[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17444]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING HAWTHORNE MATH AND SCIENCE ACADEMY, HAWTHORNE, CA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Hawthorne Math and Science 
Academy, HMSA, in Hawthorne, CA. HMSA, a dependent charter high school 
of the Hawthorne School District located in my congressional district, 
was recently honored with a Blue Ribbon Award by the U.S. Department of 
Education, a coveted award recognizing high-performing and improving 
schools across our country. This year, HMSA shares this distinction 
with 304 other schools among the thousands of schools in the United 
States.
  I am very proud of the students, faculty, staff, parents, and 
community members of HMSA. In addition to receiving this prestigious 
award--the first school within the Hawthorne School District to do so--
HMSA was also named a California Distinguished School and was listed--
again--as one of the nation's top 100 high schools by U.S. News & World 
Report.
  I want to especially honor Principal Esau Beruman, who is only in his 
first year as principal of HMSA. I suspect we will continue to see 
great things from HMSA under his leadership, and I look forward to 
meeting him and one of HMSA's teachers when they come to Washington, DC 
in November to be officially honored by the Department of Education.
  HMSA has made great strides to create a rigorous and comprehensive 
academic regimen that prepares its students for college and helps them 
become well-rounded young adults. It boasts an impressive 97 percent 
graduation rate.
  As its own mission statement reads, ``HMSA is committed to creating a 
challenging, rigorous, standards-based curriculum for all students, 
regardless of gender, ethnicity, primary language, or special needs 
status, within a safe and cooperative learning community.'' I believe 
the school is not only living up to that standard, but superseding it.
  The students of HMSA should be particularly proud of their strong 
work. They are giving their school, our community, our state, and our 
country a good name through their dedication, their drive, and their 
excellence.
  Congratulations to HMSA on this latest, but surely not the last, 
accolade.

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