[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 80 (Wednesday, June 22, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            RECOGNIZING LISA SZYMCZAK OF COLLEGE STATION, TX

                                 ______


                            HON. JACK FIELDS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 22, 1994

  Mr. FIELDS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to 
salute a resident of Texas' 8th Congressional District: Lisa Szymczak, 
a May 1994 graduate from Texas A&M University, who is a recent winner 
of a prestigious James Madison Fellowship.
  Miss Szymczak is one of just 61 individuals nationwide to receive 
James Madison Fellowships this year. The fellowships, presented by the 
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation in Washington, DC, allow 
outstanding college graduates who wish to become history, government or 
social studies teachers in our Nation's secondary schools to continue 
their educations in American history. Experienced secondary school 
teachers in those same subjects may also compete for James Madison 
Fellowships.
  Miss Szymczak was born in Houston and raised in Spring, TX. A former 
engineering student who switched her major to education, at A&M she was 
inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi education honor society. She made the 
dean's list, received a distinguished student certificate and was the 
recipient of a Polish National Alliance academic scholarship from 1988 
to 1994.
  While at A&M, Miss Szymczak served as a committee leader at the 
Memorial Student Center, working on subjects as diverse as world 
hunger, Native American Week, and adult literacy. She also served as a 
world history tutor at a local high school.
  In her fellowship application, Miss Szymczak stated that she wishes 
to enter the field of teaching because of the influence of one of her 
high school history teachers. She stated that she desires to introduce 
her future students to a subject she loves, to make them think about 
history, to make them remember it and to help them enjoy it.
  Named after James Madison--the United States' fourth president and 
the ``Father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights''--each 
fellowship is valued at $24,000, allowing recipients to pursue master's 
degrees. Their course of study must emphasize the history and 
principles of the United States Constitution.
  Applicants from each of the 50 States competed for fellowships, which 
are funded by income from a trust fund in the Treasury of the United 
States and from additional private gifts, corporate contributions and 
foundation grants. In exchange for a fellowship, each winner promises 
to teach American history or social studies in a secondary school for 
at least 1 year for each year of fellowship support. The award is 
intended to recognize promising and distinguished teachers, to 
strengthen their knowledge of the origins and development of American 
constitutional government, and thus expose the Nation's secondary 
school students to accurate knowledge of the Nation's constitutional 
heritage.
  Mr. Speaker, I have every confidence that Lisa Szymczak will make an 
outstanding history teacher, and an outstanding addition to one of our 
Nation's public schools. Her enthusiasm, together with the new 
perspectives that her James Madison Fellowship will allow her to obtain 
as she pursues her master's degree, will contribute to an improved and 
revitalized public school system. Her love of history will, I believe, 
inspire her future students to do their very best in that and other 
subjects, and will instill in them both a love of history and a better 
understanding of how past events shape our lives even today.
  I hope you will join with me, Mr. Speaker, in saluting this 
remarkable young woman and wishing her the very best in the years 
ahead.

                          ____________________