[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 11, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




A SHOW OF APPRECIATION FOR TWO OUTSTANDING NORTHEAST WISCONSIN TEACHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE KAGEN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 2010

  Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, in honor of Teacher Appreciation Day, I 
come to the floor to recognize two outstanding educators from Northeast 
Wisconsin.
  Greenville Middle School's Jennifer Koenecke and Green Bay Edison's 
Nancie Brennan exemplify what we hope to see in all of our teachers.
  As the newest National Board Certified teachers in the 8th 
Congressional District of Wisconsin, they demonstrated a commitment to 
taking their teaching practice and the teaching profession to a 
different level.
  We entrust teachers with the nurture and care of our most precious 
resource--our children, and we are grateful to them not only for the 
security they provide, but for the example they set.
  For Jennifer Koenecke and Nancie Brennan, their leadership and the 
example they set extends not only to the students they teach, but to 
the peers who surround them.
  Like board-certified medical doctors, teachers who become National 
Board Certified go through a rigorous year-long evaluation of their 
performance.
  Each educator is measured against the most rigorous standards through 
an extensive series of performance-based assessments that include 
thorough analysis of the candidate's classroom teaching and student 
learning.
  As a physician who has been three times board certified, I have a 
keen appreciation for the initiative and effort these women have made 
on behalf of the future of our children. After all, if we get public 
education right, everything else will follow. But if we get education 
wrong, not much else will matter.
  Today I'm proud to recognize Greenville Middle School's Jennifer 
Koenecke and Green Bay Edison's Nancie Brennan for getting it right.

                          ____________________