On the recordJune 15, 2010
I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution to congratulate the Urban Prep Charter Academy on the wonderful accomplishment of sending every one of their 107 graduates on to college this year. For some students, getting an education is a simple feat, but for many students in our urban centers, that is not true, and this is the focus community, the population, that is served by Urban Prep. Now, I knew Urban Prep some time ago. Their motto is ``We Believe.'' I want to say here that I believe in Urban Prep and in the phenomenal work that they do to reverse troubling graduation and completion rates among African American men in Chicago's urban centers. We can learn many lessons from the Urban Prep experiment, and indeed, that experiment is being looked at across the country, even in communities like the one I represent in Maryland's Fourth Congressional District. I know firsthand that the caliber of educators at Urban Prep plays an important role in the lives of their students. I want to speak today about one of those educators because in no one is this more prevalent than in Urban Prep's Dr. Derrick Brooms. Dr. Brooms is an amazing and dynamic educator, mentor, and high school teacher who makes history come alive. He is a Ph.D.…





