[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 8386-8387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING MR. ESSIE FROST

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 2, 2015

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
young leader in his school who has raised the bar for students coming 
behind him, Mr. Essie Frost from Charleston High School in Tallahatchie 
County.
  Charleston High School operates under the authority of the East 
Tallahatchie School District. The school district is a small one like 
many throughout my district. Nonetheless, and somehow they are able to 
make acceptable things happen despite having limited resources, which 
brings me to the reason why I want to recognize this young man. Ms. 
Melissa Faulkner, his teacher, has mentored, taught, and watched him 
grow to the point where he always made good decisions throughout high 
school, but in his senior year, he rose to a new height. That's 
commendable as a young person.
  We all have the ability to make a positive difference in life. Essie 
took the optimistic approach to helping his small school. He set goals; 
he wanted the class of 2015 to leave a memorable existence. So, he 
became Class President to lead them to that goal. He was skilled in 
getting the students to follow his vision and set goals to be achieved 
as a whole. He often volunteered on community school projects, getting 
his fellow classmates to join. He told them that it's not only good for 
the school, but they will be known as the class who gave back, plus 
they can use it on their college application for community service. 
Essie led the charge to make their class prom what they envisioned and 
dreamed, saying they are responsible for making it happen, the school 
doesn't have a lot of money and prom is a privilege not a right. No one 
ever knew he had been raising the money for years on his own to go 
towards his prom. That is amazing for a young person to set a goal that 
far in advance, stick to it, and carry it out. I called that great 
resilience. According to his teacher, Ms. Faulkner and I quote, ``This 
senior class has more than doubled what his previous class

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had managed to raise, all thanks to Essie's determination, dedication, 
and careful planning.''
  In addition to that, Essie crafted a plan to increase enrollment in 
the National Honor Society membership representation of the students at 
Charleston High School. His plan helped to increase enrollment from 
eighteen students, when he started, to now, thirty-six. The class goal 
was forty, they are almost there. Now that's setting the bar again for 
the next class. I am proud to have Mr. Essie Frost as a citizen of the 
Second Congressional District of Mississippi.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. Essie 
Frost, Class of 2015, Charleston High School, Charleston, MS, for his 
current active role as a student making a difference. Keep the faith. 
Keep progressing Essie.

                          ____________________