[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 97 (Thursday, July 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1387-E1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO JACKIE O'CONNOR DOLLAR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. FRANK RIGGS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 9, 1997

  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the activities of 
Jackie O'Connor Dollar, the director of the Head Start Program in Napa 
and Solano Counties, which I represent. Last week, Jackie was presented 
with the Head Start-Johnson & Johnson Excellence in Management Award 
for her outstanding work on behalf of Napa and Solano Counties' 
children.
  In September 1995, the Napa and Solano County Head Start programs 
were consolidated into one. Although this merger increased her area of 
responsibility by 400 percent, Jackie handled the change in stride and

[[Page E1388]]

went ahead with her plans to begin new programs in the Heat Start 
classroom.
  One of her most notable accomplishments is the implementation of an 
inclusive school project in which preschool children with severe 
disabilities are integrated with regular classroom students. By working 
closely with the county education offices and unified school districts, 
90 students who would have normally attended classes for severely 
mentally and physically disabled children were, for the first time, to 
join mainstream classes.
  I have personally visited the sites that Jackie has set up and have 
been impressed time and again with her hard work and commitment to the 
education of children with special needs.
  Programs like Head Start work because of people like Jackie O'Connor 
Dollar. Her hard work, innovation, and accomplishments on behalf of 
northern California's children should be held up as a model for others.

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