MRS. ROUKEMA.  Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate Kittatinny Regional High School on receiving the U.S. Department of Education's prestigious Blue Ribbon Schools Award.
This award recognizes that Kittatinny Regional High School is one of the finest schools in our entire nation. This proves that public education works and that our young people in Sussex County are among the best and brightest. This accomplishment is the result of hard work on the part of students, their parents, teachers and the Board of Education. As a former teacher and school board member, I am proud of everyone associated with this accomplishment.
Of the thousands of middle schools and high schools across the United States, only 166 this year were found to be outstanding enough to receive this high honor. Recipients of the Blue Ribbon Schools Award have been judged particularly effective at meeting local state and national goals. The award is presented to schools that have shown strong leadership, a clear vision and sense of mission, high quality teaching, challenging curriculum, a safe environrnent for leaminng, solid evidence of family involvernent, evidencethatthe school helps all students achieve high standards, and a commitment to share best practices with other schools. These schools clearly display the quality of excellence necessary to prepare our young people for the challenges of the next century.
Kittatinny Regional High School is located on 95 acres in Hampton Township and offers its 1,100 seventh-through-twelfth-grade students a modem physical plant designed for leaming. It includes more than 5 0 classrooms, nine science labs, six computer labs, a media center, two gymnasiums, cafeteria, main office, superintendent's office, a pool and eight athletic fields.  A computer network has been installed throughout the building. Each classroom has a telephone, at least one computer and a video connection. The computer labs offer facilities ranging from word processing to presentation software.
An outstanding physical plant is, of course, worthless without an excellent teaching staff and Kittatinny's teachers have been recognized as some ofthe best in New Jersey. Special education teacher Lynn Bishop and speech coordinator MarieDecker this year jointly received the State

Department of Education's Best Practice Award. Social studies teacher Ellen Kolonoski received a grant from the National Geographic Society Education Foundation and sociology teacher Pamela Bilby was chosen to participate in the Belfer National Conference for Education held by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. English teacher Mary Jane Westra was the 1997 Kittatinny teacher of the year and received the Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Newton Rotary. Computer assisted drafting teacher Bill Meyer was the 1997 New Jersey Technology Teacher of the Year and received the 1996 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of New Jersey. These are just a few of Kittatinny's award-winning teachers and I offer my apologies to those I've left out.
The school offers a wide variety of courses in English, mathematics, science, social studies, history foreign languages, fine arts, technology, creative arts, health, physical education and business. Many of the courses are given credit by Sussex County Community College. A strong emphasis is placed on honors courses and advanced placement courses.  A successful school-to-career program helps prepare non-college-bound students for direct entry into the workforce.
The excellence of Kittatinny's academic program has been repeatedly recognized. Last year, it was selected as one of 10 "Star Schools" in New Jersey.  It has received several "Best Practices" awards in New Jersey. Mock trial and other academic teams have earned state championship titles and athletic teams have produced championship titles at county, regional and state levels.
Management style at Kittatinny emphasizes collaborative decision-making, site-based management and teacher/staff empowerment. Committees deal with current and future needs of the school and allow the faculty to have a voice in changes in policy.
Kittatinny students are well prepared by their teachers, parents and role models in the community. They can rest assured they will be able to handle whatever challenges they choose in life. Once again, congratulations to everyone involved in this impressive achievement!