[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 7029]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF ANTHONY WAYNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Anthony 
Wayne Elementary School in Detroit, Michigan, which on May 12, 2000, 
will officially celebrate its 70th Anniversary. Events have been 
scheduled throughout this week, providing administrators, teachers, 
students and parents an opportunity to reflect upon the history of 
their elementary school, and at the same time witness how far it has 
come in seventy years.
  The roots of Wayne Elementary School lie in a two room portable 
building near the heart of Detroit, where Mrs. Jessie Baum and Ms. Etta 
Coetzer, under the guidance of Principal Ms. Florence Kessler, began 
teaching kindergarten through fifth grade students in March of 1928. 
Their efforts led to the construction of a six-room building at 10633 
Courville Street in February of 1930, officially marking the birth of 
Wayne Elementary School.
  Though the face and shape of the building have been forced to change 
often to accomodate a growing number of students, the teachers and 
administrators of Wayne Elementary School still instill the same values 
into their students as did Ms. Kessler, Mrs. Coetzer, and Mrs. Baum: 
learning two different sets of three R's, not only the traditional 
writing, reading, and arithmetic, but also rights, responsibility, and 
respect.
  To this end, Wayne Elementary School encourages parents and other 
members of the community to become involved with the education of their 
children. In 1998, working in cooperation with the Greening of Detroit 
and the Ford Motor company volunteers, the children planted trees, 
bushes and wild flowers during the month of May. The habitat area now 
serves as an outdoor classroom and each spring the students intend to 
plant more trees, bushes and flowers.
  Two other important programs have recently been developed at Wayne 
Elementary School. Academic Games, started by Ms. Nicole Stewart, 
encourages learning achievement while at the same time demonstrating to 
students that learning can indeed be fun. And in 1995, two chess teams 
were formed by Mr. Carter and Mr. Cook, a primary team (K-3) and an 
upper elementary team of fourth and fifth graders. On May 11, these 
teams will send ten students to Dallas, Texas, to compete against the 
nation's best elementary school chess players. I would like to wish 
them the best of luck in that competition.
  Mr. President, I applaud all of the teachers, parents, students and 
administrators whose hard work over the years has made this anniversary 
possible. On behalf of the entire United States Senate, I wish Anthony 
Wayne Elementary School a happy 70th birthday, and continued success in 
the coming years.

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