Archive for the 'General' category

Senator James Donovan

Nov 19 2012 Published by under General

Senator James Donovan is widely remembered for his 14-year role as chairman of the Senate Education Committee. A “man of the people,” he contributed greatly to education in New York, while fighting illiteracy and teenage pregnancy as well.

Jim Donovan also held several other roles, including chairman of the Committee on Roads and Public Works and chairman of the Committee on Mental Hygiene and Addiction Control.

When Donovan passed away, numerous institutes were named in his honor. His death was described as a “tremendous loss.”

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Senaor James Donovan and the Gold Baton Award

Dec 31 2010 Published by under General

Throughout his life, Senator James Donovan contributed greatly to New York’s education, and worked to lessen teenage illiteracy and pregnancy. He also supported the building of new schools with his creation of the New York City School Construction Authority.

Mr. Donovan received many awards in honor of his efforts, including the Gold Baton Award, Utica Symphony Orchestra, Inc., in 1987. This orchestra is well known, and is one of the only groups of professional symphonies “providing high quality symphonic music that is accessible to all residents of our region and actively contributes to the economic, social and educational development of the Mohawk Valley through performance and outreach activities.”

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Senator Donovan: “A Man of the People”

Nov 11 2010 Published by under General, Senate Work, Senator James H Donovan

James H. Donovan is famous for his 14 year role as chairman of the US Senate Education Committee. However, he served as chairman for many other committees throughout his life. His first experience as chairman was of the Committee on Roads and Public Works. He also served as chairman of the Committee of Mental Hygiene and Addiction Control, and of the Select Committee on Mentally and Physically Handicapped.

In addition to serving in many committees, Senator Donovan was honored with hundreds of awards from groups around New York State. These include, but are not limited to; the Gold Baton Award, the Americanism Award, Construction Man of the Year, the Anne B Gennings Award, the Man of the Year Award and many, many others.

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Parents as Reading Partners: James H. Donovan

Oct 24 2010 Published by under General, Senator James H Donovan

We all know the importance of learning to read. Reading can broaden children’s horizons and enhance their imaginations, but it also has a huge role in the rest of their lives. Every activity, education and career path or job requires good reading skills. By making reading an enjoyable activity in children’s lives, we can instill these skills in children at a young age, and encourage them to continue reading and expanding their vocabularies as they grow older.

Senator James H. Donovan recognized this, and started a program called PARP- Parents as Reading Partners as a means to achieve this goal. He believed that if parents spent at least 15 minutes each day to read with their child, the child would both enjoy reading and acquire the skills necessary to succeed academically.  The child need not read alone- the reading should alternate between the child and the parent, so that the child does not get discouraged if he or she is having difficulty reading. This method does not only help instill reading skills, it also increases parent involvement in the child’s life and may encourage the child to express his or her opinions about the book, school and more. This program has been adopted by a great number of schools and parents on their own, and is helping children everywhere.

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Life of Senator James H. Donovan

Aug 16 2010 Published by under General

State Senator James H. Donovan was first elected in 1965, serving for 25 years, until shortly before his death from cancer.  During his time in this position, Donovan achieved a lot, and will go down in history as “serving his district longer than any other state legislator.”  What he was most well-known for was his role as chairman of the Senate Education Committee, which he held for 14 years.  Through this role Donovan made efforts in expanding programs “aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy and illiteracy.”  He also was a forerunner in the creation of the New York City School Construction Authority, a measure that enabled NYC to tremendously reduce red tape in the construction of new schools.  In addition, he chaired the Committee on Mental Hygiene and Addiction Control as well as the Committee on Roads and Public Works.    But it was really his work in education that he made the most significant strides, according to Ralph J. Marino, State majority leader who claimed that this was “where he assured that quality and affordable education was this state’s top priority.”

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