[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 57 (Thursday, April 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H1685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING LOCAL SCHOOLS ON NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC MERCHANTS 
                              RECOGNITION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
congratulate staff and students at several schools in the Pennsylvania 
Fifth Congressional District following their recognition from the 
National Association of Music Merchants, better known as NAMM.
  Now, I am a big proponent of the importance of quality music 
education in our schools. I am very proud of what we accomplished with 
the repeal of No Child Left Behind and its replacement with the Every 
Student Succeeds Act, which really recognizes the importance of those 
programs such as music education.
  In fact, my son is a middle school music teacher in New Jersey. We 
saw firsthand in our family that experience for all three of our sons. 
Being involved and being impacted by music education has really helped 
them with their creativity skills, helped them in so many different 
ways. Certainly, exposure to a quality music education for my youngest 
son, Kale, motivated him to pursue further education in music 
education. He did that with his undergraduate degree and is now a 
middle school music teacher in New Jersey, and making such a difference 
in the lives of the kids that he has the responsibility to teach and to 
influence. We are very proud of Kale, who, just this year, was selected 
as Teacher of the Year because of his contributions in music education 
and, specifically, in the lives of kids.
  I am so proud that the efforts of the Moshannon Valley School 
District and State College Area School District have led to their 
recognition by NAMM as Best Communities for Music Education, drawing 
attention to their support and to their commitment for music education. 
In fact, these two districts are among only 476 to receive this 
distinction nationwide--out of America's more than 13,000 school 
districts.
  In addition, I want to mention the DuBois Area Middle School, which 
received NAMM's SupportMusic Merit Award, which is given to individual 
schools which have shown a strong commitment to the value of music 
education. This school is among only 118 in the Nation to be honored.
  Music education is vital to the education of children across the 
Nation and is essential to helping them become well-rounded adults. I 
commend the staff, the students, and the parents in each of these 
communities for placing music in such high regard.

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