Jack Kingston: “That is right. And teachers, if given the opportunity to be creative, can light the fire in the students' minds and get…”

“That is right. And teachers, if given the opportunity to be creative, can light the fire in the students' minds and get them enthusiastic. If the gentleman will remember, today we had the Reverend George Dillard give the opening prayer. His wife Renee is a 4th grade schoolteacher at Cannongate Elementary School in Peachtree City, GA. When I introduced George, at Renee's request, I introduced Nellie, who is the fourth grade class's little teddy bear; and Nellie was on the floor of Congress today. Nellie met Speaker Gingrich and Trent Lott and anybody else that Nellie could shake hands with. It captures the minds of those fourth graders. Those 9- and 10-year-olds suddenly say, what is Nellie doing in this Chamber, this place where all these men and women are talking sometimes in such lofty terms? What is that group? Nellie, the little teddy bear of Cannongate Elementary School, has been to over 80 countries and has sat on the Great Wall of China. It is exciting, and Renee Dillard, their teacher, is excited for them. She is showing them a gateway, but she is using a prop. She is using something that was a local idea. It was not a Washington bureaucrat that all fourth grade classes will get teddy bears from here on out. It was local. And when Nellie's novelty has worn off, they will put her on the shelf.”