[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  A TRIBUTE ROSEMARIE ARMSTEAD-LOWERY

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS-

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 2009

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Rosemarie 
Armstead-Lowery, educator and community activist.
  Rosemarie Armstead-Lowery has always been a child of her community. 
Community has shielded her, nurtured her, and allowed her the freedom 
to be herself in a world where the expectations of others often times 
limit one's horizon. The major influences of her life have been family 
and Church and they, in that order, are responsible for much of who she 
has become. For the last sixty of her seventy years, she has found her 
niche in serving that community that has nurtured her. She has been 
teaching the youngsters of her community for almost fifty years. 
Rosemarie has been a Day Care director at the Horace E. Greene Day Care 
Center in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn at a time of transition for 
child care. She implemented a change in school-age programming which 
made her center one of the model programs for city wide school-age 
programs.
  After her directorship in daycare, Ms. Lowery returned to the 
classroom in the public school where she spent the next 12 years 
nurturing the students in her care at P. 335 in the Bedford Stuyvesant 
section of Brooklyn. She considered her job to be a facilitator, one 
who made learning both possible and enjoyable. It was her 
responsibility to show youngsters that learning was fun and that they 
could soar beyond their wildest dreams if they were willing to put 
forth the effort. Rosemarie was judged a nonconformist by some of her 
peers because of her unorthodox methods for reaching her students, but 
in the end the success of her students was her vindication.
  In 1988, Ms. Lowery decided to embark on a venture of her own and 
opened The Learning Center of Bedford Stuyvesant in a brownstone in 
Bedford Stuyvesant. The independent school was in response to the 
desire of parents for an alternative to the public school. The 
individualization of the learning process for each student was its 
strength. The program was based on an eleven month curriculum where 
travel was an important component. The students were encouraged to 
study and become part of the culture they visited. They have traveled 
to Canada, Alaska, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., Virginia and 
around the local tri-state area. Unfortunately, the Learning Center 
closed at the end of its twentieth year because Ms. Lowery has turned 
yet another page.
  In the summer of 2007, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn/Queens 
created a new tri-Church configuration by combining the parishes of 
Holy Rosary, our Lady of Victory, and St. Peter Claver into a new tri-
church Parish called St. Martin de Porres. Ms Lowery was hired as the 
Temporalities Manager. Her function is to act as a business manager of 
the newly formed Parish. She is currently responsible for the fiscal 
and temporal care of the Parish and its facilities. Times change, and 
circumstances along with them, but the opportunity to meet life head-on 
continues to present itself each day and for this she is eternally 
grateful.

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