[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 36 (Thursday, February 25, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IN CELEBRATION OF WINNETONKA HIGH SCHOOL'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

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                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 25, 2021

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, I rise today with abundant joy and 
everlasting hope to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Winnetonka High 
School, a member of the North Kansas City School District. For half a 
century, as an institution devoted to instilling the fundamental values 
of tradition, respect, unity, and excellence, Winnetonka High School 
has consistently proven itself to be far more than just a brick-and-
mortar school.
  1971 represented the first year that students were warmly welcomed to 
Winnetonka High School, a place that future alumni would call a ``home 
away from home.'' Beginning that year, Winnetonka embarked on an 
endeavor to simultaneously provide opportunities to its students and 
service to its community. When those first 600 students opened the 
doors of Winnetonka High School for the first time back on March 1, 
1971, they began a tradition of excellence that has been carried on by 
thousands of students since. In that first year, the students and staff 
collaborated to create an environment where they could explore their 
possibilities, prioritize building positive relationships with others, 
and celebrate the unique purpose that inspires each student.
  While many things have changed in our country and in the Kansas City 
community over the past fifty years, excellence and innovation have 
remained constant at Winnetonka. Committed to closing the opportunity 
gap, Winnetonka was the first high school in Missouri to be designated 
as a National Demonstration School for the Advancement Via Individual 
Determination (AVID) program. This designation was earned after years 
of helping students find success in both their school and their 
community through collaboration, inquiry, and relationship building. 
These principles have provided the bedrock of the many successful 
student organizations that generations of Winnetonka Griffins have 
helped create. Groups like the acclaimed student publication Griffin 
Rites, the Muslim Student Association, the Blacks Achieving Greatness 
organization, and the National Honors Society all work to create an 
inclusive, empowering, and exciting space where students can realize 
their full potential. Winnetonka students have relished these 
opportunities, with several becoming National Merit Scholarship semi-
finalists and thousands more finding success in their careers after 
graduation. Dr. Eric Johnson, Winnetonka's principal, acknowledged 
after he was named the 2020 Missouri Principal of the Year that the 
accolades of the faculty and staff were only made possible by the good 
fortune of having one-of-a-kind students at a one-of-a-kind school. It 
is clear for all to see that Kansas City is a better place to live 
because of the impact that Winnetonka High School graduates have on our 
community every day.
  In a letter to Booker T. Washington, Missouri-born scientist George 
Washington Carver wrote that ``Education is the key to unlock the 
golden door of freedom.'' By attending Winnetonka High School, Kansas 
City students not only gain the freedom that comes with opportunity, 
but also the skills and abilities needed to achieve their version of 
the American Dream. As we look to the next fifty years, there are 
certainly a great many unanswered questions weighing heavily on our 
minds. However, one thing remains certain: Winnetonka High School will 
continue its everlasting endeavor to provide that most precious key to 
freedom to all students who pass through its doors.
  Madam Speaker, colleagues, please join me in extending our warm 
congratulations and very best wishes to the administration, faculty, 
staff, parents, and students of Winnetonka High School as they 
commemorate fifty years of exceptional service to Kansas City, and 
further extend our best wishes for their continued success. Let us also 
embrace Winnetonka High School's mission in our own lives; let it 
inspire us to educate others responsively, embrace our duties fully, 
and prepare holistically the next generation of American leaders, so 
that we can fulfill our unique purposes and change our community, our 
country, and our world for the better.

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