[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 126 (Thursday, October 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1836]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNITION OF MARIA ANN CRESPO-RODRIGUEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 2004

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call the attention of my 
colleagues to Mrs. Maria Ann Crespo-Rodriguez, who is being honored by 
the Latino American Association of Monmouth County, Inc., as they 
celebrate their Eleventh Annual Awards Banquet.
  Maria was born at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch and raised 
in Red Bank, NJ, where she attended the Red Bank Public School System, 
and graduated from Red Bank High School in 1974. She earned a 
Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education/Spanish from Monmouth College, 
and received a Masters degree in ESL from Kean College.
  Maria has been teaching in the Long Branch Middle School for the last 
26 years. During that time, her energy and enthusiasm have manifested 
themselves both in and out of the classroom, where she became involved 
in a number of volunteer agencies and services. She has been a board 
member of Hispanic Affairs and Resource Center of Monmouth County, 
spent 5 years as a tutor in Stay Smart University helping children in a 
pediatric ward, many of whom were terminally ill. She was a member of 
the Pearl Chaney Memorial Scholarship Fund for 10 years, as well as a 
member of the Long Branch School District's Puerto Rican Disaster 
Relief Fund, President of the S.T.P.O. of Elberon School (1997-1998), 
and a speaker at the National School Board Association in 1997, 2003, 
and 2004. As the co-founder of the B.B.I.P., which started as the 
Bilingual/Bicultural Intervention Program, later changed to Basic 
Belief in All People, she has helped hundreds of students with academic 
as well as behavioral problems to succeed.
  Maria has been awarded Teacher of the Month in the Long Branch Middle 
School two times, once in 1992 and again in 2003. She was District 
Teacher of the Month in 2003, and was nominated for the Long Branch 
Middle School Teacher of the Year.
  For her service as co-founder of BBIP and its co-moderator over the 
last 12 years, she served in the roles of teacher, mentor, friend, 
counselor and surrogate mother, she earned many justly deserved awards. 
She received recognition from HARC's youth organization, ``Almas 
Latinos''. She is the recipient of the NJ State Department of Education 
P.R.I.D.E. Model Program Award (BBIP), the PRIDE pin for Programs of 
Inclusion, and is an Equity Hall of Fame Member, NJ State Department's 
``Best Practices'' award. In 1996, she was recognized as a Hall of Fame 
Member of the ``A+ for Kids'' Teachers Network, and presented the award 
on a television show on WWOR, Channel 9 by Jerry Orbach (Law and 
Order). She has been recognized for the program by Governor Christine 
Todd Whitman as well as movie actor, Edward James Olmos, and most 
recently was featured in an Asbury Park Press ``School Scene'' article 
(February 27, 2003) entitled ``School program offers students a little 
nudge.''
  Maria resides in Tinton Falls with her husband, Carlos, and two 
children, Roberto and Gabriella.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my sincere hope that my colleagues will join me in 
honoring and recognizing, Mrs. Crespo-Rodriguez, as the Latino American 
Association of Monmouth County honors her for her dedication to the 
educational advancement of Latinos and her commitment to the Long 
Branch Public School System.

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