Bill Text: VA HJR173 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Antoinette Dempsey-Waters.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2024-02-22 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ173ER) [HJR173 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HJR173-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters, a visionary educator with Arlington Public Schools, served on the Development Committee for the College Board's AP African American Studies course, a unique, elective program for students in several public high schools in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, a history teacher at Wakefield High School, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters was inspired to develop a program that offered African American perspectives on the history of the United States after a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters wrote the curriculum for and taught Wakefield High School's AP African American History course and was subsequently selected as the Virginia History Teacher of the Year by Mount Vernon Ladies' Association in 2019; and
WHEREAS, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters joined 12 other content writers to create a statewide version of the course, which is now available at school divisions in the cities of Charlottesville, Covington, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Winchester and the counties of Alleghany, Amherst, Arlington, Carroll, Chesterfield, Franklin, Henrico, Henry, Loudoun, and Prince William; and
WHEREAS, through her work on the Development Committee for the College Board's AP African American Studies course, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters helped students around the Commonwealth and the nation achieve a better understanding of the history of the United States, while promoting cultural awareness and critical thinking; and
WHEREAS, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters and her students have been featured in regional and national publications and news stories, and she has led efforts to train more teachers in the College Board's AP African American History; and
WHEREAS, Antoinette Dempsey-Waters is a graduate of Temple University and George Mason University and has been teaching in Northern Virginia for the past 14 years; she currently resides in Bowie, Maryland with her husband and two sons; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Antoinette Dempsey-Waters for her work on the Development Committee for the College Board's AP African American Studies course; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Antoinette Dempsey-Waters as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her contributions to the advancement of public education in the Commonwealth.
