[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 20260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              RECOGNITION OF THE WELLPINIT SCHOOL DISTRICT

 Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I take the floor of the Senate 
today to tell you about the hard working teachers, faculty and parents 
of the Wellpinit School District and their efforts to improve their 
children's education by bringing technology to the classroom. For their 
dedication, I am delighted to present the Wellpinit School District 
with one of my ``Innovation in Education'' Awards.
  The Wellpinit School District is located on the Spokane Indian 
Reservation in Eastern Washington and educates 440 students of which 95 
percent are of Native American descent. The K-12 school has already far 
exceeded any other rural school in Washington state with its efforts to 
boost the use of technology in the classroom. Under the direction of 
Wellpinit's Board of Directors and Superintendent Reid Reidlinger, 
Wellpinit implemented an innovative program that includes increasing 
student access to computers and improving students' use of the internet 
and intranet.
  Wellpinit reconfigured its curriculum, integrating it with a computer 
program that allows students from both elementary and secondary grades 
to access an individualized instructional program for any core subject. 
The computerized curriculum has been highly effective in increasing 
national test scores. In fact, Wellpinit was named the highest 
achieving Indian Reservation school based on the Iowa Test of Basic 
Skills. Wellpinit has also been selected as one of America's Top 100 
Wired Schools by the editors of Family PC Magazine.
  Earlier this year, I awarded Quillayute Valley School District one of 
my ``Innovation in Education'' Awards for developing the Washington 
Virtual Classroom Consortium (WVCC), which links rural schools together 
via the Internet in order to pool resources and expand learning 
opportunities for students and staff. Wellpinit has joined the WVCC to 
further enhance the educational opportunities for all students.
  Superintendent Reid Reidlinger told me, ``Wellpinit has been a model 
for other schools. Federal grants have helped with bringing technology 
to our district, and as a result, we have very advanced students.''
  I commend all those who have contributed to Wellpinit's technology 
plan and ask that the Senate join me in recognizing the hard work and 
commitment of the students, teachers and faculty at the Wellpinit 
School District.

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