Full Text of HR0560 95th General Assembly
HR0560 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives wish to honor Dr. Shirley Antwi-Barfi, | 4 |
| Principal of the Jens Jensen Math, Science, and Tech Scholastic | 5 |
| Academy and the Dorie Miller Child Parent Center on the | 6 |
| occasion of her retirement after 36 years of service; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, Shirley was born in Mobile, Alabama to William and | 8 |
| Letha West; she was brought as a 10-month-old baby, along with | 9 |
| her sister, Doris West (Myhand), to the Westside of Chicago and | 10 |
| was raised in Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church under the | 11 |
| pastorate of Rev. H.R. Stephenson; she now lives in Maywood and | 12 |
| attends the First Baptist Church of Melrose Park under the | 13 |
| pastorate of Rev. John L. Belser, Sr., where she has been a | 14 |
| Sunday School teacher for many years, now teaching teens; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, She was united in marriage to Frank Quabena | 16 |
| Antwi-Barfi in May of 1972 at Zion Hill Church; she and her | 17 |
| husband have two daughters, Amma Letha and Adwoa Victoria | 18 |
| Antwi-Barfi; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, Shirley Antwi-Barfi began teaching for the | 20 |
| Chicago Public Schools at the Ignace Paderewski Elementary | 21 |
| School in 1971; in 1974 she joined the teaching staff of the | 22 |
| Jensen/Miller schools, remaining there as an educator until |
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| 1993, when she became the contract principal at the William | 2 |
| Penn School, which she attended as a child; she was recognized | 3 |
| by many and accepted several consecutive principal contracts at | 4 |
| the school; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, She submitted her resignation and retirement | 6 |
| papers to the Board of Education in October of 2006, leaving | 7 |
| her school with an all-time high of 65% of the student body | 8 |
| meeting or exceeding the standards assessed on the Illinois | 9 |
| Standards Achievement Test (ISAT); and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, In 1990, seeing the need for Afrocentric materials | 11 |
| for the predominantly African-American student body at | 12 |
| Jensen/Miller Academy, she initiated "The Indian Lakes | 13 |
| Africa-centered Curriculum Development Project", begun in | 14 |
| conjunction with Northeastern University of Illinois' Center | 15 |
| for Inner City Studies staff under the auspices of the late | 16 |
| historian, Dr. Jacob Carruthers, and the teaching staff of | 17 |
| Jensen and Miller schools; she was the Project Director at | 18 |
| Indian Lakes Resort, in Itasca; in addition to spearheading the | 19 |
| team's massive organizational efforts, including the | 20 |
| publication and distribution of the curriculum materials that | 21 |
| had been developed from the Project, a provision for lane | 22 |
| placement credit was also established by her between | 23 |
| Northeastern officials and CPS officials for the benefit of her | 24 |
| colleagues and staff participants; and |
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| WHEREAS, Shirley Antwi-Barfi established priority goals at | 2 |
| the school, to focus the curriculum initiatives on mathematics, | 3 |
| science, and technology integration within the program and to | 4 |
| accomplish the following feats: that the Jensen/Miller Academy | 5 |
| would be a scholarly technological institution that sets its | 6 |
| mark on every child who passes through its doors - we care and | 7 |
| we prepare; that the instructional leadership facilitates the | 8 |
| staff so that schooling is completely child-centered - a place | 9 |
| where students are nurtured with positive self-feelings of "I | 10 |
| can do it!"; that all employees care and take pride in the | 11 |
| services provided, making a united effort on behalf of the | 12 |
| students; that the schools' educational program would have as | 13 |
| its focus a "thinking-centered" curriculum, with teachers | 14 |
| modeling metacognition, the how-to-think-about-thinking | 15 |
| approach to learning; that there would be many opportunities | 16 |
| for staff, students, and parents to explore and problem solve; | 17 |
| that there would be a strong emphasis on reading and writing | 18 |
| strategies, rather than the teaching of isolated skills, which | 19 |
| would be well developed by the end of the primary grades; that | 20 |
| extensive staff development would meet the needs of the staff | 21 |
| so that they could provide a learning environment for the | 22 |
| entire community that guarantees preparedness for the job | 23 |
| skills needed for the 21st century; that the teacher's role | 24 |
| would be facilitative, providing instruction that engages and | 25 |
| guides the minds of the students so that they are eager to |
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| learn; that the school would become the center for the child's | 2 |
| value system; that the school would be careful to instill | 3 |
| character education in the young minds of the students as well | 4 |
| as academic education; that lessons would relate to the child's | 5 |
| natural curiosity; that all staff would understand that | 6 |
| students constantly seek meaning for all facets of their | 7 |
| experiences, their emotions and spiritual-well being included; | 8 |
| that they need us to help them see how they relate to others, | 9 |
| as they follow the positive examples set before them; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Shirley Antwi-Barfi also provided landscaping | 11 |
| of lawns and upkeep, including a clean and beautified school | 12 |
| facility, inlaid bricking installed around trees, window | 13 |
| guards installed all around the first floor of the school, | 14 |
| student art murals in the corridors, lunchroom, an African | 15 |
| student-centered ceramic mosaic art installed on the | 16 |
| playground side of the building, and concrete slabs installed | 17 |
| with grounding all along the schools' property line; Jensen | 18 |
| Academy became the first Chicago public elementary school to | 19 |
| extend schooling to Saturdays, as well as host Chess League | 20 |
| tournaments, 13 divisions of sports for the student body, | 21 |
| including soccer and golf, along with 4 consecutive years of | 22 |
| City Championships for 7/8th grade girls basketball teams; and | 23 |
| WHEREAS, Under her leadership the mission of the school has | 24 |
| embraced students' varied learning styles and multiple |
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| intelligences, including those with special needs, so that | 2 |
| teachers encourage students to achieve their dreams; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, Shirley Antwi-Barfi graduated from William Penn | 4 |
| Elementary and Carter H. Harrison High School; she attended | 5 |
| Wilson Jr. College, attaining an Associate of Arts Degree, and | 6 |
| attended Roosevelt University Chicago and Chicago Music | 7 |
| College, attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy, | 8 |
| with a minor in Cultural Studies and Music Education; she then | 9 |
| attended Northeastern University of Illinois, Jacob Carruthers | 10 |
| Center for Inner City Studies, attaining a Master of Arts | 11 |
| Degree in Inner City Studies in 1976; she attended Loyola | 12 |
| University Chicago, attaining a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in | 13 |
| Cultural and Educational Policy Studies in December 2005; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Shirley Antwi-Barfi was inducted into the | 15 |
| Oxford Round Table in July 2006 at the University of Oxford, as | 16 |
| a Presenter with a paper entitled "The Africa Problem and | 17 |
| American Education Policy", excerpted from her Dissertation; | 18 |
| and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, Dr. Shirley Antwi-Barfi plans to pursue other | 20 |
| venues upon her retirement; therefore, be it | 21 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| congratulate Shirley Antwi-Barfi on her retirement from the | 2 |
| Jens Jensen Math, Science, Tech Scholastic Academy and the | 3 |
| Dorie Miller Child Parent Center and wish her continued success | 4 |
| in the future; and be it further | 5 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 |
| presented to Principal Shirley Antwi-Barfi as a sign of our | 7 |
| affection, our gratitude, and our respect.
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