[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9947]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF MRS. YVONNE E. MILLINER BOWSKY AND THE 
                           PEACE CORPS SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2006

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an outstanding 
Virgin Islands woman, Mrs. Yvonne E. Milliner Bowsky.
  Mrs. Bowsky's career of service and dedication to her family, her 
community, her students and to the Virgin Islands as a whole can be 
summed up in one word--phenomenal.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition to being a devoted wife, mother and 
teacher--life's paths which taken separately or together are 
challenging in and of themselves--Mrs. Bowsky has also served the 
Virgin Islands community as a professor at the College and University 
of the Virgin Islands, an entrepreneur, a gubernatorial campaign 
manager, and as special assistant for audits and control to the 
Governor she guided to victory, the late Alexander Farrelly. In 
addition to these accomplishments, her premier role was principal of 
the Peace Corps Elementary School which has been named in her honor.
  Mr. Speaker, just as she was not an ordinary campaign manager, 
entrepreneur or teacher, she was not an ordinary principal. As the 
first principal of the Peace Corps Elementary School, she was the 
strong hand and determined intellect that guided what will now be known 
as the Yvonne E. Milliner Bowsky Elementary School from a complex of 
empty and abandoned dormitories turned over to the Virgin Islands 
Government by the Peace Corps into a vibrant elementary school which 
opened in 1973. Her vision made it possible to relieve the overcrowded 
conditions at other schools in St. Thomas and improve the educational 
environment for our children.
  The school named in her honor is now a modern facility, with eight 
brand new buildings housing 400 students, and is a bulwark of the 
public education system in our islands. Since its beginning in 1973, 
the Peace Corps Elementary School campus has been destroyed several 
times by hurricanes and other unfortunate events. But, it has managed 
to rise several times from the ashes and today--in large part because 
of her legacy--it has achieved this milestone. Now, as its crowning 
glory, it has been named for its mother--Yvonne E. Milliner Bowsky. 
Beyond the buildings, everyone can attest that because of her vision 
and her dedication and those who followed and are still following in 
her footsteps, this school has become a place of academic excellence.
  Mr. Speaker, the students of the Yvonne E. Milliner Bowsky Elementary 
School will always have in her an excellent role model to look up to 
and to be inspired by. Her excellence and achievement in so many areas 
is testament of what is possible if one works hard, is focused and is 
determined to serve and to do the best of one's ability.
  For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to come before this 
Congress and offer my profound congratulations to Mrs. Bowsky and her 
family for this most deserved honor.
  I wish her and all who administer, serve and learn at the Yvonne 
Milliner Bowsky Elementary School God's richest blessings.

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