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East St. Louis, IL School District #189 has joined forces with East St. Louis city officials and the Casino Queen to develop a three-pronged initiative designed to enhance quality of life in the city. East St. Louis School District, City and Casino Queen Partner for Progress to Beautify the City EAST ST. LOUIS, IL, (SWI-News.com), July 8, 2007 - East St. Louis (IL.) School District #189 has joined forces with East St. Louis city officials and the Casino Queen to develop a three-pronged initiative designed to enhance quality of life in the city. EAST ST. LOUIS PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS, a newly formed six-member committee comprised of representatives from the school district, City and Casino Queen, is first taking up the charge of East St. Louis Mayor Alvin L. Parks, who has expressed a fervent desire to clean the city and ensure the municipality remains orderly. In serving on the PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS committee, Mayor Parks joins Casino Queen General Manager Tom Monaghan, the body's Chair; Casino Queen Director of Community Affairs Ron Longley; East St. Louis School District #189 Superintendent of Schools Dr. Theresa Saunders, who will serve as Secretary; East St. Louis School District #189 Board of Education President Lonzo Greenwood, the steering committee's Vice-Chair; and Board of Education Treasurer George Mitchom. "I'm optimistic about the partnership between District 189, the City and the Casino Queen and look forward to all of us collectively building East St. Louis for the betterment of all in our community," stated Mayor Parks. "I particularly appreciate everything the Casino Queen is doing to enhance this effort." The Casino Queen has teamed up with Clayco, Inc. to provide the necessary equipment to expand on the grass roots efforts that Mayor Parks already has initiated in the City since taking office. The expanded cleanup effort is now underway and will continue through the year, weather permitting. East St. Louis School District #189 and the City are organizing pools of volunteer units from their ranks of employees, as well as students from schools throughout the city to be part of the effort. "The Casino Queen applauds Mayor Parks for making cleaning up this city a priority, and we are proud to be a part of this initiative that will build on his initial efforts," stated Monaghan, General Manager of the casino and chair of the new committee. "We are pleased to be able to work with Clayco, the contractor for our new facility, to provide the needed equipment, and I and other employees of the Casino Queen look forward to also being a part of the volunteer effort." Secondly, PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS will aid in planting seeds of community service and social development at East St. Louis School District #189's Alternative High School via a unique program expressly formulated to both satisfy state-mandated graduation requirements and spur volunteerism. NFL Hall-of-Famer Jackie Smith, who currently serves as Director of Special Projects for the Casino Queen, presented the idea for introducing the nationally recognized Character Counts program in the school. He will be directly involved in implementing the program, through which Alternative High School educators will receive volunteer/community service inducing training that will be integrated into the student body's fabric. The end goal is to produce a new generation of leaders who thoroughly embrace the concept of taking ownership of their immediate surroundings. Long term goals call for the program to be rolled out district-wide. The third PARTNERS FOR PROGRESS objective focuses upon community development. "A plan of action is being formulated regarding methods of developing and attracting the best and brightest to contribute to East St. Louis' workforce landscape and abounding potential for restored greatness as a thriving, viable, vibrant populace," stated East St. Louis School District #189 Superintendent of Schools and Partners for Progress Secretary Dr. Theresa Saunders. At the heart of this objective is East St. Louis (IL.) School District #189's desire to counter the rising tide of teacher retirement, student population decline and the local housing authority's recent public housing unit reductions with a unique, resource maximizing solution. Research has determined the school district stands to lose 600 students within the next two years because of potential housing shortages. With this in mind, the school district hopes plans can be developed through this partnership to address the potential conversion of existing school district facilities to thriving residential and commercial entities, thereby aiding the City's effort to actively recruit and attract new, as well as former residents to East St. Louis, while also expanding the pool of potential educators to offset teacher attrition. Archived Stories: East St. Louis Post Office Renamed in Honor of Choreographer Katherine M. Dunham Eddie Fisher & The Next One Hundred Years "Break Word with the World" Celebrates Release of Drumvoices Revue Landmark Eads Bridge Has Reopened, So How Do Motorists Access It? 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