Ted Poe: “Kara was in the third grade when the school notified her parents about her difficulty in processing words. Her speech…”

“Kara was in the third grade when the school notified her parents about her difficulty in processing words. Her speech pattern was different. It affected every aspect of her life, including her self-esteem. Kara's third grade teacher, Mrs. Morgan, at the Oaks Elementary in Atascocita, Texas, was determined to help the little girl speak better, so the teacher and the pupil worked very hard together on talking. The success of both of them occurred this way: Later, that little girl who couldn't speak very well walked off the stage in high school as valedictorian. She also obtained her bachelor's degree, her master's degree, and today she is an associate professor at Baylor University in the department of--yes--English. The little girl with word problems is teaching about word patterns. I come from a family of teachers. My mother, my mother-in-law, my wife, and my three daughters are teachers by profession--and Kara is one of those daughters. So today, being Teachers Appreciation Day, we thank Mrs. Morgan and all of America's teachers for helping our kids be what they want to be. And that's just the way it is. ____________________”