House Resolution 129

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING JAY LEVY OF PISGAH HIGH SCHOOL ON BEING NAMED 2012 PISGAH TEACHER OF THE YEAR FOR LEADING PISGAH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO THE STATE'S TOP TEST SCORES IN ENGLISH II AS A FIRST YEAR TEACHER.

WHEREAS, Jay Levy, a 2011 graduate of the University of Mississippi, is an English teacher at Pisgah High School in the Rankin County School District who accomplished an exceptional feat that may be a first in the State of Mississippi for a

first-year teacher: his English II students achieved an unbelievable 98.1 percent pass rate on the English II Subject Area Testing Program, the highest in the state for the English II state test in the 2011-2012 school year; and

WHEREAS, the nearly perfect pass rate of Mr. Levy's students, which was over 25 percentage points higher than the English II state average of 73 percent, along with his students having the highest QDI (Quality of Distribution Index), the highest scaled score and the top test scores, is all the more impressive considering that the school in which he teaches is a Title I school, having more than 50 percent of its students receiving free or reduced lunches and many from low socioeconomic backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, the school's Title I designation has not daunted Mr. Levy, who greatly credits his alma mater, stating that, "At Ole Miss, they were adamant that all students can learn. That's probably the most important thing I took away from college"; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Levy, considered by his colleagues to be a natural born teacher from a long line of educators in his family, graduated from Canton High School as valedictorian before enrolling at the University of Mississippi in 2007 to study secondary education; and

WHEREAS, a fabulous teacher with a maturity beyond his years, Mr. Levy uses a variety of creative teaching methods in the classroom which tie the classic literary works being studied to the students' current day lives, generating an excitement among the students about their subject which enables them to reach a deeper level of learning beyond mere memorization and recitation of facts; and

WHEREAS, while the remarkable performance of Mr. Levy's students on the state test demonstrates that he is successfully imparting the subject matter of English II, perhaps equally, if not more, important to the impressionable young minds in his class are the life lessons Mr. Levy has learned and so eagerly passes on; and

WHEREAS, during his junior year at Ole Miss, Mr. Levy suffered a spinal cord injury when he was not wearing a seatbelt in a car wreck which left him paralyzed from the knees down and bound to a wheelchair, yet his determination to become a teacher kept him so motivated through a long and painful period of therapy and recovering his independence he was able to graduate on time; and

WHEREAS, never letting a teachable moment slip away, Mr. Levy, a positive role model who is fondly admired and loved by his students, uses his experience to stress the importance of wearing safety belts and that "when life throws you lemons, make lemonade" to overcome life's adversities and misfortune; and

WHEREAS, the Pisgah High School family is rightly proud to claim Mr. Levy as one of their own, and in honor of the varied ways he is touching the lives of students both in the classroom and in their journey toward adulthood, the school named him Teacher of the Year in May 2012; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to pay special recognition to such an outstanding young Mississippian as Jay Levy, whose life of using his adversity as well as his exceptional talent as an educator to better the lives of the children of our state, who are its future, is the true epitome of selfless service to fellowman which all may look to for inspiration:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend and congratulate Mr. Jay Levy, English teacher at Pisgah High School, on being named 2012 Teacher of the Year and on the outstanding performance of his students on the 2011-2012 English II Subject Area Testing Program and further, express best wishes for continued success in all of his future professional and personal endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Mr. Jay Levy, Pisgah High School and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.