[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 72 (Friday, May 18, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E855-E856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  KIPP BALTIMORE'S BRAD NORNHOLD WINS BALTIMORE CITY ``TEACHER OF THE 
                                 YEAR''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 18, 2012

  Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, Bradley Nornhold was a founding 
teacher at KIPP Ujima Village Academy when the public charter school 
opened in 2002. In the past ten years, Brad has been a transformational 
force in the lives of the students in Northwest Baltimore. As a middle 
school math teacher, his results speak for themselves. In 2011, his 
seventh grade students produced the highest math test scores in the 
city as measured by the Maryland School Assessment. Brad makes no 
excuses and leaves no child behind. 100 percent of his students passed 
the test. The advanced scores were the fourth highest in the State of 
Maryland.
  But test scores do not tell the whole story. Brad's students embrace 
the work that it takes to produce such results, and believe that the

[[Page E856]]

work they do will pay off in the future. KIPP Ujima Village Academy 
serves a student population where 87 percent of the students live below 
the poverty line, as measured by free or reduced priced lunch 
applications. The school's mission is preparing these students for 
college by giving them the academic and personal skills necessary to 
succeed in the most rigorous college preparatory high schools. Brad 
makes that mission a reality every day. Because of the work ethic and 
focus he has taught them, all of his current eighth graders have gained 
acceptance to private or public college preparatory schools with 
admission requirements. Every one of them will be going to a high 
school in which they had to earn admission. And most of his students 
will be starting their freshmen year in sophomore geometry. Of his 78 
eighth graders, 51 have already taken and passed the High School 
Assessment for freshmen algebra.
  Brad's efforts for his students do not end with eighth grade 
graduation. His former students visit on a weekly, if not daily, basis. 
They come back to see their teacher, talk about math, and inspire his 
current students to follow their path to college. The students of KIPP 
Ujima Village Academy have been privileged to call Mr. Nornhold their 
teacher. For many of them, their life paths will be forever changed 
because of the time they spent in his classroom.

                          ____________________