[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      BYRON CENTER HIGH SCHOOL NAMED 1999-2000 BLUE RIBBON SCHOOL

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, in 1982, the United States 
Department of Education initiated its Blue Ribbon Schools Program. In 
each year since, the Department has recognized schools throughout the 
country which excel in all areas of academic leadership, teaching and 
teacher development, and school curriculum. In other words, Blue Ribbon 
Schools are recognized because they are the finest public and private 
secondary schools our Nation has to offer. They are the schools that 
set the standard for which others strive. I am very proud to report 
that nine of the 198 Blue Ribbon Schools named by Secretary Richard W. 
Riley for 1999-2000 are located in the State of Michigan, and I rise 
today to recognize Byron Center High School in Byron Center, Michigan, 
one of these nine schools.
  Over the past eight years, Byron Center High School has transformed 
itself from a school rooted in the curriculum of the 1950's to one 
prepared for the constantly changing information age of the 21st 
Century. A graduate of Byron Center is now technologically, 
academically, and culturally literate. The key to this transformation 
has been a shift of focus, as administrators stopped tinkering with 
curriculum and teaching strategies and rather developed a comprehensive 
restructuring model, which enabled them to more effectively address the 
entire educational process that Byron Center students are put through.
  With the new restructuring model, Byron Center faculty and 
administrators have focused their efforts on four areas: providing 
effective guidance to all students by improving and promoting career 
awareness programs; forming strong partnerships and effective working 
relationships with local business and community leaders; hiring quality 
teachers and allowing them to be the leaders in the effort to improve; 
and constantly monitoring student performance, not only on state and 
national tests, but also by conducting one year and five year follow up 
surveys of Byron Center graduates, and collectively employing this 
information to determine where improvements could occur within Byron 
Center High School to better prepare students find success in a rapidly 
changing world.
  The success of the transformation can clearly be seen in the new 
Byron Center High School facility, which students and staff moved into 
the fall of 1998. Dr. Robert Burt, who visited Byron Center to make the 
assessment for the Blue Ribbon Award, said that administrators ``built 
the school around a structure of technology,'' which provided him a 
``dramatic opportunity to learn about the new age of high schools.'' 
Indeed, the facility was designed to support the curriculum, teaching 
strategies and information technology systems that have played such a 
vital role in the overwhelmingly successful development of Byron Center 
High School.
  Mr. President, I applaud the students, parents, faculty and 
administration of Byron Center High School, for I believe this is an 
award which speaks more to the effort of a united community than it 
does to the work of a few individuals. With that having been said, I 
would like to recognize Dr. William Skilling, the Principal of Byron 
Center High School, whose dedication to making his school one of the 
finest in our Nation has been instrumental in creating this community. 
On behalf of the entire United States Senate, I congratulate Byron 
Center High School on being named a Blue Ribbon School for 1999-2000, 
and wish the school continued success in the future.

                          ____________________