HR0079 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0079 LRB095 04147 KXB 30952 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor milestones in the lives of citizens of the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Cydney Fields, Principal of William H. Ray Elementary School in Hyde Park, Illinois, has made the decision to retire on June 30, 2007; and

WHEREAS, Cydney Fields began teaching for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 1974 and her exceptional empathy for children with special needs was clear from the beginning of her career; she administered the CPS program for Autistic children with exemplary skill but missed the warmth of a school community and interaction with a wide variety of children; she found a professional home at the William H. Ray School in March of 1990 when she was selected principal; and

WHEREAS, The Ray community won her heart by virtue of the great degree of parent and community involvement in the school, and she won the hearts of the principal selection committee because she understood the need to challenge and include every child, because she recognized the importance of recess and because she was willing to admit to her need to read the occasional junky novel; and

WHEREAS, During her time as principal she oversaw the razing of the thirty year old "temporary" annex and the construction of a new annex carefully planned to serve a contemporary community school, with a library fit for reading and technology, handicapped accessible, and a special conference room for all of Ray's active committees; she has been troubled by the rise in the importance of standardized tests but resisted this trend by using them to measure progress, not set goals; together with the school staff and supportive parents, she has started a pre-kindergarten program hailed by the New York Times as "paradise", as well as Spanish language classes, and an after-school program; and

WHEREAS, Under Cydney Fields' leadership, Ray has become the model inclusion school and set the bar for other schools to meet; Ray has bucked the selective enrollment trend by offering parents a school where every child can flourish from the most intellectually advanced to special needs children and including those who fall in between those categories; with her guidance, Ray's wonderful teachers have established a creative learning environment serving a diverse community with dazzling results; and

WHEREAS, Cydney Fields plans to travel and pursue other interests, including basket weaving, upon her retirement; she also plans to help new principals as a consultant; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Cydney Fields on her retirement from William H. Ray Elementary School and wish her continued success in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Principal Cydney Fields as a sign of our affection, our gratitude, and our respect.