[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1420-E1421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE LOGAN HIGH SCHOOL FORENSICS TEAM AND COACH TOMMIE LINDSEY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 8, 2003

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Logan High School 
forensics team, and their coach Tommie Lindsey.
  Recently, thirteen students from Logan High competed in the National 
Forensic League tournament in Atlanta, where five team members went 
twelve out of the thirteen rounds. One team member completed all 
thirteen rounds, winning the championship, and a $6,000 scholarship. 
Logan is one of only five schools that received the School of 
Excellence Award--and the only one from California--from a field that 
included 1,000 schools.
  Coach Tommie Lindsey's successful coaching style was the subject of a 
PBS Documentary last year called ``Accidental Hero: Room 408.'' 
Students are back in Room 408 at Logan, where Lindsey is preparing them 
for the coming year in a summer-school program that includes 156 of the 
240 students who make up the forensics team. Room 408 is filled with 
dozens of certificates of merit and stacked high to the ceiling with 
trophies.
  Four Logan students have won national forensics championships in the 
past 15 years, and 20 other students have reached the semifinal round 
of the competition. But those aren't the statistics Lindsey is most 
proud of.
  This year, 27 or the 28 graduating seniors on the forensic team are 
going to four-year colleges and the other one is going to junior 
college, according to Lindsey. In a school where, Lindsey said, about 
40 percent of the graduates go on to college, the numbers of the 
forensics team speaks volumes.
  Lindsey has been coaching forensics for 27 years, and at Logan since 
1989. He is the director of forensics and a teacher, but to his 
students, he is much more. According to them, they benefit from his 
coaching and beyond. He advises students on how to perform, how to 
maintain their concentration during a performance, how to dress and how 
to treat competitors, He also encourages them to volunteer in the 
community, such as their recent work with elementary school students.
  It is with pride and honor that I commend the Logan High School 
Forensics Team and Tommie Lindsey for their community involvement, 
their passion to succeed, and continued commitment to excellence.

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