[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        TRIBUTE TO AARON HALPERN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 28, 2000

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to your attention to 
the deeds of a person I was proud to call my friend, Aaron Halpern of 
Clifton, New Jersey, who was remembered on Thursday, June 1, 2000 
because of his many years of service and leadership. He is deserving of 
this memorial, for he had a long history of caring, generosity and 
commitment to others.
  Aaron was recognized for his many years of leadership in Clifton, 
which I have been honored to represent in Congress since 1997, and so 
it is only fitting that these words are immortalized in the annals of 
this greatest of all freely elected bodies.
  Mr. Halpern worked for the Clifton School System for 43 years, 
beginning as a high school teacher and guidance counselor. He became 
the principal of School 7 in 1959 and of Woodrow Wilson Middle School 
in 1962. A year later he became the principal of Clifton High School. 
He served that post for 25 years until his retirement on November 1, 
1988.
  During his tenure at Clifton High School, Aaron implemented many 
educational innovations including computer technology, student 
counseling and placement services. When he retired in 1988, it was 
estimated that more than 20,000 students had passed through the school 
in the years that he was in charge.
  Aaron received the New Jersey Principals Supervisors Association's 
Distinguished Service Award in 1993, and the Clifton Parents Football 
Boosters named him 1982-83 Man of the Year. He also had a wing at 
Clifton High School named after him in 1997.
  Principal Halpern was a member of the Executive Committee of the New 
Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, where he was 
responsible for many athletic rule changes. He was a life member of the 
National Education Association and the New Jersey Congress of Parents 
and Teachers.
  An Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, Principal Halpern was a 
member of the Clifton Jewish Center and its Men's Club, the B'nai 
B'rith and Humboldt-Ezra Masonic Lodge 114, all in Clifton.
  A graduate of Passaic High School in 1938, Aaron received a Bachelor 
of Science Degree in Education from Newark State College, and Master's 
degrees in Administration and Supervision from Montclair State College 
(now University), in Guidance from Rutgers University, and in Secondary 
School Administration from Teachers College at Columbia University.
  Aaron is survived by his wife, the former Dorothy Leibowitz, a 
daughter, Doretta Halpern of Cedar Grove and his nephew Jack Birnberg, 
Chairman of the Board of Waldorf Group, Inc. of Little Falls, New 
Jersey.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join our colleagues, Aaron's family and 
friends, Clifton High School, the Clifton Board of Education, the City 
of Clifton and me in recognizing the outstanding and invaluable service 
to the community of Aaron Halpern.

                          ____________________