[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11051-11053]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     ANGOLA, INDIANA PROVIDES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND RECREATION 
   OPPORTUNITIES TO CITIZENS, AND SUCCESSFUL HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR YEAR 
                 EXPERIENCE TO A DIVERSITY OF STUDENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, Angola is a town in my district of 6,000 to 
7,000 people in northeast Indiana, and it has become a hot zone for 
economic development, and will become ever more so in the upcoming 
years.
  Obviously, a hard-working work force is important, but that has been 
there since the founding. Interstate 80/90, better known as the Indiana 
Toll Road, and Interstate 69 intersect just north of town, which has 
been a longtime asset of this area.
  Angola, Indiana has further capitalized on its natural resource 
assets. Lake James and many other lakes in the area have long been a 
draw for many people who want to live in an environment where they can 
be surrounded by lakes and various recreation opportunities.
  By connecting Pokagan State Park to the newly-built YMCA and to its 
unique Monument Circle with a bike path, area residents are offered 
increasing health and recreation alternatives.
  What has given Angola a further edge is the educational collaboration 
of Tri-State University, Angola High School, and now the new Plastics 
Technology Center. Yesterday I was with Steve Corona of JobWorks, Inc., 
and Craig Adolph and Harry Adamson of the plastics center to announce a 
grant of $514,000.
  To some, this may seem like the rich are getting richer. Angola has a 
lot of advantages. The truth is, Angola is not a wealthy town. It is 
basically mid-America or maybe even slightly below in income, but they 
are organized. They have been rising because they have been able to 
coordinate several things that in fact have become the keys to economic 
development: the recreation opportunities, the lifestyle opportunities, 
combined with good transportation, a good work force, and increasingly, 
a well-trained and educated work force.
  One of the things that Angola provides is a continuum of education 
efforts. Whether the student decides to go into the work force directly 
after high school, enter a 2-year vocational program or community 
college program, or whether they are going to attend a 4-year 
university or just continue life-long learning or specific training 
that is not degree-driven, it is a real-world option.
  To employers, this means that students are being prepared for real-
world jobs. Too often, our education is generic. Many job training 
programs at times seem to be marginally useful. It is easy to criticize 
our schools when they get things wrong, and we frequently do it from 
this floor.
  At Angola High School, they are getting things right. I visited their 
effective Safe and Drug-Free Schools program. As chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, it 
has been frustrating to see a lot of programs that do not work. This is 
one that has worked.
  They have a great high-tech program which is innovative at the State 
and national level. They consistently win the State music programs over 
the last few years. I am proud that it is in my district, but let me 
give the Members a couple of examples that illustrate why and what I 
mean by this.
  The principal was quoted in this article, and the article reiterates 
that the U.S. Department of Education has singled out Angola as the 
``new American high school,'' and the principal is one of only two high 
school principals on the National Commission on the High School Senior 
Year national study. The Indiana Association of Teacher Educators in 
1998 and 1996 picked Angola as Indiana's most outstanding high school.
  One of the things they have done for the high school seniors is a 
workplace participation program. About 40 businesses and industries in 
Steuben County have developed a 9-week workplace curriculum. The high 
school's flexible four-block schedule allows students time to travel by 
bus to their workplaces.
  Let me give a couple of examples. One student at Angola, Todd Hack, 
is further along in his college career than some college freshmen. He 
will start at Tri-State University with 26 hours of credits earned from 
advanced placement courses and computer classes he took on campus. The 
flexible schedule allowed him to move ahead, so he was able to stay in 
school and, because he was an advanced student, get a college 
education.
  Another student, Greg Knauer, worked 30 hours a week in his senior 
year at a construction firm earning hours towards his journeyman's 
license. He hopes to begin an apprenticeship after graduation, another 
type of career path.
  Yet another student, Amy Dennis, was interested in nursing, but did 
not have a family member to show her the ropes. Her workplace 
participation took her to Cameron Memorial Community Hospital, where 
she followed every clinical rotation. She will study nursing at Indiana 
University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, (or IPFW) or the University 
of St. Francis next fall, and hopes to become an obstetrics nurse.
  Yet another student will participate in a Cisco computer program in 
which two high schools in my district have hooked up, and when 
finished, he will be certified to build up a network system from ground 
up. He is planning to attend Cornell or MIT, his early picks, and he is 
confident his high school record, near perfect SAT scores, will make 
them take notice.
  This is how high school should work, where we have the range of 
students, a diversity of students: one here, one going into 
construction, one into nursing at college, one into an advanced 
placement program, and one to an Ivy League school.
  I want to congratulate Angola, and I am proud to represent them.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the following articles from the 
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and the News-Sun and Evening Star of Auburn 
and Angola.
  The articles referred to are as follows:

              Is High School Senior Year a Waste of Time?

