[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13085]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING MIKE COUCH FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SANTA BARBARA SCHOOL 
            DISTRICT AND THE ENTIRE SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 17, 2004

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to a very 
special person in the Santa Barbara community, Mike Couch, as he 
retires from the Santa Barbara School District after thirty-seven 
years. Mike Couch is more than a teacher, an advisor, a Principal or an 
Assistant Superintendent. He is a pillar of the Santa Barbara education 
community, a colleague and a friend.
  Mike Couch began with the Santa Barbara School District as a social 
studies teacher at Santa Barbara High School, moving to Assistant 
Principal in 1989. In fact, while he was at Santa Barbara High, he was 
my daughter Laura's student government advisor. In talking to her about 
his retirement, she mentioned how she remembers fondly how ``he 
monitored our elections, taught us parliamentary procedure and allowed 
us to be involved in the policies which governed the student life and 
Santa Barbara High School. Most importantly, he took us seriously; he 
fostered a commitment within me to be an active participant in the way 
our school was run which resulted in a longstanding engagement in 
political life beyond high school.'' Due in part to this mentoring, 
Laura has served in the White House, worked for a University and now is 
working on a Presidential campaign.
  Mike Couch later moved on to be Principal of Dos Pueblos High School 
and then to serve as Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education 
for the Santa Barbara High School District. He taught for 22 years, 
first as an economics teacher when 30 students signed up for the newly 
offered class and there was nobody to teach it. His willingness to step 
into this assignment as a new teacher is indicative of the type of 
person that Mike Couch is. He is willing and able to step in and serve 
the school community and indeed the Santa Barbara community as a whole, 
in any role that is asked of him.
  I am honored to have worked with Mike Couch over the years, and am so 
pleased by the positive affect that he has had not only on my daughter 
Laura, but also on so many students whose lives he has touched. I 
commend Mike Couch for his years and service and wish him well in his 
much-deserved retirement.

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