HR0079 LRB095 04147 KXB 30952 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to honor milestones in the lives of
4 citizens of the State of Illinois; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Cydney Fields, Principal of William H. Ray
6 Elementary School in Hyde Park, Illinois, has made the decision
7 to retire on June 30, 2007; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Cydney Fields began teaching for the Chicago
9 Public Schools (CPS) in 1974 and her exceptional empathy for
10 children with special needs was clear from the beginning of her
11 career; she administered the CPS program for Autistic children
12 with exemplary skill but missed the warmth of a school
13 community and interaction with a wide variety of children; she
14 found a professional home at the William H. Ray School in March
15 of 1990 when she was selected principal; and
 
16     WHEREAS, The Ray community won her heart by virtue of the
17 great degree of parent and community involvement in the school,
18 and she won the hearts of the principal selection committee
19 because she understood the need to challenge and include every
20 child, because she recognized the importance of recess and
21 because she was willing to admit to her need to read the
22 occasional junky novel; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, During her time as principal she oversaw the
2 razing of the thirty year old "temporary" annex and the
3 construction of a new annex carefully planned to serve a
4 contemporary community school, with a library fit for reading
5 and technology, handicapped accessible, and a special
6 conference room for all of Ray's active committees; she has
7 been troubled by the rise in the importance of standardized
8 tests but resisted this trend by using them to measure
9 progress, not set goals; together with the school staff and
10 supportive parents, she has started a pre-kindergarten program
11 hailed by the New York Times as "paradise", as well as Spanish
12 language classes, and an after-school program; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Under Cydney Fields' leadership, Ray has become
14 the model inclusion school and set the bar for other schools to
15 meet; Ray has bucked the selective enrollment trend by offering
16 parents a school where every child can flourish from the most
17 intellectually advanced to special needs children and
18 including those who fall in between those categories; with her
19 guidance, Ray's wonderful teachers have established a creative
20 learning environment serving a diverse community with dazzling
21 results; and
 
22     WHEREAS, Cydney Fields plans to travel and pursue other
23 interests, including basket weaving, upon her retirement; she

 

 

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1 also plans to help new principals as a consultant; therefore,
2 be it
 
3     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
4 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
5 congratulate Cydney Fields on her retirement from William H.
6 Ray Elementary School and wish her continued success in the
7 future; and be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to Principal Cydney Fields as a sign of our
10 affection, our gratitude, and our respect.