TITLE: Congratulating Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas on its receipt of a Texas Medal of Arts Award from the Texas Cultural Trust.

SUMMARY: Congratulating Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas on its receipt of a Texas Medal of Arts Award from the Texas Cultural Trust.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas has been named the recipient of a 2015 Texas Medal of Arts Award by the Texas Cultural Trust; and WHEREAS, Presented biennially since 2001, the Texas Medal of Arts Awards celebrate the power of the arts to enhance the quality of life in the Lone Star State; they recognize those who have achieved greatness and those who have opened doors of opportunity for others, and Booker T. Washington High School is the first educational institution to receive this prestigious accolade; and WHEREAS, Booker T. Washington High School was built in 1922 as the city's first African American high school; a half-century later, the Dallas Independent School District transformed the campus into an arts magnet high school with a dual focus on the arts and scholarship, and it became a prototype for similar institutions across the nation; its long list of distinguished alumni includes jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Philadelphia Orchestra cellist John Koen, visual artists Christian Schumann and Chris Arnold, and singers Erykah Badu, Norah Jones, and Edie Brickell; and WHEREAS, Since its establishment, BTW has won well over 200 DeeBee awards from Downbeat magazine, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts has designated it as one of five Distinguished Schools in the Arts; the campus received the National Blue Ribbon Award for Exemplary Education from the United States Department of Education, which ranks it among the best eight magnet schools; moreover, the school has been named one of the best academic schools by Newsweek magazine and one of the top performing arts schools by U.S.News and World Report;each year, 99 percent of its students graduate, and 90 percent go on to pursue further education; and WHEREAS, The high standards of excellence maintained by Booker T. Washington HSPVA illustrate the degree to which the arts can enrich the lives of young Texans, and this noteworthy institution is indeed deserving of this outstanding honor; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas Legislature hereby congratulate Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts on its receipt of a Texas Medal of Arts Award from the Texas Cultural Trust and extend to the school's students, faculty, staff, and alumni sincere best wishes for continued success; 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. Meyer Straus Guerra Otto Allen Guillen Paddie Alonzo Gutierrez Parker Alvarado Harless Paul Anchia Hernandez Pe a Anderson of Dallas Herrero Phelan Anderson of McLennan Howard Phillips Ashby Huberty Pickett Aycock Hughes Price Bell Hunter Raney Blanco Isaac Raymond Bohac Israel Reynolds Bonnen of Brazoria Johnson Riddle Bonnen of Galveston Kacal Rinaldi Burkett Keffer Rodriguez of Bexar Burns Keough Rodriguez of Travis Burrows King of Hemphill Romero, Jr. Button King of Parker Rose Canales King of Taylor Sanford Capriglione King of Uvalde Schaefer Clardy Klick Schofield Coleman Koop Shaheen Collier Krause Sheets Cook Kuempel Sheffield Craddick Landgraf Simmons Crownover Larson Simpson Dale Laubenberg Smith Darby Leach Smithee Davis of Dallas Longoria Spitzer Davis of Harris Lozano Springer Deshotel Lucio III Stephenson Dukes M rquez Stickland Dutton Martinez Thompson of Brazoria Elkins Martinez Fischer Thompson of Harris Faircloth McClendon Tinderholt Fallon Men ndez Turner of Collin Farias Metcalf Turner of Harris Farney Meyer Turner of Tarrant Farrar Miles VanDeaver Fletcher Miller of Comal Villalba Flynn Miller of Fort Bend Vo Frank Moody Walle Frullo Morrison White of Bell Galindo Mu oz, Jr. White of Tyler Geren Murphy Workman Giddings Murr Wray Goldman Naishtat Wu Gonzales Nev rez Zedler Gonz lez Oliveira Zerwas Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 596 was adopted by the House on February 25, 2015, by a non-record vote. Chief Clerk of the House