[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E377-E378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO ALACHUA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL'S 2002 QUIZ BOWL TEAM

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                         HON. KAREN L. THURMAN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 19, 2002

  Mrs. THURMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to pay tribute to six 
remarkable elementary school students, Kyle Carlisle, Kaytlynn

[[Page E378]]

Cunningham, Varsha Ramnarine, Jonathan Stewart, Alexandria Whann, and 
Courtney Wilkerson, their teacher, Shirley Tanner, and their school for 
triumphing in the Florida competition of the 2002 National Thinking Cap 
Quiz Bowl.
  Located in Alachua, a tiny city of approximately 6000 people, Alachua 
Elementary School serves less than 500 students in grades three through 
five. Principal Jim Brandenburg described the 107-year-old school as a 
``community school'' and credited community involvement for the 
school's quality, explaining that, ``Alachua is a stable community. 
Many parents and grandparents of our students also attended Alachua 
Elementary. We don't have a lot of money, but parental involvement and 
community support help make up for that.''
  Mr. Brandenburg further states, ``There are no shortcuts to quality 
education. We have resisted the instructional fads that promise instant 
success and focused on essential skills and good teaching. You can't 
`microwave' sustained high achievement in school or anywhere else. It 
really comes down to high expectations and hard work.''
  Alachua Elementary is often referred to as ``the little school that 
can . . . and does.'' It has been honored as a Blue Ribbon school and 
has received numerous awards for student achievement from the School 
Board of Alachua County. Furthermore, this is the third consecutive 
year that Alachua's Quiz Bowl team has won first place in the state. 
For Alachua, a poor rural school, the win was particularly rewarding 
since they competed against schools from metropolitan areas of Florida 
and also private schools across the state.
  Mrs. Tanner, Teacher of the Gifted and Technology Resource Teacher, 
began the school's involvement in this challenging scholastic 
competition several years ago. The test consists of 100 computer-
generated multiple-choice questions covering all school subjects, 
current events, and trivia. Each fifth-grade student on the team 
studied incredibly long hours and practiced weekly for over two months 
to prepare for the competition.
  Mrs. Tanner said, ``I am far more impressed with their determination 
and perserverance than by the fact that they won the state competition. 
They had no idea what questions would be on the test. No notes of any 
kind may be used during the test; only pencils and paper are permitted. 
Research, teamwork, and test-taking strategies were the keys to 
success. Since the total score was based on both speed and accuracy, 
the team had to be quick calm and knowledgeable about many subjects.''
  Now let me tell you a little more about these wonderful kids:
  Kyle Carlisle, the son of Roy and Ellen Carlisle, became an expert on 
Government. His leisure time is spent reading and playing computer 
games of strategy. Kyle's favorite subject is Math. His goal in life is 
to have a career in Computer Science. Kyle said, ``Being on the quiz 
bowl team was a lot of work, but it was fun.'' Mrs. Tanner said of him, 
``The same day that Kyle qualified for the team, he began researching 
various topics and shared this information with teammates. Kyle was 
responsible for answering questions on Government and in charge of 
entering the team's answers via the mouse. He did a flawless job in an 
extremely stressful position.''
  Kaytlyunn Cunningham, the daughter of John and Nancy Short, became 
the expert in Language Arts. Her interests include singing, gymnastics, 
creative writing, bike riding, and swimming. Kaytlynn's favorite 
subject is Language Arts, and she wants to be a teacher. Her comment 
was, ``I spent a lot of time learning a vast quantity of information, 
but I know I will be able to use it later in life.'' Mrs. Tanner 
commented, ``Kaytlynn is a talented young lady. Soon after the 9/11 
tragedy, Kaytlynn sang, `Amazing Grace' at the school's Open House 
Program. The song was so beautifully and emotionally sung that few dry 
eyes were in the audience. She regularly appears as a news anchorperson 
on the school's closed-circuit broadcasting station, WALA.''
  Varsha Ramnarine, the daughter of Vishnu and Kay Ramnarine, plays 
softball, reads and plays basketball. She was the team's math expert. 
Her favorite subject is, of course, Mathematics. Her career desire is 
to be a pediatrician. She said ``The test was not as hard as I 
expected. Maybe it was because we were prepared.'' Mrs. Tanner 
responded, ``We would not have scored nearly so well without Varsha's 
expertise in math concepts and computation. I was amazed at her quick 
answer to the math questions without the need to compute with pencil 
and paper.''
  Jonathan Stewart, the son of Tim and Chris Stewart, spends weekends 
riding his dirt bike, camping, and playing football. His speciality was 
Sports and Leisure. His favorite subject is also Mathematics, and 
Jonathan's career choice is to be a veterinarian. Jonathan commented, 
``The research was hard and took a lot of time, but it helped prepare 
us for the test. The hardest lesson to learn, though, was teamwork.'' 
Mrs. Tanner remarked, ``Jonathan is a quick learner. The team depended 
on him to answer correctly all the sports questions. Jonathan, a 
pleasure in the classroom, always wears a mischievous and intriguing 
smile.''
  Alexandria Whann, the daughter of Lloyd and Elise Whann, enjoys 
swimming, piano, and traveling. Her knowledge of Social Studies meant 
that the team answered the geography questions correctly. Not 
surprisingly, her favorite subjects are Social Studies and Spelling. 
Her comment about the team was, ``Mrs. Tanner is the best advisor a 
team could have. She insisted that we do our best.'' Mrs. Tanner said, 
``Alex has a marvelous sense of humor and a playful attitude. She 
really got excited answering questions at the weekly practices, but 
during the competition, she was calm, confident, and accurate.''
  Courtney Wilkerson, the daughter of Kenneth and Candis Wilkerson, 
enjoys reading, swimming, traveling, and creative writing. Her area of 
expertise was Science, Current Events, and Miscellaneous. Her favorite 
subject is Mathematics, and she wants to be a lawyer. Courtney's 
response was, ``Studying for the competition was a lot of hard work, 
but in the end, it was worth it.'' Mrs. Tanner said ``Courtney's 
contribution cannot be over-emphasized. It seemed that every week in 
practice, I'd think of something else under the category of 
`Miscellaneous' that she needed to learn. She never complained about 
the additional work.''
  These six students are to be congratulated for their determination, 
perseverance, and scholastic aptitude. These qualities were rewarded 
with a First Place finish in the state of Florida.

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