Bill Text: VA HR167 | 2022 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Maura Keaney.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-03-11 - Bill text as passed House (HR167ER) [HR167 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HR167-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Maura Keaney, an educator and technology specialist at Kings Glen Elementary School in Springfield, has contributed greatly to her students' engagement with the history of both the Commonwealth and the nation; and
WHEREAS, before teaching at Kings Glen Elementary School, Maura Keaney was an educator at Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Fairfax County, where in 2020 she incorporated Governor Ralph S. Northam's Black History Month Historical Marker Contest into her classroom's curriculum; and
WHEREAS, under Maura Keaney's guidance, students of Laurel Ridge Elementary School nominated Barbara Johns, Ona Judge, William H. Carney, Katherine Johnson, and "Angela," all African American Virginians who played an important role in our history, to be commemorated with historical highway markers; and
WHEREAS, as part of the nomination process, Maura Keaney's students wrote letters supporting their recommendations for the new historical highway markers to be commissioned by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources; and
WHEREAS, several of the individuals nominated by Maura Keaney's class received historical highway markers as a result of their efforts, including Ona Judge and Barbara Johns; and
WHEREAS, in Mount Vernon on June 19, 2021, Maura Keaney and her students were in attendance and presented at the unveiling of a historical highway marker for Ona Judge, an individual enslaved by President George Washington who escaped to freedom and whose historical highway marker represented the first in Fairfax County to commemorate the life on an African American; and
WHEREAS, in collaboration with fellow teachers, Maura Keaney developed a learning scavenger hunt called "History Hunters," in which students examined historical highway markers throughout the Commonwealth and reflected upon their significance; and
WHEREAS, Maura Keaney has subsequently organized the "History Hunters" program and a History Makers Club for students at Kings Glen Elementary School, encouraging current and future students to have a voice in the Commonwealth's endeavors to acknowledge and commemorate its history; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Maura Keaney hereby be commended for her efforts to inspire her students to think more deeply about the history of the Commonwealth and the nation; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Maura Keaney as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for her service to the Commonwealth.
