[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 22576]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 22576]]

       LAKE ORION 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 Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Michigan, one 
of these nine schools.
  In fall of 1992, Lake Orion High School set about to create school 
improvement that was purposeful to the lives of teachers and students. 
Their goals included a desire to maintain high academic standards, 
engage the learner, relieve stress, facilitate networking, expand 
curricular opportunities, curb attendance problems, and raise the 
responsibility of the student for his or her own learning. Ultimately, 
the mission was to reach the students of today and help them become the 
leaders of tomorrow.
  All this required an enormous amount of time and extensive research. 
First, a staff committee devised a minimum restructuring of their 
normal six period days by allotting three hours on Wednesday morning 
for professional development, a program which was implemented in the 
fall of 1994. In February of 1994, the Vision of Hope staff committee 
was formed to investigate the restructuring of the school day. 
Extensive research, visitations, debate and discussion followed and, in 
the fall of 1996, a 4 by 4 block schedule was adopted. The block system 
has resulted in better teacher cooperation, greater flexibility in 
scheduling, increased student choices and a more meaningful and 
relevant curriculum for Lake Orion High School students.
  Lake Orion High School moved into a new building in the fall of 1997, 
a state of the art facility which has become an ideal setting for the 
many innovative changes that have become a part of the curriculum. More 
importantly, the new building stands as the perfect representation of 
the overall growth that has occurred at Lake Orion High since the fall 
of 1992, growth which is a tribute to the shared goals and shared 
vision that administration and faculty together committed themselves to 
eight years ago.
  I applaud the students, parents, faculty and administration of Lake 
Orion 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. 
John S. Kastran, the Principal of Lake Orion 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 Lake Orion High School on being 
named a Blue Ribbon School for 1999-2000, and wish the school continued 
success in the future. 

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