[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5880-5881]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




STUDENTS AT McCRACKEN MIDDLE SCHOOL: MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH A.C.T.

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 26, 2012

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
extraordinary students at the McCracken Middle School in Skokie, 
Illinois, who are working to improve the lives and futures of children 
around the world.
  Through the organization that they created--Aiding Children Together, 
or A.C.T.--these remarkable young leaders are making a real 
difference--not just studying the many problems that confront children 
but taking action to help solve them.
  Two years ago, I received letters from McCracken middle-schoolers who 
were moved to get involved to help address the crisis of child labor. 
They wrote to voice their support for the UN Rights of a Child and to 
speak up for children who are forced to work in often dangerous 
conditions in order to support themselves and their families.
  Since A.C.T. was founded, the students have continued to show their 
commitment to providing every child with the right to education and to 
a safe and healthy life. They know that many children are forced to 
live in

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poverty, to suffer and sometimes die from preventable diseases, and 
even to be forced to serve as child soldiers. The members of A.C.T. 
believe that unless we solve these problems, too many children will be 
denied the opportunity to become productive members of their 
communities.
  The students participating in A.C.T. are learning and they are taking 
action to protect individual children and to create a better future. 
Through fundraising efforts from walkathons to selling t-shirts, they 
have raised funds for nonprofit organizations like Free the Children--
groups that empower youth to promote children's rights.
  Currently, McCracken students are focused on learning about and 
raising funds for an orphanage in Ghana, engaging with A Better Life 
for Kids in the effort to expand educational opportunities to some of 
the most vulnerable children in the world. The orphanage is a safe 
place and one where deaf children can now go to school, instead of 
being forced onto the streets.
  I want to recognize this year's A.C.T. participants and congratulate 
them on their work. They are: Lily Shearer, Rebecca Janw, Gabrielle 
Younan, Mariel Younan, Alex Davood, Juliana Tichota, Nora Gaul, Tenzin 
Wangdak, Trisha Gandhi, Andrea Hoglund, Sean Loach, Violette Shearer, 
and Nathaniel Schetter.
  These McCracken students are doing amazing things and they are 
setting an example for all those who see problems as too big or too 
difficult, those who throw up their hands instead of getting to work. I 
am so proud of them and I know that they will continue to be a powerful 
force for change on behalf of children.
  I also want to thank Jennifer Ciok and Bethany Blades, the teacher 
sponsors of A.C.T., and Shelley Nizynski, who teaches at Middleton 
Elementary School in Skokie and is the founder of A Better Life for 
Kids. They demonstrate the critical role of teachers in inspiring 
students to learn, to solve problems and to become leaders in their 
communities.

                          ____________________