Title
To Honor and Recognize Mrs. Catherine T. Willis on Being Inducted into the City of Columbus Hall of Fame 2020
Body
WHEREAS, the members of Columbus City Council are proud to honor and recognize Mrs. Catherine T. Willis on being inducted into the City of Columbus’ Hall of Fame 2020; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Willis, a former Columbus City School teacher has been primarily focused on education - in fact her passion led her to become an active volunteer, supporter and member of the board of directors for the “I Know I Can,” program which guarantees every Columbus City School student an opportunity to attend college - Mrs. Willis also initiated the Chess in the (Neighbor) Hood program at the Martin Luther King Library and because of its success was asked to extend the program to other sites; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Willis’s legacy of advocacy in education extends beyond the borders of the State of Ohio - in fact she continues to be a passionate champion for the Piney Woods Country Life School located in Mississippi - her work there has enabled local students to attend this remarkable school founded in 1909 - the school offers African American students a head, heart and hands education; and
WHEREAS, in 2007 she founded Urban Strings a Central Ohio-based community youth orchestra comprised of young, talented musicians from private, parochial, charter and public schools who perform music ranging from classical, jazz, gospel, R&B, negro spirituals, the cinema, and other types of music to which they might not otherwise be exposed - revealing the beauty and importance of string instruments and music; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Willis has dedicated her career to instilling knowledge and developing students to become lifelong learners; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS: that this council hereby honors and recognizes Mrs. Catherine T. Willis on being inducted into the City of Columbus’ Hall of Fame.