[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO GERALDINE BAKER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 8, 2005

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Geraldine Baker for her 
academic accomplishments and contributions to the field of education.
  Geraldine ``Gerry'' Baker was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section 
of Brooklyn, New York, and is one of the twin daughters of Marie G. and 
the late Henry W. Baker. Ms. Baker was raised in the Concord Baptist 
Church of Christ in Brooklyn. Here she was greatly influenced by the 
Reverend Dr. Gardner C. Taylor's ministry of activism and leadership 
and studied classical music under the tutelage of the late John T. 
Lucas, organist. Following the tradition of great Black families, Ms. 
Baker's parents inspired her life-long pursuit of excellence.
  Ms. Baker is a distinguished alumna of the New York City Public 
School System. At an early age she exhibited leadership skills when she 
was elected class president at Eastern District High School. She was 
later selected to participate in a pilot program under the auspices of 
the Carnegie High School Language program, and won a National Defense 
Foreign Language Fellowship in Chinese for the summer program at 
Columbia University. She then pursued a Bachelor of Arts in 
anthropology and linguistics at CUNY Richmond College.
  Ms. Baker culminated her education at Pace University, where she 
received a Master of Science in Education Administration and 
Supervision and was accepted into the Phi Delta Kappa organization. She 
has also participated in Harvard University's Graduate School of 
Education in the Principals' Center for Critical Issues of Urban 
Education, completed a three-year Partnership for the Prevention of 
Violence Training Program at the Harvard School of Public Health, and 
studied at NOVA Southeastern University.
  Ms. Baker is now a senior staff member at the Edward R. Murrow High 
School Special Education Department. Her teaching career has spanned 
the spectrum of the education profession from teaching the gifted and 
talented to the emotionally, neurologically and physically challenged. 
In addition, she has been certified by the New York State Department of 
Education, as an Impartial Hearing Officer, to adjudicate cases on 
special education problems. In her spare time, Ms. Baker taught at CUNY 
La Guardia Community College in a specially funded program to provide 
academic and career curricula for developmentally delayed adults. She 
has also begun working with Dr. Michael Carrera, pioneer child advocate 
and sexuality expert, who inspired her to serve as a member of the 
Murrow HIV/AIDS health Resource team.
  While Ms. Baker continues to be a source of inspiration and support 
to fellow professionals, paraprofessionals, interns and parents, she is 
committed to pursuing excellence in academic performance for her 
students and other teenagers outside of the Murrow community. She also 
addresses health, safety, moral issues and personal growth of those in 
her learning community and interacts with community service and 
agencies to advocate for students and their families.
  As an educator, Ms. Baker has avowed a personal commission to touch 
the lives of all her students by encouraging their ability to fulfill 
their hopes and dreams in the pursuit of personal, academic and social 
excellence. In fact, she secured donations from the private sector to 
establish the novel ``Angel Network'' in order to provide disadvantaged 
young women with contemporary, designer outfits and accessories, at no 
cost, for their proms, graduations and various other affairs.
  Above all, her mission, established during childhood, to inspire 
young persons to follow in her footsteps, remains strong and for these 
reasons we honor her today.

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