"This celebration of the life and legacy of our nation's 16th
president is a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity," said State
Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. "We hope that
everyone in school on Feb. 12 will recite President Lincoln's highly
regarded speech. Students can always open books and learn, but this
is an opportunity to experience -- and perhaps make -- history."
Lincoln's Birthday is officially a school holiday, but schools can
be in session that day. In fact, more than 93 percent of Illinois
schools have petitioned ISBE to have classes on Feb. 12.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the record for
most people reading aloud simultaneously is 223,363 participants.
The Feb. 12 reading will be broadcast live at the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library Museum and on the Web. Teachers and school
administrators can register for the reading at
www.presidentlincoln.org, where they can also find the
Gettysburg Address and other resources for the day, along with forms
that must be completed if their school wishes to become part of the
world record attempt. Schools may participate without taking part in
the record attempt if they wish.
In addition, public school students in fifth and eighth grade who
are in class that day will receive a commemorative poster with the
271 words that President Lincoln so eloquently delivered in 1863 on
the battlefield near Gettysburg.
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"Lincoln's brief speech reminds Americans that the ideals of
equality and freedom are the foundations of healthy democratic
government," said Illinois State Historian Thomas Schwartz. "A
moving testament to the honored dead, the address is also a
challenge to contemplate what the ultimate cause for their sacrifice
was. Lincoln urges Americans to expand their understanding of
American equality through a 'new birth of freedom' for the former
enslaved peoples.''
The Feb. 12 Gettysburg Address reading, entitled the Four Score
and Seven Project, is generously supported by JP Morgan Chase,
MacArthur Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust and
administered by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.
"We know that teaching and learning become more effective when
students are engaged and participating in what they're studying,"
said Koch. "We hope that the activities of the day will whet the
appetites of future historians.''
[Text from
Illinois
State Board of Education
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |