[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MS. KYANN McMILLIE--TEXAS TEACHER OF THE YEAR FOR 2004

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                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 2009

  Mr. REYES. Madam Speaker, El Paso, Texas has a history of producing 
strong, passionate, and caring educators who motivate and engage our 
children to become life-long learners. As a parent and grandparent, I 
am grateful for the contributions of our teachers in the El Paso area, 
and today I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Ms. Kyann 
McMillie, a teacher at Canutillo Elementary School in the Canutillo 
Independent School District, for being selected as the 2004 Texas 
Teacher of the Year. The Texas Teacher of the Year is the highest honor 
that the State of Texas can award to a teacher. Facilitated by the 
Texas Education Agency, the Texas Teacher of the Year Program annually 
recognizes and rewards teachers who have demonstrated outstanding 
leadership and excellence in teaching. Ms. Kyann McMillie represents 
the best of the best in the teaching profession, and we salute her 
energy, efforts, and dedication.
  Ms. McMillie received a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary 
education from Western New Mexico University and a Masters degree in 
education from The University of Texas at El Paso. Ms. Kyann McMillie's 
lifelong aspiration was to be an attorney or an accountant but she 
decided to pursue a career in teaching. She earned her teaching 
credentials and taught first and second grade at Canutillo Elementary 
School. Ms. McMillie says that, ``patience and nurturing are key when 
dealing with children.'' She firmly believes that to understand another 
person, ``we must understand the situation from which they come.''
  Ms. Kyann McMillie is part of a larger history of educational 
excellence in El Paso. I am proud to note that to date El Paso area 
educators have been chosen as Texas Teachers of the Year nine times. 
The National Teacher of the Year Program began in 1952 and continues as 
the oldest, most prestigious national honors program that focuses 
public attention on excellence in teaching.
  I am proud of the work of our teachers, and I am committed to 
ensuring that education remains a top priority in this Congress.

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