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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to honor the Child's Play Touring
4 Theatre for their outstanding work with the children of the
5 City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and throughout the
6 nation; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Based in Chicago, the Child's Play Touring Theatre
8 is the premiere theatre company in the United States dedicated
9 exclusively to performing works written by children; Child's
10 Play motivates elementary school students to read and write
11 through developing and staging original plays based on
12 children's poems, stories, and songs; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The goal of Child's Play is to help children
14 understand the value and significance that writing and reading
15 has on their lives; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Child's Play was founded by Victor and June
17 Podagrosi in 1978 while Victor was teaching theatre at Parkland
18 College in Champaign; when asked to stage a performance of
19 children's writings for a Young Author's awards ceremony,
20 Victor was delighted with the sophistication and storytelling
21 abilities he discovered in children's writing; believing they
22 had identified a unique form of educational theatre, the

 

 

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1 Podagrosis formed the Child's Play Touring Theatre and began
2 traveling to rural schools in east central Illinois; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Child's Play Touring Theatre believes in the
4 importance of contributing to the Chicago community; its
5 principal outreach program, the Chicago Young Writers Project,
6 aims to motivate Chicago public school students to write, as
7 well as provide teachers with drama-based methods for writing
8 instruction; and
 
9     WHEREAS, With the passing of Victor Podagrosi, his wife
10 took over the direction of Child's Play and established the
11 Victor Award to honor individuals and organizations who have
12 demonstrated outstanding commitment, generosity, and/or
13 service to Child's Play; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Child's Play was honored with an Emmy Award for
15 its contribution to the production of two child-focused Public
16 Service Announcements, "Educate Us" and "If I Were President";
17 therefore, be it
 
18     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
20 honor the Child's Play Touring Theatre for its outstanding
21 work, we thank the group for its dedication to the children of
22 the State of Illinois and the nation, and we wish the group

 

 

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1 continued success in its future endeavors; and be it further
 
2     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy be presented to June
3 Podagrosi as a symbol of our esteem and respect.