[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 82 (Monday, June 4, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3679-S3680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO CAROL MARTIN GATTON ACADEMY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Kentucky received quite an honor 
recently when the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and 
Science in Kentucky, an elite public high school that draws students 
from all over the Commonwealth, was named the No. 1 public high school 
in the United States by Newsweek Magazine. Think about that, Madam 
President--out of more than 20,000 public high schools in the Nation, 
the top-ranked one is in Kentucky.
  The Gatton Academy is in Bowling Green, KY, specifically, and it is a 
special place. First opened in 2007 and funded by the Kentucky General 
Assembly, the Gatton Academy is the Commonwealth's only State-supported 
residential high school with an emphasis on math and science. Bright, 
highly motivated students come from across the State and stay on 
campus, taking college-level courses at Western Kentucky University.
  Dr. Julia Roberts, a good friend of mine and the executive director 
of the academy, worked hard for many years to see the school become a 
reality. How wonderful for her that her vision has been realized. This 
honor is a recognition that she truly deserves for her steadfast 
commitment to help Kentucky's finest students blossom and reach their 
full potential.
  Here is a quote from Dr. Roberts that summarizes the school's 
mission:

       The United States has emphasized proficiency or grade-level 
     learning to the exclusion of nurturing the talents of 
     advanced learners. A promising future for our country is 
     closely tied to the development of talent in science, 
     mathematics, languages arts, the social sciences, and the 
     arts. The purpose of the Gatton Academy is to extend learning 
     opportunities for gifted students who live in all parts of 
     Kentucky.

  I also must recognize Dr. Tim Gott, director of the Gatton Academy, 
without whose hard work the school surely would not have been able to 
rise to the top. In fact, the Gatton Academy tops Newsweek's list of 
public high schools this year after ranking fifth in 2011. That is 
quite a jump up in 1 year, thanks in part no doubt to the indefatigable 
work of Dr. Gott.
  ``It's just wonderful to be able to celebrate Kentucky students,'' 
Dr. Gott says. He also adds, ``This recognition would not have been 
possible without the full partnership we have with Western Kentucky 
University.''
  The Newsweek rankings that put Gatton Academy on top were based on 
measurements such as graduation rates, college enrollment, average ACT 
and SAT scores, and advanced placement tests per student, as well as 
scores. This year, the school's average ACT score was 31.2 out of a 
possible 36, and its average SAT score was 2,010 out of a possible 
2,400. In addition, over half of the school's students studied abroad 
last year, and 91 percent of recent graduates participated in a 
research project sponsored by a university mentor.
  Mr. President, I would like to ask at this time that my colleagues in 
the Senate join me in recognizing the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of 
Mathematics and Science in Kentucky and its great contribution to the 
success of Kentucky and the Nation. The students at Gatton are the 
future leaders and success stories of America.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Newsweek article naming the Carol 
Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky as the 
top-ranked public school in the Nation be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From Newsweek, May 20, 2012]

  Kentucky Academy Tops the Chart: Newsweek Ranks Kentucky Academy as 
                       America's Top High School


What does it take to be the best public high school in America? Daniel 
            Stone reports from the top-seeded Gatton Academy

                           (By Daniel Stone)

