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TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR KATHY OLSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE EDUCATION COUNCIL, UPON THE OCCASION OF HER RETIREMENT AFTER TWENTY-THREE YEARS OF OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO UNITED WAY OF THE MIDLANDS, AND TO WISH HER CONTINUED SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN ALL HER FUTURE ENDEAVORS.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives have learned that Kathy Olson will be honored on January 23, 2018, as she begins a well-deserved retirement after twenty-three years with United Way of the Midlands, the last of which have been as the distinguished and highly regarded senior director of the Education Council; and
Whereas, in 1991, Kathy Olson relocated from Iowa to South Carolina, and three years later she began serving United Way of the Midlands as the coordinator of the Midlands Literacy Initiative Project; and
Whereas, she created the Midlands Reading Consortium, a tutoring program that matches volunteers with children in kindergarten through second grade to improve their reading proficiency, a program which has grown from serving sixty students in two schools to over five hundred students a year at thirty sites in eight districts. Over three thousand students have benefitted from the program since its inception; and
Whereas, in her determination to impact the lives of young people in their education, jobs, and life skills, Ms. Olson has excelled by engaging the community in the fight to improve literacy through the creation of more than one hundred twenty-five partnerships and through raising over one million dollars in books for the home libraries of students; and
Whereas, Ms. Olson has obtained and administered over five million dollars in grant resources to support workforce development, AmeriCorp Vista volunteers, and literacy in the community; and
Whereas, as an administrator, mentor, and friend, she has served the partners and staff of the United Way of the Midlands Education Community with distinction, as well as the community at large and AmeriCorp Vista; and
Whereas, Ms. Olson enjoys membership in a monthly ladies only book club, and she is a longtime member of the Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia Art Museum, and the State Museum. She is an avid supporter of the University of Iowa and a faithful member of its Alumni Association; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the years of unparalleled dedication that Kathy Olson has devoted to United Way of the Midlands and wish her many years of enjoyment in her well-earned retirement. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Kathy Olson, senior director of the Education Council, upon the occasion of her retirement after twenty-three years of outstanding service to United Way of the Midlands, and wish her continued success and happiness in all her future endeavors.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Kathy Olson.
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