[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 30, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO 2008 NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR MIKE GEISEN

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                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 2008

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to rise today 
to recognize the 2008 National Teacher of the Year, Mr. Mike Geisen, 
whom I am proud to represent in Congress. I want to take the 
opportunity to draw the attention of our colleagues in the United 
States House of Representatives and our Nation's citizens to the 
tremendous contributions Mike has made to his students, the State of 
Oregon, and the profession of teaching. This morning, I have the great 
privilege to join Mike at the White House where the President will 
acknowledge his outstanding achievement.
  Mike and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Johanna and Aspen, 
and together they make their home in beautiful Crook County, Oregon. 
Mike is a native of Washington State and made his way to Oregon's 
Second Congressional District by way of a job with the United States 
Forest Service, which took him to Grants Pass, Oregon. Fortunately for 
Oregon's students, Mike decided to translate his love of nature and 
desire to give into a career as a science teacher. After working as a 
student teacher at Crook County Middle School in Prineville, Oregon, he 
was hired as a seventh grade science teacher and has made a 
tremendously positive impact there for the past 7 years. It is 
remarkable that someone who began teaching such a short time ago could 
rise so rapidly to an honor such as the National Teacher of the Year.
  The Crook County School District is located in Central Oregon and 
includes all of Crook County and much of southeast Deschutes County, an 
area totaling approximately 3,000 square miles--the size of Rhode 
Island and Delaware combined. It is a rural district with its main 
offices located in Prineville, the oldest town in central Oregon. The 
school district itself has 3,200 students and Crook County Middle 
School, where Mike teaches, has 700 students.
  Mike is known for his extraordinary dedication and creative ways of 
engaging his students. For example, he and his students turned the dead 
grass, weeds and peeling paint of their school's courtyard into an 
outdoor learning lab. This ``naturescape'' is an area that students 
maintain and use to conduct experiments. He makes use of every resource 
available to him to engage his students and inspire them to learn. He 
is known for designing fun review games, performing demonstrations, 
helping students get involved with hands-on labs, acting out scientific 
principles, and even bringing his guitar to school and singing songs 
about the lesson at hand, such as gravity, atoms, and ``The Bacteria 
Blues.'' Mike's dedication to his students goes beyond just his science 
classroom curriculum; he fundraised to have a climbing wall installed 
at the school for the students. Mike's philosophy, in his own words: 
``Teaching just doesn't happen inside the classroom, it happens all 
over the community.''

  As chair of the science department at Crook County Middle School, 
Mike helps create assessments and design curriculum, and has earned the 
high respect of his colleagues. Mike's passion for teaching and 
engaging lessons makes learning fun for students and has led to 
increased test scores. Prior to Mike becoming science department chair, 
the school had reached a plateau, with 55 percent of students meeting 
the State's science benchmark. During his first 2 years as department 
chair, scores jumped from an average of 55 percent to 72 percent, 
meeting the State science benchmark. Mike's formula for success is 
putting a bit of himself, a bit of Prineville, and a good dose of humor 
and creativity into each activity, project, and assignment.
  The National Teacher of the Year must serve as an inspiration to 
students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn, have the respect 
and admiration of students, parents, and colleagues, play an active and 
positive role in the community as well as in the school, and be poised, 
articulate, and possess the energy to withstand a taxing schedule. 
Recipients of this rare honor are knowledgeable and skilled. Above all, 
they are exceptionally dedicated. Mike Geisen certainly exceeds each of 
these characteristics.
  The National Teacher of the Year award is obviously a tremendous 
honor, and I couldn't be more pleased that Mike has achieved this top 
status in our country. While he will surely be missed at Crook County 
Middle School during his year of national service as a spokesman for 
the teaching profession, Oregon's temporary loss of Mike in the 
classroom will be a significant gain for the United States as a whole. 
As the first Oregon teacher to be awarded this prestigious honor since 
1973, I know that when Mike returns home to Prineville, he will bring a 
host of new experiences and ideas to share with his colleagues and 
students and will continue to excel and make learning fun for 
generations of Oregonians to come.
  Please join me in congratulating Mike Geisen for being chosen as the 
2008 National Teacher of the Year and in thanking him for his deep 
commitment to educating our children.

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