[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7060]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            TEACHER AWARENESS WEEK AND NATIONAL TEACHER DAY

  (Mrs. BIGGERT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor our Nation's 
teachers. This week we celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week. 
And today, May 4, is National Teacher Day. As a former PTA president 
and as a former school board president, I want to pay tribute to our 
Nation's teachers for the hard work, dedication, and selfless sacrifice 
they make every day to educate our young people.
  One teacher I think can make all the difference in a child's life. 
For me, that one person was Mrs. Oker, my fourth grade teacher. She 
taught me how to think beyond the box. I remember trying to calculate 
how many Christmas trees it would take end to end to go from the Earth 
to the Moon. I did calculate that. I can't remember how many there 
were, but she taught me that I could do most anything I set my mind to. 
That was really to think beyond the box.
  Today is an opportunity not only to thank Mrs. Oker, but to thank all 
of the teachers in the 13th District of Illinois and the Nation for 
following their calling and enlightening the next generation of 
American leaders.

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