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2011 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 858
Commending WHRO on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 18, 2011
Agreed to by the Senate, February 24, 2011

 

WHEREAS, in 2011 WHRO will celebrate 50 years of providing quality, educational public media services to the Hampton Roads area; and

WHEREAS, in 1957 Norfolk Public Schools, with a grant from the Ford Foundation’s Fund for the Advancement of Education and the donation of production and broadcast time by WVEC-TV, began an experiment in the demonstration of teaching by television at the elementary-secondary levels in Hampton Roads; and

WHEREAS, in 1961 Vincent J. Thomas and Hunter B. Andrews, School Board Chairs of Norfolk and Hampton, respectively, by a handshake agreement established WHRO-TV, and the Federal Communications Commission awarded a license to those school systems to operate channel 15, Virginia’s first noncommercial, educational television station; and

WHEREAS, the next several years saw the utilization of instruction programs on WHRO-TV expand to cities and counties throughout Hampton Roads; and

WHEREAS, in 1968 the participating school systems formally incorporated to own and govern WHRO as the Hampton Roads Education Television Association, Inc., a private nonprofit education corporation; and

WHEREAS, WHRO has grown into a vibrant public media company now owned by 18 public school systems throughout Hampton Roads and is a trusted organization that promotes education, culture, and citizenship through a variety of radio and television products, educational services, a reading service for the blind, and a unique online local music and art gallery; and

WHEREAS, WHRO delivers educational and new media services to 286,000 students and 25,000 educators per month; and

WHEREAS, in 2011 WHRO will celebrate its 50th anniversary of uninterrupted and expanding service to the students, educators, parents, caregivers, and children of Hampton Roads; and

WHEREAS, WHRO has provided valuable services to the citizens of Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth during its 50-year history; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend WHRO on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to WHRO as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation for the corporation’s commitment to providing services that have educated, engaged, and entertained the citizens of Hampton Roads and enhanced the quality of life in the Commonwealth for 50 years.