| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership |
|
|
School is commemorating in the 2015-2016 school year its 12th year |
|
|
of providing an outstanding education to area youth, and this |
|
|
occasion provides a welcome opportunity to recognize the school as |
|
|
well as its namesake, the Honorable Irma Rangel; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Opened in the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas in the |
|
|
fall of 2004, the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School |
|
|
is a magnet program of the Dallas Independent School District; it is |
|
|
the first all-girls public school in Dallas and part of a move that |
|
|
allows educators to focus on the different ways boys and girls |
|
|
learn; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Through leadership seminars, weekly advisory |
|
|
meetings, and partnerships with educational and cultural |
|
|
organizations, the Dallas school provides students with a rigorous |
|
|
course of study that prepares them for college and addresses their |
|
|
developmental needs; teachers work with students following a |
|
|
project-oriented curriculum that emphasizes math, science, and |
|
|
technology, but also offers ample learning opportunities in foreign |
|
|
languages and humanities; in addition to providing an excellent |
|
|
academic curriculum, the school encourages students to develop a |
|
|
strong sense of ethics and civic responsibility and to become |
|
|
leaders in their community; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, It is fitting that such an admirable and progressive |
|
|
institution be named for Irma Rangel, who was a trailblazer and one |
|
|
of the leading proponents of the state's efforts to improve public |
|
|
school and higher education systems; Ms. Rangel taught for 14 years |
|
|
in Texas, California, and Venezuela before changing careers and |
|
|
earning a degree at St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio; after |
|
|
working as an assistant district attorney for two years in Corpus |
|
|
Christi, she returned to her hometown of Kingsville in 1973 to open |
|
|
her own law practice; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, When Ms. Rangel won a seat in the house of |
|
|
representatives in 1976, she became the first Hispanic woman |
|
|
elected to the Texas Legislature; she spent more than 26 years in |
|
|
the Texas House and was the fifth most-senior member of this body at |
|
|
the time of her death in 2003; while serving in the house, she |
|
|
sponsored legislation establishing a pharmacy school for Texas A&M |
|
|
University--Kingsville, now known as the Irma Lerma Rangel College |
|
|
of Pharmacy; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The first Mexican American woman to be appointed |
|
|
chair of a house committee, Representative Rangel was named chair |
|
|
of the House Committee on Higher Education in 1995, and she served |
|
|
in that role for four consecutive legislative sessions; she was |
|
|
also the first woman elected chair of the Mexican American |
|
|
Legislative Caucus and the first Mexican American to receive the |
|
|
G. J. Sutton Award from the Legislative Black Caucus; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A passionate advocate for the poor, the needy, and |
|
|
the underserved, Irma Rangel was a true Texas pioneer who worked |
|
|
tirelessly to make a college education accessible to all citizens, |
|
|
and it is indeed appropriate that an important part of her legacy |
|
|
lies with the outstanding young women who are attending the school |
|
|
that bears her name; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the rich and accomplished life of |
|
|
the Honorable Irma Rangel and honor the students of the Irma Lerma |
|
|
Rangel Young Women's Leadership School on the 12th anniversary of |
|
|
the opening of the school; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for the school as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
|
|
House of Representatives. |