[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      TRIBUTE TO DR. BENNY GOODEN

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Fort Smith 
School District superintendent Dr. Benny Gooden, who will retire at the 
end of June after a lifetime of dedication to education.
  Dr. Gooden has led the Fort Smith School District since 1986, and in 
those 30 years, he has proven himself to be a driving force in 
education at the local, State, and national level.
  He made a career out of helping students and creating a solid 
education, to pave the way for a successful future for them. During his 
50 years in education, he always put students first and fought to 
ensure the community created opportunities in their best interest.
  Dr. Gooden has remarked to the School Superintendents Association 
that his best professional day was when Fort Smith voters approved a 20 
percent tax increase to guarantee the district's financial stability.
  He has been recognized for his career as a school administrator 
earning the American Association of School Administrators' Arkansas 
Superintendent of the Year award and was ranked in the top 100 
Outstanding School Administrators in North America by Executive 
Educator magazine. He was named Administrator of the Year by the 
Arkansas PTA in 1995, received the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Outstanding 
Educator award from the National PTA in 1999, and a year later was the 
recipient of the Dr. Dan Pilkington Award by the Arkansas School Boards 
Association. These accolades are all well deserved.
  Dr. Gooden is actively engaged in the legislative process at the 
State and national levels on behalf of education. He has served as a 
member of the Executive Committee of the American Association of School 
Administrators and served as the organization's president from 2012-
2103. Dr. Gooden has served his community, State, and Nation in a 
remarkable way in pursuit of better education opportunities for 
Arkansas students.
  He has been a resource for me over the years to keep up with the 
needs and challenges of our education system. Whether pursuing 
opportunities for students of diverse backgrounds, cheering the 
accomplishments of adult education graduates, or paving the way for 
advanced technology in the classroom, Dr. Gooden's dedication to the 
young people of Fort Smith has made a positive impact on the community. 
Because of this, Fort Smith will continue to benefit from Dr. Gooden's 
work long after his retirement.
  I congratulate Dr. Gooden for his outstanding achievements in his 
career and thank him for his dedication to education, students and the 
community. I appreciate his friendship and enjoyed supporting his 
efforts to improve education. I wish him all the best in retirement and 
know that his wife Martha and the rest of his family will enjoy the 
opportunity to spend more time with him.

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