SR 649 - Silveri, Shekema; honoring

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Current Status

01/10/12 - Senate Read and Adopted

First Reader Summary

A RESOLUTION honoring Shekema Silveri for being recognized with the Milken Educator Award; and for other purposes.

Status History

Bill History
DateAction
01/10/2012Senate Read and Adopted
12 LC 34 3180
Senate Resolution 649
By: Senators Seay of the 34th, Davenport of the 44th, Jones of the 10th, Tate of the 38th, Millar of the 40th and others

A RESOLUTION


Honoring Shekema Silveri for being recognized with the Milken Educator Award; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, Shekema Silveri is the only teacher in Georgia to receive the Milken Educator Award this year; and

WHEREAS, as the winner of a $25,000 Milken Educator Award, Silveri, chair of her school's language arts department, has now been recognized as one of the top teachers in the United States; and

WHEREAS, she is married to fellow Clayton County educator William Silveri, who shares her belief that the job is a calling; and

WHEREAS, Shekema Silveri believes her classroom has to be a healing place for her students; "I want students who actually appreciate a teacher who loves them," she says. "I would not be in my element in a school where students said, 'I don't need a teacher to love me because I have two parents and a nanny.'"; and

WHEREAS, her deep affection for her students at Mount Zion High School in Jonesboro takes many forms, from cautioning them at the start of the weekend, "Come back to me safely. I love you," to daily texts to a teen whose mother died three years ago, "Good morning princess, God loves you, and so do I," to shopping for groceries on Saturday for a needy student; and

WHEREAS, she gives her students her cell phone number for homework help at night and regularly engages in online writer's conferences with them via Skype; and

WHEREAS, "I am my students," she says. "I grew up in public housing after my grandmother died and I had to go back to live with my mother. I have been homeless with a 5-week-old baby. I knew that I wanted more than what I had seen in my life."; and

WHEREAS, the 35-year-old mother of four understands the appeal of more affluent schools in upscale suburbs. Silveri attended one of them under the minority to majority program, M-to-M, which allowed students from less-successful schools in south Fulton to attend higher performing ones in the north side of the county; and

WHEREAS, a top student in college and grad school, Silveri is a doctoral candidate at Georgia State University; and

WHEREAS, in giving her the award, the Milken Foundation cited her accomplishments in the classroom, noting that 100 percent of her students passed the state End of Course Test for American Literature; and

WHEREAS, it is only fitting and proper that Shekema Silveri be honored for being the only Georgia teacher to receive the prestigious Milken Educator Award this year.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body honor Shekema Silveri for her outstanding accomplishments inside and outside the classroom.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to Shekema Silveri.