[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 66 (Thursday, April 18, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN RECOGNITION OF JAMIE NICHOLAU ADAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 2019

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Jamie Adams who is 
receiving the Citizen of the Year and Community Care Award from the 
Associated Parents' Group of Hillsborough for her tireless work 
improving the lives of our children.
  As the principal at West Hillsborough School from 2009 to 2015 and 
the principal at Crocker Middle School from 2015 to the present, Ms. 
Adams has served Hillsborough with a dedication to students, a sense of 
community and forward-thinking leadership. She has always been open to 
feedback and input while remaining grounded in her principles which 
focus on what is best for all students, not only each individual 
student. In her own words, she strives to ``uphold high academic 
standards, support innovative instruction, and build a sense of 
community among students, teachers, staff and parents on a daily 
basis.''
  Ms. Adams had devoted her entire career to education and the 
betterment of others. Originally from Marysville, California, she 
earned her BA in Sociology at UC Berkeley and her MA and Ed. D from 
Mills College. After college, she worked at a rehabilitation hospital 
in San Francisco before starting her family. She married her husband 
Griffith Adams 44 years ago and they have two children, Nicholau and 
Elizabeth. Her family, she says, is her greatest love and 
accomplishment.
  Ms. Adams has worked at a private school for three years and in the 
Piedmont Unified School District for 17 years. To this day, she 
volunteers for the Piedmont Minor Offender Program, a program 
supporting minors who made poor choices and who are engaging in 
positive restitution for growth and development.
  In her ten years at HCSD, Ms. Adams has achieved a long list of 
innovations and accomplishments. In 2011 and 2012, West was awarded the 
distinguished Kent Award for peer coaching and for ``Operation Risk.'' 
Operation Risk encouraged teachers to innovate even at the risk of 
failure. The program was so successful that the school district asked 
her to expand it and made it one of five districtwide initiatives. She 
also brought a mindfulness program to all grades, introduced flexible 
classroom environments and desks to promote learning and innovation, 
and empowered students to establish the Principals Advisors Program.
  Ms. Adams was the first principal at HCSD to create open forums to 
solicit both positive and negative feedback from parents. This openness 
to listening and trying new ideas rapidly improved the input from 
parents and the district subsequently adopted the model at all 
elementary schools.
  Ms. Adams understands that the success of a child cannot be measured 
solely by test scores. She is an advocate of the whole child 
perspective which in some cases makes it acceptable for test scores to 
drop for the betterment of the whole child. She oversaw the building of 
the environmentally friendly kindergarten wing, formalized the student 
council election process, and created other opportunities for students 
interested in leadership roles. In 2014, West was named a California 
Distinguished School.
  When she started her tenure at Crocker Middle School in 2015, she 
worked her magic there. She immediately brought calm and confidence to 
teachers and staff. She also implemented science into the daily 
schedule.
  Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to 
honor Jamie Adams for her exemplary service to all children and 
families in Hillsborough. Her vision, wisdom and leadership have helped 
shape the educational system in the entire Hillsborough City School 
District.

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