       To call the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science a 
     high school, you'd have to suspend an element of reality. 
     You'll find no football games, pep rallies, or dismissal 
     bells on the Kentucky campus. Instead you'd find couches 
     designed for study halls and white boards scribbled with 
     advanced math. Last week, one student even walked around 
     campus in a T-shirt proclaiming, ``Extreme science: What a 
     rush.''
       Welcome to Gatton. Or as administrators affectionately call 
     it, the crucible--a place with admittedly high pressure, but 
     where every student succeeds. The school has another title, 
     too: America's best public high school, according to 
     Newsweek's 2012 ranking of the top 1,000. On every metric 
     used--test scores and graduation and college matriculation 
     rates--Gatton sets the nation's curve.
       The school, about 100 miles south of Louisville in verdant 
     Bowling Green, Kentucky, is a public school with selective 
     admission based only on past academic performance--a key 
     quality that separates Gatton from other public schools, 
     which are mostly mandated to seek economic and racial 
     diversity.
       Once students are in, they're given broad autonomy to 
     pursue subjects that interest them: They befriend their 
     instructors and conduct scientific research. During semester 
     breaks, the school helps students study abroad. Last winter, 
     the offerings were Western Europe and Costa Rica.
       It is, you might note, a bit like college.
       That's precisely the idea. Back in 2007, generous funding 
     from the Kentucky statehouse brought Gatton to life. The 
     facility, a five-story building about the size of one 
     football field, was built for 126 lucky and ambitious minds. 
     Students live on campus in dorms and eat with their friends 
     in dining halls. They see their parents only once a month. 
     Most of their classes are college level, literally, which 
     they take on the adjacent campus of Western Kentucky 
     University. ``We see ourselves as an atypical high school. 
     We're trying to break the mold of what high school could 
     be,'' says Tim Gott, who directs the school's academic 
     programs.
       Gatton was designed under the Early College Model, a 
     concept devised by researchers at the University of North 
     Texas (UNT) in the 1970s. They wanted to end traditional high 
     school after tenth grade to push students into a college 
     environment sooner. ``The idea was to zip them through the 
     educational process,'' says Richard Sinclair, one of the 
     early researchers of the model. Sinclair now runs the Texas 
     Academy of Math and Science, a school similar to Gatton, 
     albeit twice its size, that's located on the UNT campus. 
     About seven schools exist under the model, most of them in 
     the South. Despite the high cost--Gatton's yearly budget for 
     126 pupils is $2.6 million--state legislatures tend to like 
     the idea because it gets hungry minds out of school faster, 
     turning them into taxpayers and industry leaders.
       To understand just how different Gatton is, try to name 
     another high school that has a living room. Or students who 
     have pet names for their math classes (multi, diffie). Some 
     high-schoolers pin posters with the latest movie or 
     heartthrob; in one break room at the end of Gatton's dorm 
     hall is a floor-to-ceiling crossword puzzle--the one from 
     SkyMall magazine--that's about half full. When Newsweek 
     visited last week, senior Jordan Currie picked up the clue 
     list. ``370 across is kingdom!'' she shouted. ``Someone fill 
     it in!''
       Ambition, in other words, is a sort of currency, and the 
     only one that really matters. In the five years since the 
     school opened, some of its students have already completed 
     law school, begun dentistry and pharmacy programs, and 
     started doctoral degrees. (The school's everybody-knows-your-
     name mentality has already produced seven marriages.)
       Of seven students who agreed to be interviewed, all said 
     they wouldn't stop studying until they had their Ph.D.s. Some 
     are already on their way. Andrea Eastes, who graduated this 
     year, spent her senior year studying DNA, specifically in 
     pursuit of a cure for tuberculosis. ``Everything you need to 
     take tissue cultures is in here,'' she says matter-of-factly, 
     just a few steps away from a canister of liquid nitrogen.
       Gatton has its share of the usual adolescent issues, too. 
     Some students stress over their studies, others over friends 
     and romance. The school employs a full-time school 
     psychologist to work through these issues, and occasionally 
     more serious ones too, like broken families or eating 
     disorders. ``Every student comes to me for something,'' says 
     Christopher Bowen, Gatton's Converse-wearing psych counselor. 
     ``It's almost like, if you're not coming to see me, then we 
     think something's wrong.''
       Gatton has received nods from high places. Kentucky Sen. 
     Mitch McConnell, the Senate's minority leader, stopped by 
     once to marvel; when he got back to Washington, he submitted 
     a statement into the Congressional Record exalting the 
     school.
       But Gatton's administrators admit it's not a model for 
     every school. You need to have students who really want to 
     excel before you

[[Page S3680]]

     can turn them into Steve Jobses. Unlike Gatton, most schools 
     have stragglers.
       The key, says Gott, the school's director and a longtime 
     public-school teacher, is to add relevance to education. 
     Maybe every student can't study advanced engineering, but 
     there's something--from music to metalworking--that interests 
     every young person and answers the ``when will I ever use 
     this?'' question.
       What's more, infusing more glory into education couldn't 
     hurt. ``Everywhere in this country we celebrate basketball 
     and football talent,'' says Julia Roberts, the school's 
     executive director, who petitioned the Kentucky statehouse 
     for 10 years to invest in Gatton. ``The talent we really need 
     to celebrate is math and science.''

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