Rockford Public Schools Social Studies K-12  Abraham Lincoln in the Rock River Valley Abraham Lincoln's Bicentennial African American History Links All About Money! All About Rockford! Arbor Day Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Bullying Prevention Education Calendar - What's Going On? Constitution Day Current Events CURRICULUM GUIDES & MAPS: GRADES 5-8 CURRICULUM GUIDES & MAPS: GRADES 9-12 CURRICULUM GUIDES & MAPS: GRADES K-4 Curriculum Integration Earth Day East HS Veterans Memorial Election Day Elementary Social Studies Program Field Trip Experiences - UPDATED! Games! Genealogy Geography Grade 3 Social Studies Grade 4 Social Studies Grade 6 Grade Social Studies Program Grade 6 Social Studies Hispanic Heritage Month Holocaust & Genocide Home Houghton Mifflin Economics HS American Government HS Projector Resources HS Social Studies Textbooks I Have... Who Has? Activities Illinois State Learning Standards for Social Science Immigration Irish Famine Study Junior Achievement Labor and Unions Labor Day Memorial Day Midway Village Museum NEW! Native American Heritage Month NEW! World History Resources News to Use in Social Studies Newspapers Around the Globe Political Cartoons PowerPoint Presentations Presidential Inauguration Presidents' Day Primary Source Documents Professional Development PSAE Practice for HS Social Studies Rockford's Sister Cities Rubrics for Social Studies Social Studies Scope and Sequence Spanish Influenza of 1918 Special Projects Study Skills Teaching American History Grant Thanksgiving Three Cups of Tea Veterans Day Vocabulary - English Vocabulary - Spanish War & Conflict Website of the Week Women's History Wondrous Women Main   >   Curriculum   >   Social Studies Rockford's Sister Cities Rockford’s Sister Cities Form the City of Rockford "The U.S. sister city program originated in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a people-to-people, citizen diplomacy initiative. Originally a part of the National League of Cities, Sister Cities International became a separate, nonprofit corporation in 1967, due to the tremendous growth and popularity of the U.S. program. Sister Cities International creates and strengthens these sister city partnerships in an effort to increase global cooperation, promote cultural understanding, and stimulate economic development. Sister Cities International leads the movement for local community development and volunteer action, by motivating and empowering private citizens, municipal officials, and business leaders to conduct long-term programs of mutual benefit." Rockford has 7 Sister Cities: • Changzhou, China – 1999 • Taszár, Hungary – 2007 • Ferentino, Italy – 2006 • Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan – 2006 • Cluj-Napoca, Romania – 2005 • Borgholm, Sweden – 2002 • Brovary, Ukraine – 1995 Rockford’s Sister Cities Garden Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza "Rockford’s Sister Cities Garden was established September 21, 2008 on the International Day of Peace to promote peace and prosperity through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation. This garden has flags representing the countries of Rockford’s Sister Cities. The flowers in this garden represent the colors in each country’s flag. Plaques in each section of the garden describe the Sister City relationship." This link gives a brief description for each of Rockford's seven Sister Cities. Sister Cities Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau "The Rockford Region participates in Sister Cities International, with three foreign cities. Established as a national program by former President Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities involves individuals and organized groups from all levels of society in citizen diplomacy, with the hope that personal relationships, fostered through sister city, county and state affiliations, will lessen world conflict." This site highlights five out of the seven Sister Cities. Sister City Initiatives From the Rockford Area Economic Development Council Descriptions of all seven of Rockford's Sister Cities from the Rockford Area Economic Development Council. Changzhou From jiangsu.net "Changzhou, nicknamed the Dragon Town, is a city with a history of 2,500 years." What do Changzhou and Rockford have in common? Taszár Air Base From GlobalSecurity.org Taszár is a village in Somogy county, Hungary. The Taszár Air Base located here. Ferentino, Italy: Rockford's Sister City From Ferentino's Pro Loco Go to the left side of the screen and click on GRIAA to see more about Ferentino, Rockford's Sister City, from the Italian perspective. Kyrgyzstan - Land of the Tien Shan From Advantour.com "Snow-white peaks scraping the sky. Alpine meadows abundant in flowers and steppes permeated with the smell of wormwood. Rough mountain rivers, winding between the slopes, and lakes that lie motionless amid the summits, like mirrors dropped by a playing beauty... All these are Kyrgyzstan, the country with ancient history..." Cluj-Napoca, Romania From the Romanian Tourist Office "his western city in the region of Transylvania traces its origins back to the Dacian settlement of Napuca in the 2-nd century A.D. After the Roman take-over of Dacia, it was renamed Napoca and in 124 A.D., received the rank of 'municipium'. The city quickly advanced socially and economically and during Marcus Aurelius' reign Napoca received the title 'colonia', the highest possible urban status in the Roman Empire." Borgholm, Sweden From Answers.com "Borgholm is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 3,093 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea." Even though Borgholm's population in 1990 was only 3,169, it is still considered a city. Can you discover why? Brovary, Ukraine From UkraineTrek.com Brovary is a city of approximately 90,000 and is located just east of Kiev, Ukraine. It is primarily a residential community. General info, streets sceneries photos and pictures, population, history and more can be found here.

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