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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate the members of the
4Child's Play Touring Theatre on the occasion of the
5organization's 33rd anniversary in 2011; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Based in Chicago, Child's Play Touring Theatre is
7the premiere theatre company in the United States dedicated
8exclusively to performing works written by children; Child's
9Play motivates elementary school students to read and write
10through developing and staging original plays based on
11children's poems, stories, and songs; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The goal of Child's Play is to help children
13understand the value and significance that writing and reading
14has on their lives; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Child's Play was founded by Victor and June
16Podagrosi in 1978 while Victor was teaching theatre at Parkland
17College in Champaign; when asked to stage a performance of
18children's writings for a Young Author's awards ceremony,
19Victor was delighted with the sophistication and storytelling
20abilities he discovered in children's writing; believing they
21had identified a unique form of educational theatre, Victor and
22June formed Child's Play Touring Theatre and began traveling to

 

 

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1rural schools in east central Illinois; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Child's Play Touring Theatre believes in the
3importance of contributing to the Chicago community; its
4principal outreach program, the Chicago Young Writers Project,
5aims to motivate Chicago public school students to write, as
6well as provide teachers with drama-based methods for writing
7instruction; and
 
8    WHEREAS, With the passing of Victor Podagrosi, his wife
9took over the direction of Child's Play and established the
10Victor Award to honor individuals and organizations who have
11demonstrated outstanding commitment, generosity, and/or
12service to Child's Play; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Child's Play was honored with an Emmy Award for
14its contribution to the production of two child-focused Public
15Service Announcements, "Educate Us" and "If I Were President";
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, Some of their original productions include: New
18Voices, Writing Our World, Do the Write Thing, The Great Green
19Adventures of: R-Man, and One Monster After Another; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Their website, launched in 2010, carries their
21motto: Kids Put It On The Page, We Put It On The Stage; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Their annual Spring Benefit Celebration will be
2held on June 16, 2011 and is entitled "Global Energy: The
3Musical"; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
6we congratulate the members of the Child's Play Touring Theatre
7on the occasion of the organization's 33rd anniversary and wish
8the group continued success in its future endeavors; and be it
9further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy be presented to June
11Podagrosi as a symbol of our esteem and respect.