Full Text of HR0254 97th General Assembly
HR0254 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Section 27-12 of the School Code states that | 3 | | "every public school teacher shall teach character education, | 4 | | which includes the teaching of respect, responsibility, | 5 | | fairness, caring, trustworthiness, and citizenship, in order | 6 | | to raise pupils' honesty, kindness, justice, discipline, | 7 | | respect for others, and moral courage for the purpose of | 8 | | lessening crime and raising the standard of good character"; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, School is not the only opportunity for lessons of | 11 | | character development to occur; it is often difficult for | 12 | | school districts and community organizations to identify and | 13 | | find resources and programs that meet the statutory educational | 14 | | requirements, and educational opportunities often arise only | 15 | | in a haphazard way throughout the period of a season or school | 16 | | year; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Examples of a need for programs that can meet the | 18 | | needs of a changing society are present from institutions of | 19 | | higher education, newspapers, and the media that decry the lack | 20 | | of character development and moral and ethical education and | 21 | | the seeming lack of moral judgment in making business, | 22 | | political, and even personal decisions; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Good Citizens Foundation is a new, non-profit
| 2 | | organization in this State, founded by James McCoy, D.C., of | 3 | | Sycamore, Illinois, which is dedicated to the mission of | 4 | | identifying secular, non-religious programs of learning that | 5 | | teach moral judgment, character
development, and ethical | 6 | | decision-making to future generations; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Good Citizens Foundation has discovered, | 8 | | researched, and identified many good character building | 9 | | programs, such as Character Counts!, based on the 6 pillars of | 10 | | character; the Torch Clubs and Keystone Clubs of the Boys and | 11 | | Girls Clubs of America, based on involving pre-teens and teens | 12 | | in their communities; and the Good Choices Program, based on | 13 | | the Way to Happiness; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, These programs have been selected by the Good | 15 | | Citizens Foundation for recommendation as programs that can | 16 | | have great positive impact on the character development of the | 17 | | children of this State; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Of these programs, those that have been most | 19 | | successfully implemented in a public school, as well as in | 20 | | after-school settings, are Character Counts! and the Good | 21 | | Choices Program, each with programs to fit students from ages 6 | 22 | | to 18-years old and with cost-effective training and resources | 23 | | for teachers; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Good Choices Program not only satisfies | 2 | | Section 27-12 of the School Code, but also comes with the | 3 | | endorsement,
support, and assistance of the Happy House: | 4 | | Building Better Families organization, co-founded by actress | 5 | | Nancy Cartwright; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Good Citizens Foundation will maintain a | 7 | | virtual headquarters for the people of this State on the | 8 | | Internet, where it will provide links to all of the programs | 9 | | listed in this resolution, as well as research and identify | 10 | | others; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 13 | | we recognize that the programs listed in this resolution are | 14 | | all qualified to teach character development, and that we | 15 | | acknowledge that the Good Choices Program, by virtue of the | 16 | | fact that it teaches common sense guidelines covering specific | 17 | | tools to help children evaluate situations and make good | 18 | | decisions that will improve life for themselves and others, is | 19 | | one example of a program fully in compliance with Section 27-12 | 20 | | of the School Code, as it seeks to enhance the character | 21 | | development and potential future moral judgment of the children | 22 | | of this State and, therefore, encourages its use and the use of | 23 | | similar programs by educators, coaches, mentors, and other |
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| 1 | | community service leaders; and be it further
| 2 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 3 | | presented to the Good Citizens Foundation.
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