[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10832]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING WILLIAM FITZGERALD SONNTAG AND THE ARC OF A SPECIAL EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 19, 2002

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this 
opportunity to honor Mr. William Fitzgerald Sonntag, upon the 
completion of the Fairfax County Public School's special education 
program.
  On June 17, 2002, Bill Sonntag will join his friends in the Class of 
2002 to take part in commencement. It will be a very proud day for the 
Sonntags and all families of graduating seniors. Similar ceremonies 
will be taking place in thousands of communities throughout the Nation 
this month. To be sure, each event will be a milestone marking the 
tangible achievements of each student's personal and academic 
development, while symbolizing the threshold to adulthood and quest 
toward one's highest potential in life.
  Bill is a most remarkable young man with autism and mental 
retardation whose gentle determined spirit has defied the limits of 
these disabilities which have been present since his birth in Virginia 
on May 29, 1980. Throughout a public school education, which began in 
the pre-school program at Prince William County's Ann Ludwig School in 
1983, Bill has been guided, supported, and encouraged by a loving 
family and scores of truly dedicated teachers, classroom aides, 
occupational and speech therapists, school staff members, custodians, 
bus drivers and bus aides, School Age Child Care staff, and vocational 
and transition counselors.
  During the arc of his special education in Prince William and Fairfax 
County Public Schools, many genuinely kind and thoughtful teachers and 
mainstream students have gone out of their way to include Bill and his 
classmates in the social fabric of student life beyond the walls of 
their classroom. The simple things that some students might take for 
granted--recognizing each other in the hall, eating together at lunch, 
enjoying the camaraderie in ``PE'' class, sitting together at 
assemblies, going on field trips, attending a dance, listening to 
music, and appreciating the everyday gestures of friendship--have been 
as key to Bill's special education as they have been for those 
mainstream students who have undoubtedly learned much about their own 
character. The obvious enthusiasm Bill displayed each day in raising 
the American flag over Cooper Middle School several years ago, still 
offers a lasting example of pride in school and love of country for us 
all.
  In spite of many communications challenges, Bill and his special 
education classmates offer a unique and engaging ability to inspire 
people of all ages to see past the disabilities and to focus on each 
individual's enormous value and potential. Everywhere he travels in the 
course of a day, he teaches people to smile with him rather than to 
stare at the circumstances of his disabilities. In this respect, the 
most encouraging aspect of Bill's personal academic achievement can 
best be seen in those whom he has educated and influenced along the 
way.
  In Bill's case, commencement marks more than just the beginning of 
his transition to a productive and promising supported-employment 
opportunity secured through the coordinated efforts of the Fairfax 
County Public Schools, Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, 
and the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services. It also marks 
the opportunity for many other Fairfax County Public School graduates 
to remember the lessons they learned from one of their classmates and 
apply them beyond the walls of the school--to seize those moments ahead 
in which they can continue to widen the banks of the mainstream, raise 
the standards of inclusion and accessibility, and improve the quality 
of life for people with disabilities.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, it gives me great pleasure to extend my 
warmest congratulations to Bill Sonntag, the 2002 class of Langley High 
School, the students, teachers and countless others who have helped to 
re-define his potential throughout the arc of his special education and 
their continuing opportunity to make a difference and strengthen the 
general welfare of our Nation, as they embark on life's great journey. 
I call upon all of my colleagues to join me in applauding this 
remarkable achievement.

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