[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 153 (Wednesday, November 3, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S13834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING THE MT. BAKER PTA

 Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I take the floor today to applaud 
the members and volunteers of the Mt. Baker Parent-Teacher Association 
that have successfully raised over $100,000 for its schools. Mt. Baker 
is a small, rural community just south of the Canadian border that 
lacks a sufficient tax-base to cover the costs of buying new technology 
for its schools.
  In an effort to raise funds to purchase up-to-date resources for 
their students, volunteers from the PTA opened a small restaurant with 
their own time and resources. To date, this venture has provided over 
$100,000 to improve education in Mt. Baker. For that reason, I am 
pleased to present one of my Innovation in Education Awards to the Mt. 
Baker PTA.
  In January of 1989, 20 parents took out a loan and purchased a run-
down restaurant booth at the Northwest Washington Fair Grounds. Parents 
and volunteers spent countless hours cleaning and preparing the 
restaurant for its opening in March of 1989. For the past 10 years, 
volunteers and parents have worked at hundreds of community events to 
feed the fairground visitors, raising money that funded new research 
and learning equipment for math and science students, field trips 
across western Washington, and countless other tools for learning that 
have enhanced the education at all Mt. Baker schools.
  The volunteers at the Mt. Baker PTA demonstrate that local educators 
and parents know what their students need to succeed and deserve the 
freedom and flexibility in the Federal education funds to better 
educate their children.
  The innovative thinking and hard work of the Mt. Baker community 
teaches its students of the importance of a good education and how a 
community can work together to achieve a common goal. The Mt. Baker PTA 
is an example for all of us to follow. I hope that my colleagues will 
join me in commending the people of this community for their hard work 
to improve the education for their children.

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