[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16672]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                      IN HONOR OF MICHAEL GUARDINO

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 27, 2015

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Michael Guardino, 
head of Carmel High School's science department, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. 
One would be hard-pressed to find a teacher more devoted to the art of 
education than Mr. Guardino.
  A lifetime lover of knowledge, Mr. Guardino believes that every 
student deserves an uncompromised understanding of the fundamental 
sciences, creating a classroom atmosphere known both for its incredible 
rigor and rewards. Each morning, he arrives before the crack of dawn, 
preparing fascinating demos and labs to truly engage his students. 
Nobody can escape his notoriously difficult AP Chemistry course without 
a firm comprehension and appreciation for the chemical world, even if 
he has to blow stuff up--in the name of science--to get his students' 
attention. Every day, his students are challenged in new ways to 
approach unfamiliar problems and create solutions based on scientific 
processes. Whether it is titration, qualitative analysis, 
spectrophotometry, or chromatography, he finds a way to make each 
laboratory experiment challenging and captivating.
  Away from the classroom, Mr. Guardino demonstrates his passion for 
SCUBA by acting as a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for 
over 30 years, teaching the ecology and chemistry of kelp forests from 
inside the aquarium's massive tanks. Granting his students an 
incredible opportunity, he arranged a tour of Ed Ricketts' lab, part of 
the inspiration for ``Cannery Row''. This allowed them to hear rich 
first-hand experiences of Steinbeck and ``Doc'' recounted by the 96-
year-old Frank Wright.
  Mr. Guardino cares deeply for each of his students, giving his best 
efforts to teach and expecting their best efforts to learn. Giving 
untold hours of his personal time, Mr. Guardino personally helped Ethan 
Miller--a student bedridden for months due to a severe illness--learn 
the massive amounts of chemistry covered during his absence from 
school. Coming to school over the weekends and even on Thanksgiving, he 
ensured that Ethan understood the material. His tireless work paid off: 
Ethan completed AP Chemistry with an A both semesters and scored highly 
on the AP exam, earning college credit.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm sure the House joins me in thanking Mr. Guardino for 
his dedication to his profession and to his students.

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