[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ALFREDO MONTES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 5, 2003

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with you the well-
articulated environmental message of a fourth grader, Alfredo Montes, 
winner of the Friends of San Leandro Creek's 11th annual poetry 
contest. This contest was held in conjunction with the annual Watershed 
Festival Event, held in my district and cosponsored by the city of San 
Leandro, the Friends of San Leandro Creek (FSLC), and the Alameda 
Countywide Clean Water Protection program.
  Organized in 1991 and officially incorporated as a nonprofit 
organization in 1995, the FSLC is a wonderful organization that brings 
the Bay Area community together around the San Leandro Creek in order 
to raise awareness of environmental issues. In addition to the 
Watershed Festival, the FSLC frequently organizes educational programs 
such as field trips and conservation projects for students in 
kindergarten through 12th grade; and regular cleanup and revegetation 
projects. I also regularly participate with other legislators in the 
FSLC's annual environmental forum. The FSLC's latest project--hopefully 
to be completed within the next two years--is building a new 
environmental education center at a new site.
  Alfredo is a student at Monarch Academy, an Aspire Public School in 
Oakland, CA. His teacher, Andrea Main, thanked the FSLC for 
substantially helping to ``complement my curriculum'' with activities 
like field trips and water quality testing that ``totally inspired my 
kids.''
  Ms. Main described Alfredo as a ``diligent, hardworking'' student who 
hopes to become an elected official when he grows up. His work was 
selected from about 20 poetry entries, by a panel of judges from the 
FSLC's board of directors and active members. FSLC Watershed Awareness 
Coordinator Susan Criswell added, ``I am in awe of the energy, talent 
and determination of this young man. It gives me hope for the future of 
our environment to see such dedication.''
  Alfredo attended an FSLC-organized field trip with his class and 
said, ``I always go to places like the creek that have shallow water, 
because they have pollution in them, and that's what inspired me to 
write this poem.''

                               The Creek

                          (By Alfredo Montes)

     The creek grows weak,
     the frog no longer speaks,
     the water almost falls asleep,
     the trees continue to seek,
     the creek feels like it has a leak,
     like every time growing weak,
     it gets lower and shallower as we speak,
     so I will have to speak no more and hit the
     poem's core,
     we have to clean up the pollution so we keep on the 
           revolution.

                          ____________________