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WHEREAS, Richard Sherman was born and raised and educated in Pittsburgh, PA, having grown up in an educated, loving family and taking part in all the extracurricular and educational opportunities available. Richard grew to place enormous value on education, understanding the fundamental economic and intellectual values that lead to freedom, socialization, ethics and community responsibility; and,
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WHEREAS, after college and several jobs, Richard embarked on a life changing, transformative experience walk through the Appalachian Trail. Months after, Richard made the commitment to teach English as a second or foreign language, completing the TOEFL testing and searching for positions in Asian countries where he could best share his extraordinary talents. Having been offered positions in South Korea, Japan and Guam amongst others, Richard realized that he had an historical pull and connection to the country of Cambodia; and,
WHEREAS, recognizing that learning English would change the lives of the children of the small towns in Cambodia and also understanding the connection between his ancestors' history of the Holocaust and the Cambodian's horrific history under the Kmer Rouge, Richard knew that his commitment to "repair the world" would mean that he could begin to repair the decimated intellectual life and infrastructure of a whole culture. Because of the gaps and deficits in the Cambodian educational system, Richard will face challenges but relishes the opportunity to teach English, to start a school, one classroom at a time, in order to achieve a dissolution of stereotypes and the chance to teach a new generation of Cambodian children.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does commend Richard Sherman for embarking on an educational paradigm shift for the families of Cambodia and congratulates Richard Sherman for undertaking an opportunity to build a school to teach English, to change stereotypes and to promote...
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