[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I have the honor of rising today to 
recognize an important part of Detroit's public education, my alma 
mater, Detroit Central High School, which is celebrating the 150th 
anniversary of its opening.
  Since 1858, when the first 24 students entered a single classroom, 
thousands of students have passed through its doors. It was originally 
conceived to help prepare students to study at the University of 
Michigan, then just a few decades old itself. Today, Central has been 
continuously accredited by the University of Michigan for more than 135 
consecutive years.
  It has occupied the current location at Tuxedo Avenue and La Salle 
Boulevard for more than 80 years. I was fortunate to study and walk the 
halls there for 4 of those years.
  Central alumni have gone on to win a Nobel Prize and win Grammy 
Awards; make countless contributions to the Detroit community and to 
Michigan; own professional sports teams and play professional sports; 
and fight on behalf of our Nation in war, sometimes making the ultimate 
sacrifice.
  In all these pursuits and many more, Central alumni have been 
challenged to live up to our school's motto, adopted in 1861: Carpe 
Diem, ``seize the day.'' Our experiences at Central have helped prepare 
us to do that.
  Recently, Central has faced challenges unparalleled in the school's 
history. School budgets are tighter than ever, standardized tests offer 
frustrating assessments of progress, and dropout rates and graduation 
rates alike moved in the wrong directions. But, thanks to the hard work 
and commitment of over 1,000 current students and teachers, in the past 
few years Central has begun an impressive turnaround that is heartening 
to us alumni.
  I offer my congratulations on this 150th anniversary and every hope 
that Detroit Central High School will continue to provide excellent 
education and imbue students with the skills and outlook to seize the 
day and find success in school and in the years that follow.

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