[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 73 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5608-S5609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO JANE ELLEN STRITZINGER

 Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to one of this 
country's great educators as she retires after over 30 years of 
teaching English in my home state of Alabama. This week marks the end 
of an outstanding career for Jane Ellen Stritzinger as she retires from 
Demopolis High School. Mrs. Stritzinger has taught thousands of 
students to write well and motivated many to pursue higher education. I 
join her family, friends, fellow teachers and the students she has 
guided in congratulating and wishing her well in retirement. Her 
devoted service to the young people of Alabama has made both the state 
and the nation better places. Her leadership and teaching will be 
sorely missed.
  Mrs. Stritzinger's awards, activities and leadership positions are 
far too numerous to list exhaustively, yet a few bear special mention. 
She was selected as the Alabama State Teacher of the Year, District V 
winner for 1999-2000. Mrs. Stritzinger has also received the University 
of West Alabama College of Liberal Arts Alumni Achievement Award, the 
Tombigbee Girl Scout Council Outstanding Educator Award and the Alabama 
Council of Teachers of English Distinguished Service Award. She has 
also been recognized three times by the National Endowment for the 
Humanities with Awards allowing her to attend special seminars. In 
addition to her support of educational efforts, Mrs. Stritzinger has 
played active roles in numerous community organizations including 
historical, alumni and religious organizations.
  Mrs. Stritzinger spent most of her career teaching English and 
literature to twelfth grade students at Demopolis High School where she 
has been responsible for the Advanced Placement, Honors and College-
bound English classes. In addition, she has served as the Chairperson 
of the English Department at Demopolis High School for twenty years and 
of both the English Curriculum Development and the English Textbook 
Committees. Early in her career, she taught English at Uniontown High 
School and remedial reading at Westside School and served as Assistant 
Director of the Alabama Consortium for the Development of Higher 
Education. She has helped mold the minds of students as they prepared 
for college and for life. Her focus on encouraging and recognizing 
academic excellence extended beyond her classroom to the numerous 
activities and organizations she helped coordinate including founding 
the local chapter of the National Honor Society.
  Mrs. Stritzinger holds a strong belief in encouraging students to 
improve their reading abilities and develop strong writing skills. She 
championed using the Accelerated Reader Program and applied for her 
school to become an Alabama Reading Initiative Demonstration site. She 
devoted countless hours over the years to the Alabama Penman Creative 
Writing Contest, the Gulf Coast Writing Conference, the Program to 
Recognize Excellence in High School Literary Magazines, a tutorial 
program for high school students and the Beta Club. Mrs. Stritzinger 
participated in a program on writing instruction filmed by the State 
Department of Education for Alabama Public Television.

[[Page S5609]]

  Strong schools foster strong students and Mrs. Stritzinger worked 
diligently to improve the quality of our Alabama schools. She was 
selected as Chairperson of the Ten Year Study for Demopolis High School 
for Southern Association accreditation and as Teachers' Representative 
to the Demopolis Educational Foundation. She served as chairperson of 
the Grants Committee for the Educational Foundation and coordinated a 
system-wide meeting for reading and language teachers on improving test 
scores. Mrs. Stritzinger represented Demopolis High School on the Mid-
South Humanities Project, the University of Alabama Bio-Prep Workshops 
and a School Improvement Workshop. She also served on an Alabama State 
Department of Education Evaluation Team to accredit Judson College. 
Central to her effort to improve our schools was her twenty years as a 
Cooperating Teacher providing guidance to student teachers seeking 
classroom experience. She also played an active role in encouraging the 
use of technology in the classroom including through the use of the 
Internet.
  Mrs. Stritzinger earned both Masters and Bachelors degrees in English 
and maintains affiliations with numerous education associations. She 
has been married to Pete Stritzinger for 36 years and while pursuing 
this busy career raised two daughters--Ann and Gloria. Mrs. 
Stritzinger's commitment to Demopolis Schools continues a tradition 
begun by her mother Lucille Lewis who was also a long serving public 
school teacher.
  No one can begin to quantify the amazing impact that a teacher of 
Mrs. Stritzinger's ability has had on her students and on her 
community. The success stories are myriad and many of Mrs. 
Stritzinger's students have risen to become pillars of their 
communities. Often her students have been inspired by Mrs. 
Stritzinger's teaching to pursue careers as teachers or careers which 
depend upon the critical thinking and strong writing skills fostered by 
her classes.
  As you can tell from my description of her career, Mrs. Stritzinger's 
involvement in the Demopolis City School System will be hard to 
replace. Although I am sure she will stay involved with the schools and 
the community after retirement, she has begun a legacy of success that 
is sure to be continued. I am confident that her former students and 
fellow teachers will continue to rise to the challenges that Mrs. 
Stritzinger posed to them.
  Congratulations again Mrs. Stritzinger on such an outstanding 
career.

                          ____________________