[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 23 (Wednesday, March 6, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO THE COLORADO CHERRY CREEK DIVERSITY CONFERENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 6, 2002

  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to rise today to 
congratulate the Colorado Cherry Creek Diversity Conference Executive 
Council. On February 2, 2002 students from 79 schools attended the 
conference that was held at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, 
Colorado.
  The Cherry Creek Diversity Conference was created as an opportunity 
for Colorado high school students to come together and discuss issues 
of diversity in their schools. Since the first year, when 18 schools 
participated, the conference has grown to include over 850 student 
representatives from 79 high schools and 150 adult volunteers. The 
conference gives an annual Human Rights Award to a Colorado 
organization that promotes diversity, as well as a scholarship to one 
attendee who has worked in his or her school to foster a more 
harmonious school environment.
  The event was almost entirely planned and coordinated by the 
executive council, which was co-chaired by Nicholas Ferguson of 
Elizabeth, Colorado, and Challona Coleman of Aurora, Colorado. To put 
together this year's conference, students from 22 schools met once a 
week to plan the one-day event that included motivational speaker 
Michael Simmons, small-group discussions and more than sixty workshops. 
Janet Sammons, a teacher at Cherry Creek High School helped guide the 
students into making this year's conference an overwhelming success.
  I applaud the efforts of Colorado high school students to improve 
relations between all people no matter their race, religion, or creed. 
As stated in the Pledge of Allegiance, we are ``one nation, under God, 
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.''
  I ask the House to join me in thanking high school students from 
across Colorado who participated in the Colorado Cherry Creek Diversity 
Conference, and also the executive committee for their hard work and 
success.

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