[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 131 (Thursday, August 1, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5309-S5310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNIZING THE WALT WHITMAN HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1969

 Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, on Saturday, June 29, 2019, 
more than 125 members of the Class of 1969 of Walt Whitman High School 
in Bethesda, MD, held their 50th graduation class reunion celebration. 
Over the years, Walt Whitman High School has been recognized as one of 
the best high schools in the Nation. The WWHS class of 1969 is an 
outstanding representation of that excellence.
  The Mighty Sixty-Niners, as they call themselves, have earned the 
characterization of ``mighty.'' From its beginning in 1962, Walt 
Whitman High School was experimental and forward-looking. The original 
school setting included a Buckminster Fuller-type geodesic dome that 
served as the school's main gymnasium and auditorium and as its unique 
visual focal point. For years afterwards, WWHS was locally and proudly 
known as ``The Home of the Dome.''
  The WWHS class of 1969 contributed much to the rich history of the 
school. In 1968, a time of heightened racial tensions throughout the 
country, Whitman students and faculty established an exchange program 
with several high schools in the District of Columbia. Participating 
Whitman students lived for a week and attended classes at DC's McKinley 
High School and Cardozo High School. The following week, the McKinley 
and Cardozo students spent a week at WWHS with their Whitman 
counterparts. Those exchanges helped develop greater understanding 
between the participants.
  The WWHS class of 1969 also instituted a weeklong Experiment in Free 
Form Education. This novel educational program gained nationwide media 
attention and accolades, including a tribute on the floor of the U.S. 
Senate on April 25, 1969, by then-U.S. Senator Joseph Tydings of 
Maryland.
  The Mighty Sixty-Niners have served our Nation in many productive 
ways, and they continue to do so, excelling in many fields--the arts, 
politics, government, education, literature, engineering, law, business 
and publishing, among others.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in sending our very best wishes and 
congratulations to the Walt Whitman High

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School class of 1969 on the occasion of its 50th reunion.

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