[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 159 (Tuesday, December 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2515-E2516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING RON CEFALO

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB BISHOP

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2005

  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, in this chamber, we often hear 
rhetoric of great praise for athletes, authors and statesman. With 
great fanfare we announce legitimate accomplishments, Other times the 
rhetoric is to trumpet our own actions and plans with grand gestures, 
receptions and press.
  An American humorist, Al Capp, once said, ``The man who is not trying 
to reform the world--will!'' Those who truly change our world are those 
who labor daily, without praise, to create a better life for themselves 
and those around them.
  Today I would like to introduce the body to a man who is changing the 
world--not by doing something no one else can, but by doing something 
of which everyone is capable, but few choose to do. This gentleman is 
changing the world one person at a time.
  Ron Cefalo, is a science teacher at Box Elder High School. He was 
recently recognized for his outstanding efforts in exciting kids on a 
regular basis to the world of physical science. That by itself is 
something not easy to do. The Air Force Association, after a rigorous 
search, first named Ron the AFA Teacher of the Year for Northern Utah. 
Later he was also chosen from the regional winners as the Air Force 
Association Teacher of the Year for the State of Utah.
  In his 37th year of teaching, Ron can claim such accomplishments as 
sending two projects into space on the shuttle and coaching an award 
winning Academic Olympiad Team. Each year Ron takes students to the 
annual Utah State University Physics Day at Lagoon, an amusement park 
in Utah, which competitively demonstrates the properties of physics to 
5,000 kids from Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Earlier this year Ron 
Cefalo's group took home seven awards in four different categories. Ron 
also won first place in the instructor competition for Curriculum 
Development. Utah State physics professor JR Dennison noted, ``Ron has 
been participating and winning since the inception

[[Page E2516]]

of USU Physics Day at Lagoon in 1990. In fact, Ron was one of the 
participants at a summer workshop for secondary teachers held at USU in 
1989 when the idea for a USU Physics Day was founded. Ron has been a 
tremendous asset to us . . . in connection with the American 
Association of Physics Teachers' regional activities and as a source of 
some of the best students in physics here at USU.''
  His greatest achievement is his ability to draw students through 
hands-on projects into his lessons. Even though setting up student lab 
projects takes extra time, money and effort, it is these demonstrations 
that shook the school, once literally, and had students clamoring to 
enroll in his class.
  Ron Cefalo knows that the success of a teacher is only as great as 
the success of his students. As a dedicated teacher, Ron instructs 
year-round, spending his summers at Johns Hopkins University, working 
at a center for gifted youth from all over the world. One summer, a 
gifted, but troubled student from a dysfunctional home intentionally 
broke a number of items in one of the classrooms. Another instructor 
considered the boy to be ``too dangerous'' and kicked him out of the 
class. The Principal, faced with the option of sending the boy home 
early, asked Ron to give the kid one last chance. Ron Cefalo willingly 
stepped forward and took this troubled youth into his classroom and 
taught him without further incident.

  As expressed in the lyrics of Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch in the song, 
``Every Day Hero'':

     Some people have helping hands that go a second mile
     They're willing to love and lift a brother for a while
     Everyday Heroes live in every neighborhoods.
     Everyday Heroes, helping in the way a neighbor should.
     Giving just a little time; sharing just a little love.
     God bless each one of those everyday heroes.

  It was an honor to teach alongside an ``Every Day Hero'' before 
coming to Congress, and I personally know the commitment Ron brings to 
his job and the ``helping hands that go a second mile''.
  Each of Ron Cefalo's students recognize his uncommon talent for 
making them personally feel important and realize that they have value 
and someone cares. Every year Ron helps kids mature and learn. Every 
month Ron gives of himself for others. Every week Ron creates a 
learning environment in which kids want to participate. Every day Ron 
makes the world a better place.

                          ____________________