[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 14, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. ROSE WILDER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 2013

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
trailblazing educator who has been recognized as the 2014 South 
Carolina Superintendent of the Year. Dr. Rose Wilder is a remarkable 
leader and visionary who serves with distinction as the Superintendent 
of Clarendon School District 1, the historic school district that was 
the birthplace of the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of 
Education. She is very deserving of this tremendous honor.
  Dr. Wilder is a native South Carolinian; the daughter of Mr. Laco 
Davis and the late Mrs. Ruby Mae Davis. She was one of seven Davis 
children born and raised in the Orangeburg County town of Santee.
  From an early age she loved learning and appreciated the value of 
education. She did her undergraduate work at South Carolina State 
University and Columbia College. Her postgraduate work was at South 
Carolina State University, the Citadel and Cornell University. She 
earned an undergraduate degree in guidance and counseling, a master's 
in special education, and a PhD in education administration.
  In 1979, Dr. Wilder began her teaching career in her home county of 
Orangeburg as a reading teacher at Galliard Primary School in the Town 
of Eutawville. After eight years in the classroom, she became assistant 
principal at Manning Primary School in neighboring Clarendon County. 
She then went on to serve as the first principal of the new Manning 
Elementary School and later returned as principal of Manning Primary.
  In 1994, Dr. Wilder was appointed as assistant superintendent of 
instruction for Clarendon School District 2. Later that same year she 
was chosen to lead the school district and made history by becoming the 
first African American female superintendent in South Carolina since 
the Reconstruction era. She served in that capacity for seven years, 
and in 1999, she was named Outstanding Superintendent by the South 
Carolina School Board Association.
  She left Clarendon County to serve as superintendent for the 
Fairfield County School District for two years and as a curriculum 
facilitator for Richland County School District 1. In 2004, she 
returned to Clarendon County to serve as superintendent of school 
district 1 in the Summerton area.
  During her nine years leading the district, Dr. Wilder has challenged 
the notion that poor students cannot achieve high academic standards. 
Once a chronically underperforming district, Clarendon School District 
1 is now the second highest academically performing high poverty 
district in the state of South Carolina, despite having a 95 percent 
poverty index rating. She has also brought the district out of a $1 
million deficit into financial solvency. Her other achievements include 
earning the district accreditation by the Southern Association of 
Colleges and Schools, completing the new Summerton Early Childhood 
Center, and refurbishing the old middle school campus as a community 
resource center. Next school year, Scott's Branch High School will 
become a New Tech Network Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 
(STEM) school, one of only two schools in the state to institute this 
project-based curriculum.
  Dr. Wilder's motto is ``every child, every chance, every day,'' and 
that is clearly reflected in the school district's philosophy and 
achievements.
  Her other achievements include serving on the transition team for 
State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex in 2006. She is a 1994 
graduate of Leadership South Carolina, and a 2009 graduate of the Riley 
Leadership Diversity Institute at Furman University. She holds a life 
membership in the NAACP and the United Council of Negro Women. She is 
an active member of several professional organization and serves as 
President elect of the South Carolina Association of School 
Administrators. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
  Dr. Wilder is married to James C. Wilder. They share three children 
and two grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. 
Rose Wilder for her selection as 2014 South Carolina Superintendent of 
the Year, and wish her well as she competes for the national honor. She 
has done an outstanding job during her tenure at Clarendon School 
District 1, and, as a former teacher, I applaud her dedication to her 
schools, her students and her community. I am proud to call her a 
friend and claim her as a constituent of the 6th Congressional 
district.

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