[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING OUR NATION'S TEACHERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 21, 1997, the gentlewoman from Kentucky 
[Mrs. Northup] is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. NORTHUP. Mr. Speaker, on this day when we honor our Nation's 
teachers, I would like to highlight the work of one accomplished 
educator in my district of Louisville, KY.
  Jacqueline Austin spent 13 years as a classroom teacher before being 
named as principal of John F. Kennedy Elementary School. In her first 
year as principal, Mrs. Austin would arrive early at work and phone 
students to wake them up and ensure that they were coming to school. 
She says it was the only way she knew to improve the school's 
attendance rate, which was near the bottom of all of Jefferson County 
elementary schools.
  Kennedy could be found at the bottom of a lot of other lists, not 
only in attendance but also in test scores and failure rates. In fact, 
more than 30 percent of John F. Kennedy's kindergartners and 23 percent 
of its first graders had failed a grade.
  Located in one of the toughest housing projects in the city, Kennedy 
Elementary seemed to be a lost cause. But in the tradition of 
outstanding educators, Mrs. Austin set about finding ways to solve her 
school's problems. Her good friend, Ethel Minnis, wife of director of 
Career Workforce Education Bernard Minnis, made her aware of the 
Montessori style of education, which, as Jackie says, encourages 
students to be actively engaged in their own education.
  Under the direction of Ms. Austin, Kennedy became the only public 
Montessori school in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Now, 10 years after 
Jackie Austin was given this seemingly impossible task, John F. Kennedy 
Elementary is a model school. The student scores on the State tests 
have earned the school acclaim. It was recently named a Kentucky 
Pacesetter School for consistent academic achievement. Mrs. Austin 
herself was given the Milken Family Award for Excellence in Education.
  Students run the school's in-house TV network, WJFK. Not only do they 
appear on air, but they also operate the cameras, produce, direct, and 
stage manage the broadcasts. Students run their own post office and 
take a mini civil service exam, and students run the Kennedy Financial 
Services, which teaches skills associated with banking as well as 
investing in stocks and bonds.
  Jackie Austin's enthusiasm and work ethic have proven to be 
contagious. Parental involvement in the school is at an all-time high. 
Kennedy teacher Patti Barron says, ``When you have a principal that 
works as hard as she does, we're willing to work as hard as we can.'' 
John F. Kennedy Elementary has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes of a 
once failing school.
  Jackie Austin was on the front lines of this Nation's war against 
ignorance. She was innovative and determined not to let the enemy win. 
The results she has achieved exemplify what happens when educators are 
allowed to be independent and creative.
  Mrs. Austin says, ``Every child is a learner. With all of the outside 
distractions, we have to make learning dynamic and exciting.'' Jackie 
Austin has done just that. I was honored to meet her and tour her 
school, a modern day success story, where education and learning are 
paramount.

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