[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 148 (Friday, October 16, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ALL-USA TEACHERS FROM COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, HONORED

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MAC COLLINS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 16, 1998

  Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate five teachers 
from Columbus, Georgia, who have been selected from over 600 of their 
colleagues to be honored for their outstanding commitment to our 
children.
  Coleen Cotton, Deborah Greene, James Pippin, and Amy Willis of Arnold 
Middle School are among the twenty-three teachers named to the ``USA 
Today's All-USA Teacher Team.'' Nicknamed the ``Dream Team,'' the four 
have worked together to integrate their school subjects (language arts, 
science, social studies, and math) in order to make learning relevant 
for their students. The symbol of their creation is a ball of yarn 37.5 
feet in diameter.
  An example of the yarn's usefulness as a learning tool was described 
in yesterday's USA Today. ``The project has snowballed since the yarn 
ball was started seven years ago. Last year, Amy Willis' math classes 
calculated the mathematical qualities of the ball, predicted that 
year's expansion and estimated its weight. Debbie Greene's science 
classes learned about yarn's role in textiles, a Columbus industry. Jim 
Pippin's social studies classes investigated similar large balls of 
yarn and twine. And Coleen Cotton's reading classes read some `yarns.' 
''
  I also extend my congratulations to Nan Pate of Brookstone School in 
Columbus on being awarded with an ``All-USA Honorable Mention.''
  These five teachers from Columbus, Georgia, represent the kind of 
devotion and ingenuity that is needed to take our country and our 
children into the 21st century. It is these teachers, and others like 
them, who will strive to make our education system the best in the 
world. I thank them for their commitment, and I congratulate them on 
their excellence.

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