[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 112 (Thursday, July 17, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1188-E1189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING ED HATRICK

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 17, 2014

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Ed Hatrick, who 
served as superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools for 23 years 
before retiring on June 30.
  Ed spent his entire career in Loudoun County, starting as a high 
school English teacher in 1967. He also served as a principal, director 
of special education, director of instruction, supervisor of guidance 
and foreign languages and assistant superintendent for pupil services 
before becoming superintendent in 1991.
  As superintendent, Ed has watched Loudoun grow from a rural farming 
community with 8,000 students into a suburban community with a student 
population of 70,000 students. Since 1991, Loudoun County has 
constructed 54 new schools and renovated 33 more.
  Ed has served as president of the Urban Superintendents Association 
of America and president of the American Association of School 
Administrators. He also has served in numerous professional and 
community offices and has been recognized for his work by the General 
Assembly of Virginia. He received an honorary doctor of humanities 
degree from Shenandoah University for his community service.
  I am pleased to submit the following article from Leesburg Today on 
Ed's career and retirement. I ask that my colleagues join me in 
congratulating him for many years of distinguished service to our 
nation's youth.

                 [From Leesburg Today, June 24, 2014.]

       Superintendent Hatrick Honored as ``Uncommon Common Man''

                          (By Danielle Nadler)

       Even at 9:30 p.m. on a Friday, Edgar B. Hatrick III 
     couldn't help but teach.
       Standing in a sprawling ballroom with some of the 
     commonwealth's most influential individuals at his retirement 
     dinner, the 23-year superintendent and former high school 
     English teacher launched into a metaphor.
       He said, as geese fly in formation they offer encouragement 
     to the lead goose through their honking, and when the lead 
     goose tires, another pulls forward to take the lead. The 
     story left many in the room chuckling. They'd heard it 
     repeated at staff meetings and back-to-school orientations 
     over the years.
       Hatrick laughed with them, before finally interrupting the 
     chatter to say, ``That's what being in Loudoun County Public 
     Schools has been all about.
       ``I have felt the warmth, the support and the understanding 
     that has led me to say if I had to do it all over again--the 
     whole 47-and-a-half years--I would not change one thing,'' he 
     said, fighting back tears. ``It has been just that wonderful 
     to be able to work with you to build up this school system.''
       Hatrick, 68, retires Monday as the region's longest serving 
     superintendent. More than 500 people crowded the National 
     Conference Center ballroom Friday to thank Hatrick for his 
     service to help shape the learning experiences of hundreds of 
     thousands of students in Virginia.
       Politicians and fellow school administrators praised 
     Hatrick for his influence on public education on a national 
     and even global scale. He drew attention to Loudoun when it 
     was the fastest growing school system in the country, opening 
     50 new schools to keep up with enrollment that has increased 
     by 53,637 students during his tenure. And as former president 
     of the American Association of School Administrators, he 
     united superintendents to advocate better measures of 
     schools' effectiveness than the federal No Child Left Behind 
     model.
       AASA Executive Director Dan Domenech described him as ``a 
     recognized brand for education around the world.''
       But it was the stories of Hatrick, from as early as his 
     high school years when friends knew him as Skip, that best 
     illustrate what he's been to Loudoun County, an individual 
     the Loudoun Education Foundation called an ``uncommon common 
     man.''
       His former classmate Karolyn Whitely and Evan Mohler, 
     former assistant superintendent for Support Services, 
     described Hatrick as the student teachers wanted in

[[Page E1189]]

     their classes, and the teen who set the bar on test scores 
     and class projects.
       ``As a teenager, he was very focused and very 
     hardworking,'' Whitely said.
       ``He was shaping education in Loudoun County back in 
     1962,'' Mohler said, ``and here we are 52 years later--he's 
     still setting the standard of excellence.''
       He spent his entire educational career in Loudoun's public 
     schools, first on the payroll as a school bus driver during 
     his senior year in high school. He graduated from Loudoun 
     County High School in 1963 and returned to his alma mater 
     after four years of college to teach English.
       He especially loved teaching British literature, former 
     Broad Run High School teacher Jo Ann Pearson recalled. So 
     much so that he required one of his senior classes to 
     memorize the bulk of the Canterbury Tales Prologue in Middle 
     English.
       Hatrick commented on this bit of leaked information later 
     in the evening, saying, ``In my defense, I listened to each 
     of them recite it.''
       He served as assistant principal at Broad Run High School 
     from 1969 to 1970, and as principal of Loudoun County High 
     School from 1975 to 1978. He moved up the administration 
     ranks to positions that had him overseeing special education, 
     foreign language, instruction, planning and pupil services 
     before he was named superintendent in 1991.
       He served as superintendent under five school boards, and 
     three former School Board members--Joe Vogric, John Andrews 
     and Robert DuPree--did not hesitate to say that the 
     superintendent was stubborn when it came to fighting for 
     funding for public education.
       Whether board members wanted it or not, he gave them his 
     opinion, Vogric said, ``and it wasn't always done in a way 
     that we liked it . . . . but it was about setting policies 
     and taking actions to ensure the best education of our 
     children.''
       Most of the stories shared well beyond dinnertime Friday 
     described Hatrick as a colleague, a mentor and a friend.
       Whether a custodian or a principal loses a loved one, the 
     superintendent can usually be seen at the funeral. Plays, 
     football games, science fairs, club dedications, essay 
     contests and, yes, retirement dinners, he's been there.
       ``We always knew that he cared about us,'' Pearson said.
       ``There's still a family feel about this district because 
     that's how he wants it to be,'' Sharon Ackerman, who worked 
     alongside Hatrick as assistant superintendent of instruction 
     for 15 years, said.
       W. John Brewer, principal at Dominion High School, joked 
     that the school administration office, while called the Taj 
     Mahal or ``the palace'' by some, ``from time to time it's 
     simply the woodshed.'' He said Hatrick didn't scold 
     principals or teachers but he used those moments to teach. 
     ``He helped us grow personally and professionally,'' Brewer 
     said. ``We've become better educators, and we've become 
     better people.''
       Whitely, who attended high school with Hatrick and later 
     taught under his leadership, told a story about the 
     superintendent's impression at their class's recent 50-year 
     reunion. After a friend greeted Hatrick, she leaned over to 
     Whitely and said, ``You know, success hasn't spoiled him one 
     bit. He's still Skip.''
       Eric Williams will officially take the helm of the school 
     system as superintendent Tuesday.

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