[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 23439-23440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      ALABAMA'S DISTINGUISHED PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR, TERRY BEASLEY

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, this Capital and in the world too seldom 
do people of real achievement, people who have given of themselves 
sacrificially for others, receive proper recognition. As Leo Durocher 
once said, ``Nice guys finish last.'' But, today there is good news. I 
want to celebrate the fact that good things do happen to those who 
serve in America. Often, it takes time, often it comes only after long 
years of service, but our country still remains capable of recognizing 
excellence.
  Today I want to describe for you the magnificent contributions to 
children, to teachers, to community and to the highest ideals of 
education and enrichment that have been made by Alabama's Distinguished 
Principal of the Year, Mr. Terry Beasley. The Greeks once said that the 
purpose of education is more than technical learning, it was to make a 
person ``good''. In those days, people apparently didn't have the 
difficulty distinguishing between good and the bad that we seem to have 
today. In addition to academic excellence, in abundance, Terry Beasley 
exemplifies ``the good.''
  Although I did not know he was being considered for this award and 
had absolutely nothing to do with his selection, the name ``Mr. 
Beasley'' has always held the highest position in our family. You see, 
he taught our children at Mary B. Austin elementary School, a part of 
the public school system in Mobile County, AL, my home. He taught math 
and his name was mentioned with the greatest respect, even awe, by my 
children.
  You could tell just the way they said ``Mr. Beasley'' and how often 
the name ``Mr. Beasley'' was repeated, that they knew he was special.
  My wife, Mary, a former elementary school teacher herself, was a 
regular volunteer parent in the classroom at Mary B. Austin. She knew 
Mr. Beasley then and the fire reputation he had with teachers, 
principal, parents and students. People still talk about the famous 
school playday when Mr. Beasley would not only play ball with the 
children but would race the bases and slide into home. Our friends, 
also, with children in the school, frequently discussed his remarkable 
skill as a teacher and his dedication to teaching.
  Before he became a teacher. Terry Beasley was a minister and youth 
director at a Mobile church. He considered that perhaps teaching could 
be a calling too, and decided to give it a try. In fact, the scripture 
lists ``teacher'' as a person who can be called. So he decided to give 
it a try. It was a divine inspiration, indeed. As he told me recently, 
it soon became clear to him that ``I had found my calling in 
teaching''. His first job was at Mary B. Austin. Certainly, his later 
skills as a principal benefitted from the fact that he was able to work 
under and observe the great leadership skills of Glenys Mason, who was 
principal at Austin at the time, and to work with excellent teachers.
  Later, he moved across Mobile Bay to the Baldwin County school system 
and became principal at Fairhope Elementary School. They have 370 
students and 36 teachers in the second and third grade school. Under 
Mr. Beasley's leadership the school has flourished.
  Last year the school was recognized as having the best physical 
fitness program in Alabama, and was also recognized for its Kindness 
and Justice Program which teaches kindness and consideration to others 
with reference to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King.--We need to 
be intentional about these character programs. Finally, the school was 
also recognized as having the best elementary environmental science 
program in Alabama. In fact, the third graders drafted a statute which 
became Alabama law to name

[[Page 23440]]

the Red Hill Salamander as the state amphibian. As a result of this 
work, and the efforts of the teachers, the student scores on the 
Stanford Achievement Test showed a significant increase.
  Fairhope Elementary is a wonderful school with a diverse student 
population. 23 percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch and 
18 percent are minority students. Mr. Beasley has created a learning 
environment that is dedicated to helping each child reach his/her 
fullest potential. He is in the classroom constantly, assisting 
teachers, training teachers, and insisting on excellence. His 
leadership is extraordinary. Being a good teacher has certainly helped 
him be a great principal.
  As he told me, ``Math is my love, I don't claim to be an expert, but 
I love it. If we can't make math real then kids won't learn.'' These 
are not just words for Mr. Beasley. His intense interest in helping 
children led him to study how they learn. His experience caused him to 
write a paper on ``writing math''. Ohio State University wants to 
publish it. In this technique, Mr. Beasley encourages students to write 
out in their own words exactly the processes they are going through 
when they do their math calculations. From this experience, the student 
comes to understand what they do not know and the teacher is able to 
help them. It helps them to relieve their anxiety about math and makes 
them more comfortable with it. Mr. Beasley quotes John Updike as 
saying, ``Writing helps me clear up my fuzzy thoughts''. He adds, 
``Write about math and it becomes clear.'' A principal is a valuable 
thing indeed, as is an exceptional teacher. This nation needs to 
venerate them, to lift them up and to celebrate their accomplishments. 
Hundreds of thousand of them strive daily to help each child learn too 
often with little recognition.
  As Mr. Beasley notes, the scripture lists teaching as a ``calling.'' 
It is good for us to praise and give thanks to those who touched us 
with their work and those who daily work to prepare the next generation 
for service.
  Terry Beasley is a great American with a powerful determination to 
fulfill his calling--to help make young people better and to help them 
learn. He is a native of Waynesboro, Mississippi, and his wife, 
Charlotte, also an educator at Spanish Fort Middle School in Baldwin 
County, Alabama, is a native of Millry, AL. Together they represent the 
best in education in America.
  I have been honored to know them. I am pleased and honored that Mr. 
Beasley has been able to teach my children. There are so many others 
like him. I have been in 20 different schools in Alabama this year and 
there are a lot of problems. Teachers have shared with me from their 
heart their frustrations. But we have some great teachers all over 
America and some great principals. Sometimes I think we don't realize 
how important a good principal is because without a good principal a 
school just can't reach its best.
  In my visit to those 20 schools, they didn't ask for a bunch more 
Federal programs. We have 700 Federal programs right now. What they 
have told me, time and again, was that Federal regulations are 
micromanaging the work they have to do, requiring them to fill out much 
more paperwork than even their whole school system requires and, in 
fact, undermining their ability to maintain discipline in the 
classroom. I hear that time and time again. That is another matter.
  I simply want to say again how much I appreciate the distinguished 
group that had the wisdom and insight to select Terry Beasley as the 
principal of the year because he is indeed special.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.

                          ____________________