[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 77 (Thursday, May 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING REBECCA ACORS OF SPOTSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA

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                         HON. ROBERT J. WITTMAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 20, 2010

  Mr. WITTMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Rebecca 
Acors, a dedicated educator from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 
retiring after fifty-two years of teaching at Robert E. Lee Elementary 
School.
  Mrs. Acors began her teaching career in 1957 after graduating from 
Mary Washington College with a degree in psychology. Over the first 
part of her career, she taught first, second, third, and fifth grades. 
In 1974 she graduated from the University of Virginia's Curry School of 
Education with a Master's in Education degree. After receiving her 
Virginia state certification as a Reading Specialist, she began serving 
as Robert E. Lee's Reading Specialist and has served in that position 
to the present day. She has taught children and grandchildren of her 
early students, and this year she is teaching her first great-
grandchild.
  Mrs. Acors has taught through many changes--new trends in education 
and the ever-increasing use of technology in the classroom. She made it 
her goal to embrace and utilize innovative teaching methods in 
accordance with new research findings. In 2001, she was named the 
University of Virginia's Elementary Teacher of the Year and in 2008 she 
was named Robert E. Lee Elementary School's Teacher of the Year. To 
summarize her outstanding career, Mrs. Rebecca Acors has had a positive 
impact on colleagues, parents, community members, and most importantly, 
children. As she described it, ``To be able to help children accept 
themselves, to challenge each child to reach his/her full potential and 
to give the gift of reading is invaluable. I am content in knowing that 
I have changed lives and made a difference in this world.''
  Rebecca Acors devoted her life to the children of Virginia and I 
congratulate and commend her on this significant achievement.

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