[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 65 (Thursday, May 6, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 1999

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I speak in 
honor of our nation's teachers, especially in appreciation for the 
teachers of our children in Guam. In addition to being our children's 
instructors, they are also our children's counselors, mentors, and 
friends.
  Teachers run in my family's blood. My father was a teacher, and so is 
my mother. My wife and I are teachers, and my daughter is also a 
teacher.
  It is a vocation with such truthful and honorable intent that it 
attracts a diverse following. We have teachers who are idealists and 
strive to continually engaging young minds in mental, social and 
cultural challenges to teachers who are realists secure in their 
knowledge that for our nation to progress, our children must be 
provided the best books and resources possible.
  Teachers are a hardy lot. They experience setbacks such as budget 
cuts, increasing class sizes, decrepit school buildings and outdated 
textbooks, yet they persevere.
  In a way, all of us are teachers. In our daily lives we are 
constantly showing our children or our colleagues how to accomplish 
certain tasks or how to view certain issues. But it takes a special 
person to make teaching their life's vocation. You must have a buoyant 
spirit, a gentle touch and an infinite amount of patience.
  I would like to take this opportunity to especially congratulate one 
of these exemplary individuals on Guam, Ms. Barbara Gilman. She is 
Guam's 1999 Teacher of the Year and provides her excellent skills to 
the students of John F. Kennedy High School as their Physical Education 
instructor. It is not enough that Ms. Gilman has been featured in 
publications and the media, she has also won numerous awards on Guam 
such as the 1998 Outstanding Pacific Educator and a Resolution from the 
24th Guam Legislature. Ms. Gilman's experiences are diverse. She is not 
only a current member of Phi Delta Kappa, the Guam Track and Field 
Association and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, 
Recreation and Dance, she is also involved in staff development 
leadership activities such as the current chair of the Fifth Guam 
Teacher Forum, a coordinator and presentor at the 1998 Women in Sports 
Day, and the 1995-1996 chair of the Governance Committee in Goals 2000. 
Ms. Gilman is an accomplished teacher and community leader. With 30 
years of quality teaching experience under her belt, it is small wonder 
that she is being honored this year as Guam's Teacher of the Year.
  I had a meeting with Ms. Gilman and she expressed to me the concerns 
teachers from all over the nation have expressed during their 
conference here in Washington in April. Among their concerns are 
students' equal access to education resources and funding, the 
improvement of teaching conditions through reduced class sizes and 
increasing access to equipment and communications, the encouragement of 
teacher development and leadership through the creation of teacher 
forums and mentoring programs, and the promotion of public 
understanding of involvement in educational issues such as school 
safety and certification.
  The concerns listed by the Teachers of the Year are already addressed 
by President Clinton's plans to improve our nation's educational 
system. With the collaboration of Congress and under the leadership of 
Secretary Richard Riley, one of our nation's foremost educators, the 
U.S. Department of Education has implemented the first phase of its 
Class Size Reduction Initiative, a policy that sets out to hire 100,000 
new teachers over the next seven years.
  In light of the recent rash of school violence, the Safe Schools/
Healthy Students Initiative grant program is timely. The program would 
fund 50 communities for up to three years to link existing and new 
services and activities into a comprehensive community-wide approach 
for violence prevention and child development.
  The teachers and children on Guam will certainly benefit from these 
programs, and I will work hard to ensure that Congress will continue to 
support these programs.
  Again, to America's teachers, I congratulate you on this special 
occasion. To our Guam teachers, you deserve our sincerest gratitude for 
your leadership and guidance in our island's schools. To Ms. Barbara 
Gilman, thank you for your dedication to our island's children and for 
exemplifying the values and talents of a true teacher and mentor.

                          ____________________