[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

PRAISING THE SUCCESS OF THE SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION
PROGRAM IN ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

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HON. CHARLES W. DENT

of pennsylvania

in the house of representatives

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Mr. DENT. Madam Speaker, it is with great enthusiasm that I share
with my colleagues an article prepared by Mr. Myron Yoder, the Social
Studies Curriculum Coordinator for the Allentown School District in
Allentown, Pennsylvania, regarding the School Violence Prevention
Demonstration Program.
The School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program is administered
by the Center for Civic Education through the U.S. Department of
Education. The program explores how civic education can be used as a
strategy to foster civic engagement, law-abiding behavior, the peaceful
management of conflict, and the prevention of violence in schools.
Currently, the program is being implemented at grades 4 through 12 in
urban, suburban, rural, and Native American school districts at 24
sites in 19 States across the Nation. The article is below.

Civic Education To Be Celebrated in ASD Schools June 5: A Call to the
Allentown Community. Join Us

(By Myron Yoder)

Good civics--practice and recognition--is a concern and
part of the fabric of every healthy community. To a school,
civics is a fundamental part of instruction; to a diverse
society, it is an imperative to maintain and grow our
civilized way of life. The Allentown School District has been
involved in a federal grant administered through the Center
for Civic Education called the School Violence Prevention
Demonstration Program, or SVPDP, for short. This civics-based
curricular program has become ASD's elementary civics
component for social studies in grades K-5. The goal behind
the program is essential to our society: If you build good
civics practices with students in school communities, then
you proactively deal with issues of student attitudes,
behavior and, theoretically, head off school violence by more
students. This year, the Allentown School District civics
program is in over 400 classrooms and reaches over 8,000
students.
The many planned ``culminating'' activities at the end of
students' studies this spring are deliberately performance-
based not only to allow for creativity and self-expression by
our students and teachers but also to provide a means to
integrate learning and foster even stronger academic growth.
Many parents notice students discussing issues at home with
them as well as noticing a desire to become involved in
issues our community faces. These culminating activities are
occurring in many of our schools over the months of May and
June. You can check with your neighborhood school for when
these events are planned. We invite you to observe our
students showcasing their learning this year.
Best of all, the SVPDP program helps ASD students become
citizens of our community, our state and our nation. Further,
we see a difference in many of our students, not only
academically but also with attitudes and behaviors that we
believe will proactively prevent school violence in many of
our students.
The time has come to recognize, celebrate and thank our
staff and students for this very committed effort on their
part. On June 5, 2007 there will be a ``Civic Celebration''
lunch served by ASD's Child Nutrition Services department to
celebrate SVPDP efforts in the schools and to recognize the
work of our students and staff in this program.
Many schools will have culminating activities going on,
community service activities, award ceremonies, school clean
up, community awareness or simply taking a moment over lunch
to say thank you to the staff and students for their efforts.
Each school will be doing something different that day, but
all will celebrate civic participation with the lunch.
Citizens of Allentown, here are some of the expressions of
understanding and change that ASD children and their teachers
are experiencing with this program:
``Because I was a bully, I had a little bit of friends.
Most of them were bullies, too. The responsibility book
helped me stop being a bully. And now I have friends cause I
am not a bully. Bullying is not for me!''--Fourth grader,
Jackson ES.
``I ask the children what they have learned through the
stories and plays and they say: Be fair to others so that
they will be fair to you; There are consequences for our
actions; Share with other people; Don't be a bully; Be nice
to your friends; Be helpful to other people; Obey the
laws.''--Lou Ann Hein, Teacher, 2nd Grade, Dodd ES.
``I just wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed
teaching SVPDP and how much my students enjoyed it and
learned from it. It covers so many issues students need in
order to be good citizens and addresses issues they often
don't understand. It has always been difficult to fit social
studies into first grade but the journal coordinated exactly
with what I was teaching in reading and writing, so there was
plenty of time for social studies!''--Elizabeth Harting,
Teacher, 1st Grade, Cleveland ES.
Allentown School District has a clear and dedicated
commitment to teaching the qualities and values important to
our society. We ask parents and the Allentown Community to
join us in educating for America's future by celebrating
civics on June 5, 2007.

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