S.C.R. No. 51 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The World Wise Schools Program was initiated by the 1-2 Peace Corps to promote global education, international 1-3 understanding, and awareness and acceptance of differing cultures 1-4 in the schools of America; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Through videotapes, newsletters, and personal 1-6 correspondence between students and Peace Corps volunteers, the 1-7 World Wise Schools Program promotes respect for other cultures and 1-8 broadens and enriches the lives of the students participating in 1-9 the program; and 1-10 WHEREAS, Correspondence between Peace Corps volunteers and 1-11 students in American classrooms is the centerpiece of World Wise 1-12 Schools; through matching volunteers with classrooms in the United 1-13 States, the program has involved more than 165,000 students since 1-14 its inception three years ago; and 1-15 WHEREAS, In addition to the "pen pal" project, returned Peace 1-16 Corps volunteers visit schools to share their experiences through 1-17 anecdotes, music, slide shows, photographs, and costumes; and 1-18 WHEREAS, Endorsement of the World Wise Schools Program in 1-19 Texas would be beneficial to the students and teachers of the 1-20 state; each teacher participating in the program would receive four 1-21 videotapes on the countries where the Peace Corps is involved as 1-22 well as newsletters containing teaching tips from other World Wise 1-23 teachers and updates on Peace Corps activities around the world; 1-24 and 2-1 WHEREAS, Currently 17 states, including our neighboring 2-2 states of Oklahoma and New Mexico, have endorsed the World Wise 2-3 Schools Program and have incorporated the program into their school 2-4 curriculum, thus receiving the benefit of this resource; now, 2-5 therefore, be it 2-6 RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas 2-7 hereby urge the State Board of Education to endorse the World Wise 2-8 Schools Program and support its integration into the educational 2-9 curriculum of Texas schools; and, be it further 2-10 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 2-11 prepared for the Central Education Agency and the State Board of 2-12 Education.