                          (By Karen Francisco)

       Senior-itis symptoms are at the full-blown stage. Mortar 
     boards and gowns in hand, scores of high school seniors are 
     impatiently marking time, waiting for the chance to slam the 
     door on childhood and rush headlong into life.
       But are they ready? Have they spent the past nine months 
     preparing for what lies beyond, or have they been stuck in an 
     antiquated educational system that allots 12 years of 
     schooling for 11 years of knowledge?
       The National Commission on the High School Senior Year 
     considered the question. It arrived at the conclusion that 
     ``The nation faces a deeply troubling future unless we 
     transform the lost opportunity of the senior year into an 
     integral part of students' preparation for life, citizenship, 
     work and further education.''
       In his charge to the commission, former U.S. Secretary of 
     Education Robert Riley described the senior year as a 
     ``wasteland,'' a year of ``significant drift and 
     disconnection.''
       The panel's final report will be released June 28, and it 
     will likely create a stir not unlike 1983's landmark ``A 
     Nation at Risk'' report, according to Dr. Rex Bolinger, 
     principal at Angola High School and one of just two high 
     school principals on the high-powered commission. Look for a 
     sweeping indictment of the structure of U.S. high schools.


                         institutional problems

       Bolinger points to a number of problems with the typical 
     American high school and its role in the education spectrum. 
     First and foremost might be its inflexibility.
       ``We've allowed learning to be the variable and time and 
     support the constant,'' Bolinger said. ``The opposite is what 
     is needed.''

[[Page 11052]]

       He cited the example of students following a math 
     curriculum without regard to their own interests and 
     abilities. Students are passed along, and when they begin to 
     struggle, they simply choose not to take any more math 
     classes. Inflexible six- or seven-period schedules discourage 
     students from retaking courses they haven't mastered.



       American students don't perform as well as students from 
     other industrialized countries on math and science exams 
     because our high school curricula allow them to opt out of 
     advanced courses like calculus and chemistry long before 
     their counterparts, the principal said.
       ``The message we've got to get out is that whatever you 
     plan to do after you get out of high school, we've all got to 
     have the same rigorous preparation,'' Bolinger said.
       Another problem with the typical high school is the sorting 
     process, according to the principal. Unwittingly, some 
     teachers and systems sort and label students as college prep, 
     general ed or vocational. The labels stick, and students who 
     might have discovered a passionate interest in art, 
     literature or computers are dismissed as non-college types. 
     Disenfranchised, they lose interest in school and are at risk 
     to drop out.


                            Angola is model

       Bolinger's own school could be a model for how high school 
     should work. It has been singled out by the U.S. Department 
     of Education as a ``New American High School,'' and by the 
     Indiana Association of Teacher Educators in 1996 and `98 as 
     Indiana's ``Most Outstanding Successful High School.''
       The school's evolution began about six years ago, when 
     Bolinger and some business and education leaders began 
     talking about how to prepare students for jobs in the 
     community. The result was the Workplace Participation 
     Program. About 40 businesses and industries in Steuben County 
     have developed a nine-week workplace curriculum. The high 
     school's flexible four-block schedule allows students time to 
     travel by bus to the workplaces.
       ``The curriculum is simple to prepare,'' Bolinger said. 
     ``We tell them, ``Write down what you do and teach them.' ''
       And the students are learning.
       Joe Dolack is a senior who transferred to Angola from 
     Illinois his sophomore year. He repeated a math class to 
     catch up on academics, and then began participating in the 
     workplace program at General Products Corp., an automotive 
     components supplier. His grade-point average has risen three 
     points on a 12-point scale and he plans to attend community 
     college in Coldwater, Mich., before transferring to a four-
     year school. A career in manufacturing management is his 
     goal.
       Senator Amy Dennis was interested in nursing, but didn't 
     have a family member to show her the ropes. Her workplace 
     participation took her to Cameron Memorial Community 
     Hospital, where she followed every clinical rotation. She 
     will study nursing at Indiana University-Purdue University 
     Fort Wayne or the University of St. Francis next fall, and 
     hopes to become an obstetrics nurse.
       It was a job in the building trades that enticed Greg 
     Knauer. He has worked 30 hours a week during his senior year 
     at Ingledue Construction, earning hours toward his 
     journeyman's license. He hopes to begin an apprenticeship in 
     construction after graduation.
       Angola senior Todd Hack is further along in his college 
     career than some college freshman. He'll start at Tri-State 
     University this fall with 26 hours of credit earned from 
     Advanced Placement courses and computer classes he took on 
     campus. The flexible schedule at Angola allowed him to move 
     ahead, Hack said, while still finishing high school 
     requirements and participating in three sports.
       Amy Enneking, also a senior, is convinced she wants to 
     teach after spending her workplace participation hours in a 
     first-grade classroom at Hendry Park Elementary School. She 
     will study elementary education at Butler University this 
     fall.
       Chris DeLucenay is still a junior, but his career goals are 
     clear.
       ``I knew I wanted an aggressive schedule,'' he said. ``I'm 
     interested in computers and engineering, so I've taken 
     calculus at Tri-State and two Advanced Placement courses.''
       He will participate next year in the Cisco computer program 
     and, when finished, will be certified to build a network 
     system from the ground up. Cornell and MIT are his early 
     college picks, and he's confident his high school record (and 
     near-perfect SAT scores) will make them take notice.


