[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9724]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN TRIBUTE TO DR. DONALD ZIMRING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2012

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in tribute to Dr. Donald Zimring, 
who is retiring from the Las Virgenes Unified School District in 
Calabasas, California, to become head of school for Brandeis Hillel 
schools in San Francisco and San Rafael.
  I have known Don since I served on the Simi Valley City Council and 
he covered the meetings as a journalist. Fortunately, he found a more 
respectable line of work when he joined the Las Virgenes School 
District as its public information officer in 1979.
  From there, Don became a middle school teacher, school principal, 
assistant superintendent of business services, deputy superintendent, 
and finally superintendent on July 2, 2007.
  He is credited with bringing the first Spanish immersion program to 
the district, instituting a community service requirement for 
graduation, increasing technology in the classroom, adding high school 
performance arts centers, and renovating and expanding Lindero Canyon 
Middle School, where he began his teaching career.
  Although Don left the classroom early in his career, he never left 
the kids. For 35 years, he has taken a group of eighth graders to 
Washington, D.C., over spring break. Don believes very deeply that 
students should know firsthand how their government works.
  That belief stems from an earlier career before the call to teaching 
caught up with him. Don traveled the world as an administrative 
coordinator for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and had a front-
row seat to the decision-making processes of Secretaries of State, 
presidents, princes and kings.
  But it was education that became his life. Don credits Bernard Cohen, 
his seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at Walter Reed Junior High in 
North Hollywood, for sparking his interest in teaching.
  ``Most kids get one teacher who ignited that spark and made learning 
exciting,'' Don told a local paper when he was named superintendent. 
``There wasn't one person who didn't respect him and look up to him. I 
thought that was cool.''
  Mr. Speaker, I'm sure many a Las Virgenes student has looked up to 
Dr. Donald Zimring and thought he was cool, too. I am equally sure my 
colleagues join me in thanking Don for his 37 years of professional 
service to Las Virgenes Unified School District and in wishing him the 
best in his new role at Brandeis Hillel.

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