[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 18, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S3879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ROSWELL HIGH SCHOOL

 Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise to honor the achievements 
of a New Mexico high school.
  Roswell High School has been honored with the esteemed designation of 
being named one of the top 10 schools in America by the Bill and 
Melinda Gates Foundation. This great honor is a tribute to the hard 
work and commitment to excellence demonstrated by the students, parents 
and families, teachers, staff, and administration of Roswell High 
School.
  In order to qualify for this award, schools must meet very strict 
criteria. Each school must have both a minority student population and 
low income rates of 50 percent or higher. In addition, the recipient 
must have a graduation rate of at least 90 percent with 90 percent of 
the previous years graduating class attending either a two- or four-
year college. I am both honored and privileged to announce that the 
class of 2001 from Roswell High School had a graduation rate of 96 
percent with 90 percent of graduating seniors enrolled in post-
secondary education courses. This is truly a laudatory achievement.
  Roswell High's students come from many different backgrounds, but 
they are successful because they have the mind-set that says every 
student can succeed. They have embraced the differences in their 
student body, and they have demonstrated that every single student, 
regardless of background, can and will learn. It takes the dedicated 
leadership of a good principal, talented teaching corps and engaged 
parents to achieve this level. The Gates Foundation recognition is a 
salute to the successful learning environment achieved at Roswell High.
  Soon after President Bush took office, he called on Congress to 
fundamentally change the structure of education, and enact the most 
sweeping change in education in 35 years. When President Bush signed 
the No Child Left Behind Act, he began a new era of improved student 
performance, and introduced us to an educational system that insists on 
accountability, results, and teacher quality.
  Roswell High School has embraced this philosophy and they have taken 
the lead in their community by insisting on teaching methods that work 
and taking a stand to get involved and change the expectations we have 
for our public schools. They deserve to be recognized for their 
excellence.
  One of the most honorable and important duties of government is to 
educate its children. As our Nation grows, and new generations of 
leaders emerge, the education they receive early on will reflect in 
their ability to lead us through tough times, such as the ones 
currently facing our great country. It is our responsibility to ensure 
that this new generation is prepared. Their success in the future is a 
direct reflection on each and every one of us.
  Roswell High's student success is also a tribute to this city's long 
history of a ``can do'' spirit, deriving from the hearty first settlers 
on the Chisum Trail, to the rocketry breakthroughs of Robert H. 
Goddard, to the constant striving of its current leaders to build the 
best American city possible.
  I congratulate Roswell High School. Its commitment to excellence is 
something that every high school in New Mexico and America should 
strive to attain.

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