                             A team effort

       Craig Adolph, an Angola education consultant who has been 
     involved in the school program since its inception, said the 
     most remarkable thing about recent Angola graduates is their 
     focus. All seem to have a clear idea of what they want to do 
     and how to do it.
       For the community's part, Adolph said, the job is to keep 
     people in touch with learning so they never are reluctant to 
     return to college or a job-training program.
       Dr. Tom Enneking, vice president for academic affairs at 
     Ti-State, said the key was to develop a seamless delivery 
     system for education. His school had previously offered an 
     early admissions program, but the partnership with Angola 
     High School allowed it to build on the Advanced Placement 
     courses, easily bridging the high school to college gap that 
     some students fail to cross.


                             the job ahead

       Bolinger said the transformation of American high schools 
     was one step in a bigger task--building an infrastructure 
     that supports lifelong learning, instead of one that starts 
     and stops in uneven intervals between preschool and 
     adulthood.
       The first step--creating high schools that work--won't come 
     easily, Bolinger said, but he's hopeful the national 
     commission's recommendations will spur progress. A report 
     that challenges the fundamental structure of American 
     education is a sharp departure from the current testing and 
     standards hysteria, but the principal said he is hopeful for 
     its prospects because of bipartisan support and the interest 
     of Rod Paige, who was a member of the commission until he 
     replaced Riley as secretary of education.
       Bolinger said some parents have accused his school--with 
     its emphasis on career training and college courses--of 
     pushing students out the door. The opposite is true, he said. 
     Rather than constraining students to a rigid, cookie-cutter 
     model, a high school schedule should promote independence and 
     self-exploration. The old model served us well for many 
     years, the principal said, but a new American high school is 
     what's needed for a new century.


                            study's findings

       Selected findings from the National Commission on the High 
     School Senior Year:
       A high school diploma is no longer a guarantee of success 
     in either postsecondary education or the world of work.
       The goal of the American high school needs to be reoriented 
     from preparing some students for college and others for work.
       The conditions of modern life require that all students 
     graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills 
     needed to succeed in both postsecondary education and 
     careers.
       ``The tyranny of low expectations'' hinders many minority 
     students and many poor students from all ethnic backgrounds.
       Ideally, beginning in the middle school years, every 
     student would have a ``learning plan,'' a formal but flexible 
     outline of what the student hopes to accomplish in young 
     adulthood and which education, work and service experiences 
     can best help him or her to attain those goals.
       The kindergarten-12 system is poorly aligned and has not 
     established reliable lines of communication with 
     postsecondary education and the world of work. The National 
     Commission on the High School Senior Year 
     (www.commissiononthesenioryear.org)
                                  ____


               Grant To Pay for Training Plastics Workers

                           (By Yvonne Paske)

