[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 126 (Thursday, July 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN CESCHINI

 Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I wish to recognize an 
outstanding educator from the State of Maryland. John Ceschini has been 
an extraordinary leader in the area of arts education. His work has, in 
short, transformed this field and the lives of countless students.
  For the last 4 years, Mr. Ceschini was the arts integration officer 
for Prince George's County schools. During that time, he played an 
integral role in the expansion of the arts integration program, which 
is now the largest in the country.
  Previously, Mr. Ceschini was the executive director of education in 
the Maryland Schools Alliance. In 2011, he received the National Arts 
Education Association's Distinguished Service Award, and in 2010, he 
received the Innovator of the Year Award from the ``Daily Record'' for 
his efforts to support and expand the arts integration initiative 
across Maryland.
  Mr. Ceschini served as principal of two elementary schools that 
developed nationally recognized arts integration programs under his 
leadership. One of those schools, Kensington Parkwood Elementary School 
in Kensington, MD, was the 2007 recipient of the Creative Ticket 
National Schools of Distinction Award. In 2006, the school received the 
New and Emerging Art School Award from the International Network of 
Schools for the Advancement of Arts Education. Before that, Mr. 
Ceschini served as principal of Rockledge Elementary School in Bowie, a 
Maryland Blue Ribbon school that received national recognition for its 
arts program. In fact, Harvard University included Rockledge in its 
``Why Arts Survive'' research and named the program as one of eight 
promising arts schools in the Nation.
  Mr. Ceschini was one of four educators across the Nation who received 
the BRAVO Network National Arts Education award for his commitment to 
arts education. His other awards included the Washington Post 
Outstanding Educational Leader Award, the Prince George's Arts Council 
ABE Award for outstanding elementary arts program, the Prince George's 
Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Administrator Award, and the Bowie 
Outstanding Citizen Award.
  Mr. Ceschini has been an advocate for arts education across the world 
and has demonstrated how the arts can play an essential role in any 
school curriculum. There can be no doubt that he is one of our 
country's most effective leaders in arts education. Now, as he begins 
his well-earned retirement, I call upon my colleagues to join me in 
congratulating and expressing our appreciation to John Ceschini on his 
outstanding service.

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