[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25279]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORIAM: DR. RITA HOCOG INOS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands (Mr. Sablan) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, in the Northern Mariana Islands, as in any 
developing area of the world, there are very few people who achieve the 
highest of academic distinctions, the doctorate degree. Even fewer are 
the individuals who reach this achievement and then are willing to 
return home with their knowledge and skills. So it is a sad day, 
indeed, and a terrible loss to the Northern Mariana Islands when death 
takes from us such a person.
  Dr. Rita Hocog Inos was born on the island of Rota. She grew up in 
Songsong Village there, attending elementary and junior high school. At 
the age of 18, she began teaching at Rota Elementary School. It was not 
uncommon a generation ago for persons without college degrees to be 
teachers in the Northern Marianas. We had to make do and lift ourselves 
up by our own bootstraps.
  But Rita Inos was not satisfied to be an educator lacking in 
education. After 4 years of classroom teaching, she returned to school 
as a student and completed her bachelor of arts degree in bilingual 
education at the University of Hawaii of Manoa in 1979.
  She brought her new education and skills home, working as principal 
in Rota schools for 10 years. At the same time she continued her own 
education with a determination that was an inspiration to all who knew 
her. By 1983, Rita Inos had completed her course work towards a 
master's degree in educational anthropology from California State 
University and had been awarded the master of arts in school 
administration and supervision degree from San Jose State University.
  Throughout this time she was, of course, a role model, not only to 
the students of Rota but to her professional colleagues as well. Rita 
Inos seems to have had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and an 
undeterrable determination to reach the highest level of education and 
achievement. That was clear to all.
  Her influence spread. She was asked to first work for the Center for 
Advancement of Pacific Education and later in the Pacific Region 
Educational Laboratory in Honolulu, beginning as director of programs 
and services and then becoming deputy director of PREL overall as a 
whole.
  Of course, all the while, Rota Inos was pursuing her doctorate. She 
earned that coveted final degree in 1994. The University of Southern 
California bestowed on her the title of doctor of education in 
educational planning, policy, and administration.
  Dr. Inos immediately placed those three areas of expertise in the 
service of students and the educational system in her home. The newly 
minted doctor of education became commissioner of education responsible 
for all of the public schools in the Northern Marianas.
  Her list of accomplishments in that position is considerable.
  She established a data-driven assessment system of student 
achievement that anticipated the requirements of No Child Left Behind.
  She implemented a standards-based curriculum and method of 
instruction, and set rigorous graduation requirements for students in 
the core curriculum areas.
  She secured the funding to build new schools--Sinapalo Elementary, 
Dandan Elementary, Chacha Oceanview Junior High, Saipan Southern High 
and Kagman High--in response to a 30 percent growth in student 
population.

                              {time}  1500

  She helped found two alternative education settings for Marianas 
students, the Advanced Development Institute at the three Saipan high 
schools and the Linala Malawasch Academy at Hopwood Junior High School. 
And she set the guidelines for the public school system that continue 
in use today: high student performance, safe and orderly schools, 
quality teachers, administrators and staff; and effective and efficient 
operation.
  Dr. Rita Hocog Inos was an incredible source of good for the Northern 
Mariana Islands and for every student in our public schools, throughout 
her life and surely for many years to come. She left us too soon. But 
she left us so much, including one final gift, for in her final days, 
Dr. Inos had returned to her first love, preserving the indigenous 
language of the people of the Northern Mariana Islands. Even as her 
body failed her, her mind remained sharp, and her will unbending. I am 
told that she learned the revised Chamorro dictionary that was her 
final project was ready for publication the day before she died. And, I 
am told, then she was at peace.

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