[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5469]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF ROBERT SANCHEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HILDA L. SOLIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 24, 2009

  Ms. SOLIS of California. Madam Speaker. I rise today to honor the 
career of Robert Sanchez, a guidance counselor formerly at La Puente 
High School in California.
  While I was a high school student at La Puente I was fortunate enough 
to have Mr. Sanchez as my college guidance counselor. Each day he 
worked tirelessly to promote education in our school and in our 
community. During my senior year in high school, Mr. Sanchez took a 
vested interest in my education. He personally took time to explain the 
college application process to me and my family and helped show me how 
I could go to college.
  At the time no one else in my family had attended college. College 
seemed to be an unattainable goal, and the college application process 
was both expensive and daunting. If not for Mr. Sanchez's counseling 
and guidance, I do not know that I would have been able to go on to 
pursue a college education.
  For youths across our nation, high school teachers and counselors are 
a vital part of their education with the power to influence a student's 
decision to pursue higher education or not. I stand here today to honor 
those teachers and guidance counselors, like Robert Sanchez, who work 
each day in our schools, with little recognition or accolades, to place 
the dreams of knowledge and a better future back into the hands of our 
children.
  Robert Sanchez has dedicated his life to motivating and educating 
countless youths in Los Angeles County and San Diego, California. Thank 
you, Mr. Sanchez, for never giving up on our children.

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