[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1379-E1380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING GLENN SCHATZ: AN EXEMPLARY YOUNG MAN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM KOLBE

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 1999

  Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
outstanding accomplishments of Glenn Schatz, a senior at University 
High in Tucson. Glenn has been named winner of the 1999 Tucson Citizen 
Student Athlete-of-the-Year Award, which is presented annually to a 
high school senior who excels in scholarship, leadership and 
extracurricular activities. I met Glenn when I appointed him to be a 
Congressional Page last spring, a job he approached with the same 
commitment and zeal as he has the rest of his academic career. A four-
sport letterman who has managed to maintain a 3.92 grade point average, 
while at the same time participating in the school's marching, jazz, 
and concert bands. He served as president of the school's Distributive 
Education Club of America, the school chairman of the Young Republicans 
Club, and a recruiter for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. 
Additionally, he has been named a Presidential Scholar Award 
semifinalist and a National Merit Scholarship finalist.
  Glenn will be heading off to the United States Naval Academy in the 
fall, eventually to join the Navy's Judge Advocate General (JAG) corps. 
I have no doubt that Glenn has the intelligence, commitment, and 
ability to accomplish whatever goals he sets for his future. I 
congratulate him on his enormous accomplishments, and wish him all the 
good fortune in the future. I am enclosing an article from one of the 
newspapers in my district, which further details the accomplishments of 
this impressive young man.

  It'll Be Anchors Aweigh When Superbusy Senior Leaves University High

       Some students have a full plate in high school. University 
     High senior Glenn Schatz goes back for seconds.
       He has balanced a busy athletic schedule with the Rincon/
     University Rangers with his studies, his music, and on-campus 
     and off-campus activities to post a 3.92 grade-point average.
       An impressive list of achievements has made this four-sport 
     lettermen the winner of the 1999 Tucson Citizen Student 
     Athlete-of-the-Year Award.
       ``You never expect to win this type of award,'' Schatz 
     said. ``There are so many quality nominees, it's a honor just 
     to be nominated.''
       But Rangers football coach Jeff Green isn't surprised 
     Schatz is this year's winner.
       ``He certainly deserves the award,'' Green said. ``With all 
     he's involved in, his grades,

[[Page E1380]]

     his leadership on and off the field . . . the future is 
     bright for this young man.''
       Some of his academic highlights are: Scoring a 1,590 out of 
     1,600 on his SAT, getting a perfect score on the verbal and 
     missing just one math question; received a Congressional 
     appointment from Jim Kolbe to the United States Naval 
     Academy, which he will attend in the fall; a National 
     Merit Scholarship finalist; recently named a Presidential 
     Scholar Award semifinalist; awarded a Cornell University 
     summer dean's scholarship; and won a Dow Jones Newspaper 
     Fund writing award.
       Out of the classroom, Schatz has: served a semester as a 
     Congressional page in Washington; attended the Athletics In 
     Public Service Forum in Washington; was selected by the 
     Academy of Achievement for the Banquet of the Golden Plate, 
     one of 400 students in the nation chosen; a member of the 
     school's marching, jazz and concert bands; and served as 
     president of the school's Distributive Education Club in 
     America, school chairman of the Young Republicans Club and as 
     a recruiter for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
       ``I like to keep busy,'' said Schatz, a budding master of 
     understatement.
       With only 22 players on the Rangers varsity roster football 
     team last fall, Green kept the versatile Schatz busy at 
     numerous positions on offense and defense.
       ``Because Glenn is quick to learn and such a good athlete, 
     we played him at a lot of different positions,'' Green said. 
     ``On offense, we used him at fullback, tight end, wide 
     receiver and flanker. On defense, we used him at linebacker, 
     end, middle guard and tackle. He never complained. He was 
     willing to do whatever it took to help us win. He showed his 
     leadership abilities every day.''
       Prior to the football season, Green, in his first year as 
     coach of the Rangers, didn't know what he had in the 6-foot-
     3, 215-pound Schatz. The senior missed spring practice 
     because he was working as a Congressional page, and he missed 
     most of the summer passing league because he was taking 
     college courses at Cornell.
       ``I didn't expect Glenn to come back to us in great shape 
     and wasn't expecting that much of him,'' Green admitted. ``He 
     was a pleasant surprise for us. He did a nice job in the 
     brief time we had him for the passing league, but a passing 
     league isn't football. I didn't know how tough he was, both 
     physically and mentally, so I wasn't sure what he could give 
     us.''
       But Schatz, who lettered three years in football, two in 
     basketball, one in baseball and one in track, showed Green he 
     could be an impact player and impressed the Navy football 
     coaches, who would have offered Schatz a scholarship if he 
     hadn't received a Congressional appointment.
       ``Can he play at Navy? I think he can because he's so 
     versatile and because he can run well for his size,'' Green 
     said. ``At the next level it's difficult, but his goal is to 
     make the traveling squad as a freshman, and I don't think 
     there are too many goals that Glenn has ever missed.''
       Schatz already had planned to serve in the armed forces 
     after graduating from college, intending to take ROTC.
       ``At the beginning of the year, the Naval Academy was a 
     side thought for me,'' he said. ``But the more I thought 
     about it, the more it appealed to me, the way the system 
     works, how everything has a set structure, because that fits 
     my character.
       ``I have an uncle who went to West Point. My whole family 
     has served in one capacity or another. It's always been part 
     of my background and heritage.''
       Schatz hopes to become a lawyer and join the Navy's Judge 
     Advocate General (JAG) corps.
       ``The nice thing is that the Navy will pay for graduate 
     school and law school,'' he said. ``Through ROTC, I would 
     have only served four years, but coming out of the Academy, I 
     think I'll advance pretty quickly, so now I'm thinking about 
     making the Navy my career.''
       And perhaps later, a career in politics might come along. 
     Schatz called his semester in Washington as a Congressional 
     page ``the best experience of my life'' and said he might run 
     for Congress some day.
       ``The experience of working with Congressman, people who 
     control the way the country works, was wonderful,'' he said. 
     ``I worked in the Clerk's office and worked on the House 
     floor. I interacted with all the Congressmen. I had to answer 
     calls, take messages to the Congressmen. It was really 
     something special.''
       As is the 1999 winner of the Citizen's Student Athlete-of-
     the-Year award.

     

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