[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 23, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H6660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FULL-SERVICE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Schock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHOCK. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Full-
Service Community Schools Act of 2014, which I am pleased to be 
introducing with my friend, Mr. Hoyer.
  A strong education is the foundation our children need to succeed in 
life. Unfortunately, issues affecting students' home lives often 
interfere with their ability to achieve their true potential.
  One innovation that seeks to overcome these burdens is full-service 
community schools. As Mr. Hoyer mentioned, in my hometown of Peoria, 
Illinois, three of these schools have been created and are operated 
with the support of Bradley University. The Harrison full-service 
community school has many of these diverse programs.
  Harrison promotes events such as Fitness with Firemen, which teaches 
students the importance of a healthy lifestyle, or Hawkeye News, which 
is another program that uses smart boards to let students write, 
produce, and read the news in both English and Spanish. LEGACY is yet 
another program that gives young people the skills they need to 
transition from grade school to high school and beyond.
  The utility of these schools is further illustrated by the Trewyn 
full-service community school in Peoria. At Trewyn, the Riding Tigers 
Horse Club allows financially disadvantaged students to learn how to 
ride and take care of horses. The riding program has been so successful 
that it has attracted the attention of parents, many of whom have never 
had the privilege of riding a horse themselves. Trewyn is also 
committed to getting parents more actively involved in their children's 
educations with programs like the Parent Advisory Council. We all know 
that parental engagement is key to a child's success and learning, and 
successful alternative programs like this deserve a chance to 
positively impact our communities.
  The program that best captures the collaboration between a full-
service community school and the local community is Manual Academy's 
Academic Progress Conference, the APC. The APC program provides a 
platform for students to share their academic progress reports with the 
community and receive feedback from local community members. These 
gatherings have given community members greater insight to the 
challenges these students face in their community while also 
strengthening the ties between the students and the students' 
neighborhoods.
  You see, full-service community school programs have received 
positive feedback from both school leaders and the parents. For 
example, parents have expressed to me that they have seen that full-
service community schools have promoted students' creativity outside 
the classroom, and school leaders have credited the program for 
allowing students to experience relevant school activities that are 
matched to their personal interests.
  I can tell you, as a former school board member and as the youngest 
school board president in Illinois' history at District 150, I know the 
challenges that these parents, teachers, and school administrators face 
every day. Motivating these children to learn, teaching them and 
meeting their basic needs are a daily reality for everybody involved. 
If we don't do it, it doesn't happen. The full-service community 
schools are an important tool in this effort, and although relatively 
new to the Peoria area, these schools are making a difference to 
educators, to parents, and, most importantly, to the students.
  The Full-Service Community Schools Act of 2014 will expand the 
opportunity for more schools to become full-service community schools 
and to see the benefit to the neighborhoods as well. As Congress 
continues to seek innovative solutions to address our national 
educational needs, the full-service community schools should play an 
important role.
  Again, I want to thank my friend from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for his 
leadership on this important cause. On a personal note, I want to join 
him in a fitting tribute to his late wife, without whom full-service 
community schools may never have enjoyed the remarkable success they 
have in his home State or in mine.
  I look forward to working with Mr. Hoyer on this effort, and I urge 
my colleagues to join us in supporting this important program 
throughout our country.

                          ____________________