HR1257 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Margene Pappas, the Director of Bands at Oswego High School, is retiring after 37 years of service in the music education field; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Pappas, a native of Champaign, received her B.S. and M.S. in Music Education from the University of Arizona and VanderCook College of Music; and

WHEREAS, She is the Director of Bands in Oswego Community Unit School District 308, where she has taught for 37 years, both at the junior high and high school level; her current teaching responsibilities include directing the OHS Wind Symphony, Chamber Winds, and Concert Band, working with the Marching Band, Pep Band, and Jazz Band, and administering the district band program; membership in the high school band program has grown significantly in the last nine years; and

WHEREAS, Bands under her direction have performed and consistently received superior ratings at The Midwest Clinic, the Bands of American National Concert Band Festival, the ASBDA National Convention, the IMEA All-State Conference, and the University of Illinois Superstate Band Festival; in addition, the high school bands have earned grand championships and sweepstakes awards from the Outback Bowl Music Festival, the Dixie Classic, and Musicfest Orlando (three times); and

WHEREAS, Bands under Mrs. Pappas' direction were known to travel; one notable trip is when she took the TNT Band to march in the 1982 World's Fair in Tennessee; recently, she had Oswego's high school bands march in the 2005 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, where they were seen in person by over one million people and on television by over 400 million people around the world; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Pappas' professional associations include the NBA (Board of Directors 1994-96 as a middle school representative and 2000-2004 as a high school representative), ASBDA, Phi Beta Mu, MENC, IMEA, and she is on the advisory board for the BOA National Concert Band Festival; and

WHEREAS, Her honors include the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Legion of Honor Award, the Illinois Chapter Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame, the NBA Citation of Excellence, the 2000 Studs Terkel Humanities Council Award, the Chicago Outstanding Music Educator Award, the Illinois State Board of Education Award of Recognition for "Those Who Excel in Education", and the Illinois Grade School Music Association Cloyd Myers Memorial Award for Excellence in Music Education; and

WHEREAS, She was recognized by SBO Magazine to represent Illinois in 2002 as one of "50 Band Directors Who Make a Difference"; in 1999, she was featured in THE INSTRUMENTALIST Magazine and was a recipient of the "Mr. Holland's Opus" Award; the Ledger-Sentinel, Oswego's weekly newspaper, selected Mrs. Pappas as one of the 50 most influential people of the century in Oswego; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Mrs. Margene Pappas on the occasion of her retirement, and we recognize the incredible impact she has had on the lives of so many students in the Oswego area; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mrs. Pappas as an expression of our profound esteem and with best wishes for a relaxing retirement.