[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6910]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING BARTOW HIGH SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM H. PUTNAM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 29, 2010

  Mr. PUTNAM. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor my high school alma 
mater, Bartow High School, for winning the 5A state title in boys' 
basketball. The final game had the Bartow Yellow Jackets beating the 
Tampa Sickles in a 51-37 match hosted in the Lakeland Center. This will 
be Bartow High's fourth boys' basketball title, but its first since 
1988. The boys were led by head coach Terrence McGriff and seniors 
Jeremiah Samarippas, Weedlens Beauvil, Adrian Brackins, Richard Murvin, 
Vincent Reed, and Reginald Polite.
  The school's athletics program is also recognized for its girls' 
softball team, who appeared in the state championship game for 10 
consecutive years from 1997-2006 and won 7 out of the 10 matches. 
Bartow High also has many football alumni who went on to compete at the 
NCAA Division I and professional National Football League levels.
  Not only does Bartow High have a state champion in its basketball 
program, but they compete on a national level with their academic 
programs. The school houses the International Baccalaureate School at 
Bartow High, which annually finishes in the top 5 composite SAT scores 
in the United States. Bartow High earned approval to offer the 
International Baccalaureate Diploma in 1996. Until this year, this was 
the only such program in Polk County. In 2007, the U.S. News and World 
Report, the premier school rating entity, ranked the International 
Baccalaureate program as the third best school in the nation.
  Bartow High was originally named the Summerlin Institute, which was 
founded in 1887 but moved to its current location in 1970. The school 
currently houses the prestigious military school of the same name, 
Summerlin Academy. On behalf of Florida's 12th Congressional District, 
especially Polk County, I wish to congratulate Bartow High's boys' 
basketball team for the state championship title and Bartow High for 
its continued well-rounded successes.

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