[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF SADIE M. CURRY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB RILEY

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 19, 2000

  Mr. RILEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ms. Sadie M. 
Curry, who is being recognized this weekend for her lifetime 
achievement. Ms. Curry retired in 1999 after 41 years as a science 
teacher in Talladega, Alabama.
  From the beginning of her teaching career, Ms. Curry received 
commendations for her teaching. She was named Teacher of the Year for 
Talladega County even as early as 1960; first designated as Outstanding 
Elementary Teacher of the year in 1972; and named Teacher of the Year 
for Talladega Middle School in 1984. She continued to receive the honor 
of Teacher of the Year for Dixon Middle School, the school from which 
she retired, throughout the 1990's. She was named as a Finalist in the 
Jacksonville State University Hall of Fame Teacher of the Year 
competition in 1985 and again in 1995 and 1996. Further, she was 
nominated as Alabama State Teacher of the Year three times.
  Sadie Curry was deeply involved in teaching science to her students. 
She became the Coordinator of the Local Science Fair in 1972 and 
continued in this position through 1994. She also served as Director of 
the Northeast Alabama International Science and Engineering Fair from 
1982-1985. She was honored by the Environmental Protection Agency for 
her teaching unit on ``Learning to Love Trees,'' and received the 
Talladega Scientist of the Year Award in 1985. She was honored by the 
American Society of Microbiology for Aspiring American Youth in 1984 
and in that same year received a $500 mini-grant from the Alabama 
Department of Economic and Community Affairs to assist teachers in the 
teaching and promotions of science, technology and energy in the 
classroom. In 1994, she won the Catalyst Award for Excellence in 
Science Teaching by the National Chemical Manufacturers Association. In 
1995, she and three of her students traveled to Washington, D.C. for 
the 15th Annual National Recognition Ceremonies for the Youth Awards 
Program Energy Education.
  Her instruction in science included conservation. For this, she was 
nominated as Conservation Teacher of the Year in 1984 and was named as 
Conservation Teacher of the Year in 1997. Dixon Middle School was the 
winner of the Alabama State Campus Cleanup Program in 1996, the 3rd 
place winner in 1998 and the winner of the Alabama People Against a 
Littered State Cleanup Campus Award in 1997.
  However, Ms. Curry's quality as a teacher has gone far beyond her 
instruction in science. She cares deeply about her students. Her energy 
and enthusiasm are contagious, and she has challenged her students to 
be the best that they can be. They have learned to respect their 
environment and one another. It is said that the measure of a person's 
worth is in the effect he has on others. Ms. Curry's worth can be seen 
in the effect she has had on the many students she has taught and the 
very fact that many are returning for her tribute this weekend. In her 
honor there is now a Sadie M. Curry Outstanding Science Award at Dixon 
Middle School. For the next twenty years, an outstanding science 
student will have his name engraved on a plaque displayed at the 
school.

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