[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 83 (Thursday, June 4, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT 197 150TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 4, 2009

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Minnesota 
Independent School District 197 (ISD197) on the occasion of its 150th 
Anniversary. For nearly as long as Minnesota has been a state, the 
school district has provided high quality public education to 
generations of students in what are now the communities of West St. 
Paul, Mendota Heights, Lilydale, Mendota, Sunfish Lake, Eagan and Inver 
Grove Heights.
  In 1852, pioneers began to settle in the area now known as the city 
of West St. Paul. In 1856, the township of West St. Paul and the 
village of Mendota Heights were formed. As families grew, the need for 
schools to provide public education for their children became clear. 
Early on, twelve students were taught by Miss Margaret Brown in the 
first single-room schoolhouse built in 1859 near what is now the border 
of West St. Paul and Mendota Heights. The school was relocated in 1863 
to the current site of Somerset Elementary School on land donated by 
Minnesota's first Governor, Henry Sibley. By 1957, schools had grown so 
large in West St. Paul, Mendota Heights and Eagan, that they were 
consolidated into Independent School District 197.
  For 150 years, the public schools serving West St. Paul, Mendota 
Heights, Lilydale, Mendota, Sunfish Lake, Eagan, and Inver Grove 
Heights have given our children the ability to learn, grow, and follow 
the American dream. Today, the school district operates five elementary 
schools, two middle schools and one high school, serving approximately 
4,500 students in the surrounding communities. In keeping with the 
spirit of the early pioneers who traveled the world to settle in this 
part of Minnesota, students in the district come from all over the 
world, speaking more than a dozen languages. Faculty, staff, and the 
community are all working hard to prepare students to compete globally 
in the 21st Century.
  This past April, I had the opportunity to tour several schools in the 
district with Superintendent Jay Haugen. I visited classes with 
teachers and students ready and eager to learn and also saw inventive 
programs such as a lunchroom reuse and recycling project at Heritage 
Middle School that won a national Energy Star Award.
  Public education in our schools is an integral part of our community 
and our nation, providing a world class opportunity for young people to 
become engaged citizens who will support a strong democracy and compete 
in an international economy.
  Today in honor of the students, parents, families, community members, 
teachers and staff in ISD197 public schools, I submit this statement 
for the official Congressional Record. I would like to personally 
congratulate the school district for 150 years of providing high 
quality public education in our community, and look forward to 
celebrating milestones in public education in the years to come.

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