[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 140 (Tuesday, October 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1987-E1988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MR. STEVE BARRON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHARLES F. BASS

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 7, 2003

  Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Steve Barron, a teacher at 
Claremont Middle School in New Hampshire. He passed away this summer, 
but has left behind a deep impression on his students. Because I cannot 
improve upon the sentiments expressed by one of his former students, 
Robin Lasko, I will simply include her letter to me and close by saying 
he will be missed.

       Dear Charlie Bass: On the night of July 25, 2003, one of 
     the finest educators the state of New Hampshire has ever seen 
     passed away. His name was Steve Barron, a seventh grade 
     social studies teacher.
       My name is Robin Lasko, and in the fall of 2003 I will 
     become a junior at Stevens High School. Mr. Barron was my 
     homeroom teacher in seventh grade. He will always be 
     remembered for the things he taught me, things that books 
     could never show. He taught me to have compassion for the 
     earth, and to care even when no one else does. He taught me 
     that being accepted by the public eye was not the only thing 
     that mattered in life, and he taught me to think of the 
     consequences of everything I do.
       The first day of seventh grade, I walked into Mr. Barron's 
     classroom and was very intimidated. My first thought was that 
     I was

[[Page E1988]]

     going to have to sit in this room everyday and listen to some 
     old man talk about which countries lie on which longitudes. I 
     soon found that I could not wait for my social studies class 
     everyday. Mr. Barron did not only teach us the physical 
     features of our world, but he showed us the culture, and the 
     many different ways of life. Mr. Barron had a love for 
     culture. He loved diversity and I am so very thankful that he 
     passed a little of that on to me. To show how much he loved 
     diversity I would have to know him like the back of my hand, 
     but I don't. I do know a little about Steve Barron though, I 
     know that he taught in an inner city school in New York City, 
     and that he also lived in the Arctic Regions of Alaska, and 
     if that is not a love for diversity, then I do not know what 
     is.
       Every year when it was time to do fundraisers, Mr. Barron 
     always used the same two companies, one of them was called 
     Humanities, and this company took a portion of their profit 
     and gave it to an endangered animals foundation. Mr. Barron 
     was a ``devoted environmentalist''. This was one way of 
     showing that he cared about our planet. Another way was as 
     part of our classroom grades we had to bring in plastic bags 
     or some other form of recycling every week. He was helping 
     the earth any way that he could. These two things are only a 
     part of the great man that Steve Barron was.
       I feel that Steve Barron should be Honored and Recognized 
     as the wonderful educator and person that he was.
       Steve Barron was born on August 22, 1943 in Brooklyn, New 
     York. He was the loving husband to Linda (Kupiec) Barron for 
     29 years. He and Linda had two daughters, Jenny and Jenine. 
     On July 25, 2003 Steven E. Barron died of Non-Hodgkin's 
     Lymphoma. In an ending to this letter I would like to quote 
     the motto that Mr. Barron lived by, ``The choices we make 
     dictate the lives we lead.''
           Sincerely,
     Robin L. Lasko.

                          ____________________