[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 9, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING TRAILBLAZER AND EDUCATIONAL PIONEER MRS. EMMA BRANDON

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                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 9, 2010

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, it gives me immense 
pleasure to rise today in honor of trailblazer, educator and pioneer, 
Mrs. Emma Brandon.
  Mrs. Brandon began teaching right out of high school in 1946 for a 
wage of $36/month. She walked three miles one way to school and seven 
miles if weather made the road conditions to difficult to travel.
  As a woman, of much wisdom and vision, Mrs. Brandon realized that 
education required a deep devotion and a substantial amount of hard 
work from both student and teacher.
  Mrs. Brandon began her career at a two-room school on a dirt road 
next door to Beechland Church where she taught first through fourth 
grades. Three years later, she became principal and sole teacher at 
Egypt School in Russum, which was later consolidated into another 
school.
  Mrs. Brandon understood that the task of educating is an enduring and 
tedious process; one that empowers and benefits individuals, 
communities and countries, alike.
  After years of serving students in Claiborne County, as both an 
educator and an administrator, Mrs. Brandon earned her bachelor's 
degree from Alcorn State University. After completing her education at 
Alcorn, Mrs. Brandon returned to complete her educational career in 
Claiborne County, MS.
  For the last 42 years, Mrs. Brandon has been educating generations of 
families at A.W. Watson Elementary in Port Gibson, MS where her 
enthusiasm for learning is abundant. She implemented programs that have 
strengthened the learning capabilities of her students and challenged 
them to think critically.
  Mrs. Brandon has yielded the guiding principles of education and 
knowledge to all of whom she has encountered. She believes that each 
child can enjoy today's promises of a rewarding life if they possess a 
strong foundation in education.
  Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I ask my colleagues to 
rise and join me in expressing my gratitude and appreciation to Mrs. 
Emma Brandon of Port Gibson, Mississippi, for her many contributions to 
education and her dedication to its principles.

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