Filed House Resolution 0047

, read first time and referred to Committee on

Introduced

First Regular Session 113th General Assembly (2003)

Whereas, Central Nine opened its doors in the fall of 1972 with two buildings totaling 65,000 square feet and has grown to seven buildings totaling approximately 120,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories. offices and other instructional resource facilities;

Whereas, Central Nine is an area career-technical school dedicated to the development of the necessary knowledge and skills to prepare high school students for employment in a chosen field and/or further training;

Whereas, Central Nine provides career-technical education for a geographic area that encompasses all of Johnson County, the southeast township of Morgan County, and a major portion of the southern third of Marion County including students transported to those districts from the northeast side of Indianapolis. The school serves nine school corporations: Beech Grove, Center Grove, Edinburgh, Franklin Central, Franklin Community, Greenwood, Indian Creek, Perry Township and Whiteland;

Whereas, the mission of Central Nine Career Center is to teach job skills to high school age youth, it has also provided job skill training and education to adults since it opened in 1972;

Whereas, in addition to job skill training, Central Nine Career Center provides preparation classes for the General Educational Development test for out of school youth without a high school diploma;

Whereas, another aspect of these adult basic education classes is the English as a Second language classes. These classes teach English to limited English proficient adults who have recently come to our shores;

Whereas, Central Nine Career Center began teaching English as a Second Language class in 1980 and began using volunteers in the classroom in 1981;

Whereas, volunteer tutors became a integral part of the English as a Second language classroom to give students a more intense learning experience than would otherwise be possible with the teacher alone;

Whereas, volunteer tutors provide teacher directed instruction to small groups arranged by ability level. The tutors give more oral and aural practice resulting in faster learning with higher retention;

Whereas, English as a Second language classes have become more important with our community as we have seen greater numbers of immigrants from South America, Asia and East European countries enter our community and begin working. These classes are a lifeline for the students because as English proficiency improves so does the family ability to learn skills and become employable;

Whereas, many of these tutors have volunteered for five to ten years and deserved to be recognized for their time and efforts. These tutors come from all walks of life and commit to one morning or one evening each week to helping in the classroom working with non-native speakers who are learning the English language;.

Whereas, the following are persons are tutors at Central

Nine Career Center who should be recognized: Mary Ann Cline, Bernice Grabenhofer, Betty Hewitt, David Miller, Kathy Steuer, Rose Marie Stiffler, Victor Hassell, Imogene Caldwell, John Mellott, Amy Stoddard, Eugene Caviston, Jane Bostwick, Sandra Jackson, John Micheal Yeager, William Fawcett, Saralyn Ross, Karen Bridges, William Bridges, Harriet Beth Campbell, Cathy Harrell, Nicole Smith-Hilz, Michael Smolinski, Jamia Houston, Nicole Maddox, Sara Donathen-Smith and Jordan Olibo.