       Angola--That attractive structure next to the Breeden YMCA 
     and Learning Center on Angola's northeast side isn't just for 
     show.
       The Plastics Technology Center will continue on its course 
     to train a work force on state-of-the-art plastics technology 
     for jobs in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois, thanks to a 
     $514,550 U.S. Department of Labor grant.
       Collaborators on the grant, U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., 
     Steve Corona of JobWorks Inc., Harry Adamson, Plastics 
     Technology Center director, and Craig Adolph of the Cole 
     Foundation, made the announcement at the Plastics Technology 
     Center Monday.
       The grant was requested in January and awarded Friday, 
     Adolph said. A curriculum and courses may be in place as soon 
     as this summer or fall to train workers on specific machinery 
     allowing some to step into jobs earning them $40,000 a year, 
     he said.
       The training is available to workers in the Indiana 
     counties of Noble and DeKalb, as well as Steuben, Souder 
     said. It also is open to Williams County, Ohio, and Branch, 
     Hillsdale and St. Joseph counties of Michigan.
       The training will be free, as the grant will pick up the 
     cost, Adamson said. To date, he has hired no project manager, 
     although the coordinating process with other workplaces has 
     begun.
       In opening comments, Souder characterized Steuben County as 
     a spot on the cusp of becoming an industrial magnet due to 
     job training, exceptional schools, natural beauty, 
     recreational options and advantageous transportation routes.
       ``This is clearly a hot zone for Indiana,'' he said. ``The 
     rolling hills, the interstate structure, the lakes. ... 
     That's why we work to get money for the airport expansion, a 
     bypass around Angola, the bike path. ... It all makes a 
     positive ambiance for industrial recruitment, and in the 
     middle of it you have a technology center.''
       He praised Angola High School's advanced use of technology, 
     its partnership with Tri-State University and its school-to-
     workplace program and emphasized those assets work together 
     to train and keep a available work force in Steuben County.
       ``The Plastics Technology Center can help Angola High 
     School reach out,'' he said. ``The companies ultimately with 
     this grant can help meet the increasing demands for mid-tech 
     workers and keep them here. This is for people in high school 
     who recognize everyone will not go to college. We're 
     retraining the work force. This will help northeast Indiana 
     further along the path for an enhanced quality of life.''

[[Page 11053]]

       Corona credited the interaction between Adolph and Adamson, 
     the facility itself, the coordination with work force systems 
     in the tri-state area and the training curriculum for the nod 
     on the grant.
       ``We expect to serve 1,000 people over the next 24 month 
     period. . . . Research shows around 100 plastics plants in 
     Michigan and Indiana (alone),'' he said.
       ``That's what higher education in the U.S. and Indiana is 
     about,'' Adolph said. ``We're going to keep our students 
     here. We are out in front, and with these people's help, 
     we're going to stay there.''
       Adamson said the center will help Steuben County compete in 
     a global environment. Training for students, incumbent and 
     dislocated workers will mean higher productivity, said the 
     30-year veteran of the plastics industry.
       Adamson led those assembled on a tour of the center, 
     including a visit to the computer lab, where students learn 
     industrial software packages in the center's Cisco Academy. 
     ``Here students are trained on the simulation models, 
     individually, at their own speed,'' he said.
       He also showed off the actual plastics machinery upon which 
     students will train, calling it ``the latest, the highest'' 
     in technology. The machinery and lab were donated by 
     companies on six-month leases, and computers procured through 
     a $50,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant written by 
     Adolph.
       ``We're looking at concrete, bottom-line dollars here,'' 
     Adamson said. ``These people will be trained--you don't need 
     to call a more skilled person.''
       Souder spoke to the environmental issues and impact 
     attendant upon courting industry and plastics plants while 
     touting the area's unspoiled natural beauty.
       ``First off, why are companies moving toward plastics?'' he 
     queried. ``Because they want cleaner air, and people want 
     higher gas mileage, which lighter, plastic parts (can give). 
     As we move toward more biodegradable plastics, the 
     manufacturing impact is less, as opposed to steel mills. 
     Plastics also have some of the cleaner software jobs because 
     we'll have applied sciences. . . . I know this is a sensitive 
     issue in a lakes area. Plastics isn't the cleanest 
     (industry), but it's among them,'' he said. He pointed to 
     University of Notre Dame research developing reduced air 
     pollution techniques in relation to plastics manufacturing.
       Adolph indicated plastics may be the tip of the iceberg in 
     recruiting business to the area.
       ``With training and with Tri-State as a partner, we . . . 
     should be able to attract other technology-based industries 
     as well,'' he said. ``This building can be enhanced, so 
     plastics is just the first large manufacturer.''

                          ____________________