[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S519-S520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         TRIBUTE TO MARY SCHAUB

 Mr. WICKER. Madam President, on behalf of the people of 
Mississippi, I commend Mary Schaub, an educator in Hattiesburg, MS. 
Through her five-decade career as a speech-language pathologist, she 
has devoted her life to giving children a voice.
  Mary was integral to the creation of the Children's Center for 
Communication and Development at the University of Southern Mississippi 
(USM), and she has faithfully served the center for many years. After 
completing her education at the University of Wyoming, Mary identified 
a crucial gap in Mississippi's education system: preschool children who 
needed language intervention before entering kindergarten. She designed 
a program to fill that divide. The initiative was first called the 
Preschool Language Program and served six local preschool-aged children 
in a small office space on USM's campus.
  Since those humble beginnings, the program has blossomed. Now called 
the

[[Page S520]]

Children's Center, it serves an average of 140 children every year, 
from infants to 5-year-olds. The children benefit from comprehensive 
services that include speech therapy, special instruction, social work, 
audiology, auditory-verbal therapy, physical therapy, and occupational 
therapy. In short, Mary has revolutionized the treatment Mississippi's 
children receive when they are struggling with complex communication 
disorders.
  Mary's work continues today. She is helping facilitate the growth of 
the center through a position on its advisory board. She also teaches 
as a professor in the School of Speech and Hearing Sciences at USM's 
College of Nursing and Health Professions.
  Mrs. Schaub's career is a testament to the impact one educator can 
have on countless lives. I join my fellow Mississippians in thanking 
Mrs. Mary Schaub for her half-century of work in the classroom and for 
the gift of speech that she has given to thousands of children.

                          ____________________