[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 163 (Thursday, October 25, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF PATRICIA HANS, NEW JERSEY COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES 2007 
                          TEACHER OF THE YEAR

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                           HON. SCOTT GARRETT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 25, 2007

  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute 
to the extraordinary public service of Patricia Hans, who this weekend 
will be honored by the New Jersey Council for the Humanity as the 2007 
Teacher of the Year.
  Pat Hans is an American Studies teacher at Ridgewood High School, 
where she teaches an interdisciplinary program of history and 
literature. Using literature to understand historical events and 
history to enhance the literary experience, her classroom has been 
described as a place where ``ideas explode into reality.'' Pat Hans 
draws on the rich cultural and historical resources of North Jersey to 
give her students a textured experience in learning.
  In addition to teaching at Ridgewood High School, Pat Hans also 
teaches English Composition at Bergen Community College as an adjunct 
professor. A graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, 
with a Masters in English from my alma mater, Montclair State 
University, Pat Hans is a respected lecturer as well.
  She has given presentations before the Bard College Institute for 
Writing and Thinking, the New Jersey Writing Alliance, the New Jersey 
Council for the Teachers of English, and the New Jersey Education 
Association. She has been bestowed a number of fellowships and awards 
for her work, including the Summer Institute Fellowship from the 
National Endowment for the Humanities, the Geraldine R. Dodge 
Foundation Poetry Fellowship, and a John F. Kennedy Public Service 
Grant. In both 2003 and 2004, she was named the Seton Hall Teacher 
Scholar.
  Pat Hans demonstrates an ongoing love for history and literature and 
continues to deepen her own knowledge and understanding for the 
humanities. Her passion for learning is infectious and no one benefits 
from it more than the students who enter her classroom. She is a model 
teacher and an exemplary public servant. As her colleagues honor her 
this weekend, I join them in commending her for her commitment to 
excellence in education.

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