[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 TRIBUTE TO THE OLIVIERA MIDDLE SCHOOL

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                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 18, 2000

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to a school in 
Brownsville, Texas, that is beating the odds in today's public 
education system. At a time when our resources are terribly over-
burdened, Oliviera Middle School won one of three national first-place 
awards in the ``Set A Good Example'' competition that is sponsored by 
the Concerned Businessmen of America.
  These awards, launched in 1982, recognize schools which have a 
student-oriented program to influence their peers in a positive way by 
forwarding the simple human moral values such as honesty, 
trustworthiness, responsibility, competence and fairness. The Concerned 
Businessmen of America is a not-for- profit charitable education 
organization which incorporates successful business strategies to 
combat social ills and problems that face young people.
  At a time when parents and community leaders are watching our young 
people with new eyes, wondering what is going on inside their minds and 
what motivates them, this recognition is concrete proof that the 
community surrounding Oliviera Middle School--educators, counselors, 
parents, business people, and most importantly, students themselves--is 
working together to ward off the problems that have plagued other 
schools and other young people. The winning ingredient here is the 
active involvement of the students. The best messenger for young people 
is other young people.
  We have enormous challenges before us in education, and with regard 
to the public policy in our public schools. There will never be one 
single answer to preparing young people to withstand the complex social 
issues that our children encounter each day. But the best way to 
prepare our children to deal with the society in which we live is to 
teach them, from very early on, simple moral guidelines to apply to 
their lives. The ``Set a Good Example'' program follows up as 
encouragement and reinforcement to these lessons.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in commending Oliviera Middle School 
for their efforts to be part of a solution, which is the first step to 
solving the problem. I thank the young people there for leading the way 
to better grades and healthier attitudes.

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