HUNTINGTOWN, MD - Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) today joined the Huntingtown High School community for a ceremony to dedicate the new High School in Calvert County, which opened last fall. Huntingtown High School has provided much-needed relief to the county's three other public high schools. Overall the county has seen its school enrollment increase by more than 50 percent since 1990. Just last week the Census Bureau reported that Calvert County remains the state's fastest-growing county and one of the nation's 100 most rapidly developing jurisdictions. Following are Congressman Hoyer’s remarks as prepared for delivery.
“America’s strength today is the investment we make in providing our children with the best possible education – with quality curriculum, up to date books, high tech computers, skilled teachers and instructors and yes, with beautiful learning environments such as this one we stand in today.
“As the fastest growing county in our state, Calvert County has been challenged to meet the demands of maintaining a top notch school system which in many cases, has been the main attraction for those who have chosen to make this their home.
“Through the efforts of your state legislature we will see $250 million in the budget for school construction, particularly for aging buildings and the fastest growing counties who must meet the demands of increased student populations.
“But with constructing these beautiful new facilities we are not just adding another school – we are building a new community filled with new relationships, new hopes and new expectations for the future.
“It is essential as we dedicate this school today, that the expectation for excellence is set at a high bar, for without high expectations there will not be success. I have often said that a school system will fail if parents, teachers, coaches, community leaders, students and all who form the school community do not work together with top performance foremost in mind.
“In the nearly eight months since the doors opened here at Huntingtown to a student body of over 1,400, we have already seen great successes and we have seen a marvelous blending of the old and the new of Calvert County.
“The great abilities being developed and encouraged here reveal themselves through the dedication and commitment of teachers such as Amy Gibson, who is Maryland’s 2004 teacher of the year and Wendy Mullen who is HHS teacher of the year.
“And we can not forget the administrators, secretaries, cafeteria staff and custodians who form the nucleus of this community. Working together, with sights set high, character is being built.
“Huntingtown High School is the best of the old and the best of the new in Calvert County. Holding onto the richness of the county’s heritage, yet open to the opportunities of the future.
“May all who work, learn and play here, and I quote ‘go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you have imagined.’ (Henry David Thoreau).