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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR MARVA NETTLES COLLINS FOR HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUTH AND FOR HER LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION AS THE FOUNDER OF THE WESTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL AND TO CONGRATULATE HER UPON BEING NAMED A 2014 HONOREE OF THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE.
Whereas, the members of the Senate of the State of South Carolina were pleased to learn that the Little Black Dress Scholarship Committee will honor Marva Collins for her outstanding work in education through the Westside Preparatory School; and
Whereas, on Saturday, March 15, 2014, the recipients of the 2014 award will be recognized at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Columbia at the Little Black Dress Scholarship Luncheon, entitled "A Trip to the Motherland...A Tribute to Nelson Mandela"; and
Whereas, several years ago, Irma Smith Lowman of Columbia and Mary Reed of Orlando, Florida, brought the Little Black Dress Luncheon to Columbia to generate camaraderie while honoring distinguished women who have given service to the community. Proceeds from the event are contributed to a well-deserving, disadvantaged student; and
Whereas, born in 1936 in Monroeville, Alabama, at the height of the educational inadequacies that plagued the segregated South, Marva Deloise Nettles attended Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia, where she studied secretarial skills; and
Whereas, she taught in Alabama for two years before moving to Chicago, Illinois, where she met her beloved husband, Clarence Collins, and together they reared two fine children, Patrick and Cynthia; and
Whereas, after serving as a substitute teacher in Chicago for fourteen years, she withdrew five thousand dollars from her retirement to open her own school on the second floor of her home in Chicago, called Westside Preparatory School; and
Whereas, the Collins Method, as it came to be known, centered on phonics, math, reading, English, and the classics. The school's reading list included Homer, Plato, Chaucer, and Tolstoy; and
Whereas, Marva Collins and her school became national news covered by Time, Newsweek, and 60 Minutes, and in 1982, Cicely Tyson and Morgan Freeman starred in a movie depicting her life and the founding of the school; and
Whereas, as the school grew, she moved it to a location on Chicago's South Side, educating thousands of professionals who practice around the country, and it remained open until 2008; and
Whereas, Mrs. Collins received the Jefferson Award and the Humanitarian Award for Excellence, as well as numerous honorary doctorates from such prestigious institutions as Amherst, Dartmouth, and Notre Dame, and in 2004, she was honored by President Bush with the National Humanities Award; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina Senate appreciate the contributions that Marva Collins has made to education and applaud her inclusion as a 2014 honoree of the Little Black Dress Scholarship Committee. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the Senate of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, recognize and honor Marva Nettles Collins for her contributions to youth and for her leadership in education as the founder of the Westside Preparatory School and congratulate her upon being named a 2014 honoree of the Little Black Dress Scholarship Committee.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Marva Nettles Collins.
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