Chicago Public |
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| Schools for the past 32 years; she was hired in 1977 as a | 2 |
| Spanish Bilingual teacher at Pierce School, where she taught | 3 |
| for six years; for the next 26 years, she served as a school | 4 |
| administrator, beginning her work as a District and City-wide | 5 |
| Bilingual Facilitator, followed by her role as a District Three | 6 |
| Administrator; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, In 1995, Graciela Shelley was appointed principal | 8 |
| of Darwin School; as principal, she first focused on | 9 |
| establishing high expectations for students and teachers in a | 10 |
| goal-oriented and data-driven effort to improve student | 11 |
| performance; as a result of her leadership, Darwin School has | 12 |
| been named an AMPS school for its excellence in academic | 13 |
| programs and administrative practices; the school was also | 14 |
| recognized for student improvement by former school system CEO | 15 |
| Arne Duncan and was identified by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley | 16 |
| as one of 27 CPS schools that have demonstrated continuous | 17 |
| gains on the ISAT for the past seven years; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, As principal of a low-income school, Graciela | 19 |
| Shelley has sought to expand the life experience and awareness | 20 |
| of her students beyond what they would obtain from an academic | 21 |
| curriculum alone; through international partnerships with the | 22 |
| Municipality of Milan, Italy, and its local schools, and with | 23 |
| local schools in Santiago, Chile, she has sent students to | 24 |
| Italy and Chile and has sponsored teacher exchange programs |
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| with both countries and a reciprocal student exchange with | 2 |
| Chile; she has also reached out to the local community to make | 3 |
| connections with role-modeling professionals, such as the | 4 |
| Chicago legal firm of Holland and Knight, which has established | 5 |
| an important relationship with students at Darwin; on a weekly | 6 |
| basis, the firm hosts students in their offices downtown and | 7 |
| visits the school for a variety of activities, including | 8 |
| tutoring in reading and the discussion of legal cases; and
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| WHEREAS, Following her retirement, Graciela Shelley plans | 10 |
| to write, work with social justice organizations, travel, and | 11 |
| spend quality time with her six grandchildren; and
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| WHEREAS, Graciela Shelley serves as a model of hard work, | 13 |
| integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of | 14 |
| Illinois; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 16 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 17 |
| congratulate Graciela Shelley on the occasion of her retirement | 18 |
| and wish her many happy and healthy retirement years; and be it | 19 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to Graciela Shelley as a symbol of our esteem and | 22 |
| respect.
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