[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5825]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                HONORING CHARLENE DINDO AND JUDY REEVES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SONNY CALLAHAN

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. CALLAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I wish today to honor two wonderfully 
inspirational teachers in my district, Charlene Dindo and Judy Reeves, 
who have recently been selected as winners of the distinguished 
National Science Foundation's Presidential Awards for Excellence in 
Mathematics and Science Teaching. The foundation annually recognizes 
four teachers per state who have excelled in the fields of Math and 
Science. Teachers are selected at both the elementary and secondary 
level and are chosen by the foundation from finalists picked by state 
education boards. The award recognizes teachers for their exceptional 
teaching and achieving excellence in the classroom. Each winning 
teacher is also awarded $7,500 to use at their discretion in an effort 
to bolster the science departments even further at their respective 
schools. Charlene and Judy's hard work and dedication has demonstrated 
their commitment to ensuring a brighter future for Alabama's children.

  Charlene Dindo is an environmental science teacher at the Fairhope K-
1 Center, where she runs the science lab. She has been teaching since 
1978 where she started her long and successful career at Woodstock 
Elementary. She is known for her environmental science experiments that 
use the bay, rivers and estuaries as her classroom. Her unconventional 
teaching style has successfully captivated her students for quite some 
years and continues to be an incredibly effective method of motivating 
them.
  This is not the first time Charlene has been recognized for her 
exceptional teaching abilities, in March 2000, she was named the 
Outstanding Environmental Educator of the Year in a new awards 
competition sponsored by the National Teachers Association. Charlene is 
a true inspiration to her colleagues and her students. Her tireless 
efforts over the past twenty years have had an enormous impact on the 
Alabama educational system.
  Judy Reeves is an environmental science teacher at Baldwin County 
High School in Bay Minette. Judy has also been praised for her work, 
using outdoor activities to inspire her elementary students. In a 
courageous effort to help children outside her classroom, she 
successfully instituted a mentor program for younger students in her 
community. Judy began teaching almost ten years ago at Fairhope High 
School, and ever since she has been encouraging and inspiring Alabama's 
children to excel in both Math and Science.
  Over the course of the last few years, Judy has become quite 
accustomed to receiving awards. Numerous agencies and associations 
including the Alabama Wildlife Federation and the Alabama Science 
Teachers Association have recognized her for displaying superior 
teaching and motivational skills. She stands out among her colleagues 
as an exceptional teacher and her unflagging efforts to better the 
level of education for Alabama's children must not go unnoticed.
  Mr. Speaker, we seldom meet people who give so tirelessly of their 
time and efforts as Judy Reeves and Charlene Dindo. Sir, please join me 
in paying tribute to these two wonderful women whose contributions to 
their community and the children around them are unmatched. May they 
continue to educate and enlighten Alabama's youth for a number of years 
to come.

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