HR1227 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1227 LRB094 20348 HSS 58454 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois are pleased to recognize citizens who have made outstanding contributions to their community and their state; and

WHEREAS, For the past 43 years, Janet Ruth (Akers) Bollheimer has been an educator in the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, She graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in 1963 with a major in home economics; she married Phil Bollheimer in June of 1964, and they have one child, Eddie Bollheimer, and five grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, She began her teaching career in the fall of 1963 at Wesclin High School in Trenton; she taught home economics at Trenton until 1967; she also taught one year of fourth and fifth grade science and health in addition to her Home Economics classes; and

WHEREAS, When her husband was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Germany, she went with him and taught in the Department of Defense Schools in Kaiserslaturn, Germany, from 1968 through 1969, first as a special education teacher and then as a second grade teacher; and

WHEREAS, Returning to the United States while her husband served in VietNam, she taught fourth grade for a year at Pugh School in Decatur; it happened to be the same school her husband had attended in fourth grade and her co-teacher that year was her husband's former fourth grade teacher; and

WHEREAS, After her husband finished his tour in the Army they moved to Aviston, where they live today; she taught in the Aviston High School as their home economics teacher until she retired in 1993 after logging 30 years in the teaching profession; one of the highlights of her teaching career at Aviston was successfully encouraging guys to join her food classes; and

WHEREAS, After Mrs. Bollheimer retired in 1993 from Aviston High School, she went on to become the Even Start coordinator at the Carlyle Pre-K Program from 1993 to 2000; Even Start provides high quality literacy programs throughout all 50 states; she began working part-time with Kaskaskia Community college as the Extension Center Coordinator at Central High School, and then at Wesclin High School, and finally in several grade schools in western Clinton County; she continued in that position until 2000; and

WHEREAS, In 1998, she proposed that a full-time Kaskaskia College Attendance Center be created in Trenton; thanks to her foresight, the Trenton Attendance Center became a reality and now makes it possible for more students in that area to further their education; and

WHEREAS, In 2000, she began working at Kaskaskia College full-time, where she continues today; during her first two years at Kaskaskia, she matched tutors to learners for the community literacy program in Centralia; she also worked at night with family literacy programs at Central City, Breese, and Damiansville; and

WHEREAS, For the past three years she has been the Even Start Coordinator at Kaskaskia College Centralia and works with teen moms and their children, teaching GED and parenting; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Bollheimer is retiring on June 30, 2006, after 43 years of selfless service devoted to education; besides being a loving parent and grandparent, she enjoys gardening, doing creative projects, and traveling; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Janet Ruth (Akers) Bollheimer for her many years of service to the State as a devoted educator, providing service to our most important citizens, our children; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mrs. Bollheimer as an expression of our respect and esteem.