[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1545-E1546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING MS. MELISSA FYE AND MR. JIM JENKINS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 20, 2005

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two outstanding 
constituents and educators from the 10th Congressional District of 
Virginia. Melissa Fye and Jim Jenkins are to be commended for their 
extraordinary efforts to bring real scientific research to the 
classroom.
  Melissa Fye, elementary school teacher at Ashburn Elementary School 
in Ashburn, VA, and Jim Jenkins, elementary school teacher at Mountain 
View Elementary School in Purcellville, VA, were chosen by the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to participate in the 
Teacher at Sea Program. This three-week-long research program involved 
a trip to sea in the Pacific Ocean this spring. As Teachers at Sea, Ms. 
Fye participated in coral reef research and Mr. Jenkins participated in 
fisheries and ocean current research.
  Ms. Fye embarked on NOAA Ship HI'IALAKAI in Honolulu, Hawaii, and 
cruised in the waters of the south Pacific. Mr. Jenkins's cruise, on 
the other hand, explored cold Alaskan waters, where he embarked on NOAA 
Ship MILLER FREEMAN in Kodiak, Alaska, and disembarked in Dutch Harbor, 
Alaska. While onboard, Ms. Fye and Mr. Jenkins wrote lesson plans, 
maintained daily logs, took photographs, interviewed scientists, and 
engaged in dialogue with their students, other teachers and students, 
and the general public. Ms. Fye and Mr. Jenkins participated in the 
Teacher at Sea experience in order to enrich their curriculum and 
excite their students about the sciences.
  In her final log, Ms. Fye wrote that she ``. . . wants [her] students 
to know that life is not a collection of things, but a collection of 
experiences . . . [and hopes] this trip--the resources and anecdotal 
stories [she] brings back to the classroom--encourages them to explore 
opportunities as they arise in their own lives.''
  Mr. Jenkins engaged his students each day in daily e-mail messages. 
In one message, Mr. Jenkins told his students that he has ``. . . been 
impressed by the cooperative spirit of everyone on [NOAA ship] MILLER 
FREEMAN,'' and, in turn, encouraged his students to work together as a 
team while he was at sea.
  Both Ms. Fye and Mr. Jenkins were supported by a partnership between 
the Loudoun Education Foundation and the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program. I 
commend the Loudoun Education Foundation, and also the Loudoun County 
school district, for supporting the efforts of these two teachers to 
promote scientific education in the classroom.
  I congratulate Ms. Fye and Mr. Jenkins on their spirit of adventure 
in the name of education, their willingness to try new things, and 
their ability to bring this experience back into the classroom.

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