[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6257]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     A TRIBUTE TO MS. GINA WILLIAMS

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                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 13, 2007

  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Ms. Gina Williams, an art 
teacher at Lake Forest Academy in Illinois. Ms. Williams is one of ten 
Chicago-area high school teachers to be awarded a 2007 Golden Apple 
Award for Excellence in Teaching out of over 800 nominees from Cook, 
DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties.
  As chair of the school's fine and performing arts department, Ms. 
Williams has developed programs aimed at stimulating her students and 
creating awareness of the world around them. She initially came to the 
school in 1998 as a visiting artist specializing in glass blowing. 
Today she continues to share her artistic skills as a sculptor while 
also teaching Advanced Placement Art History, AP Studio and 3-D design. 
In addition she has created a unique program that has used art to 
connect students with communities from inner-city Chicago to 
communities around the world.
  Golden Apple's Chief Program Officer Gloria Harper describes Ms. 
Williams as ``an artist in the true sense. If you walk around the 
school, inside and outside, she's responsible for the art that brings 
it alive. She brings the kids out of the school and exposes them to 
everything, different ethnicities and cultures. She really makes them 
aware that they're part of a larger world.''
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Ms. Gina Williams and all 
the educators that work every day to ensure our children's minds are 
expanded.

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