picture of a yellow school bus with the words Success Express written on it

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

U.S. Secretary of Education
Richard Riley's
America Goes Back To School Bus Tour

THE SUCCESS EXPRESS
Visits the Mississippi Delta
August 27-31, 2000

Marianna, Arkansas

3 colored lines used as a border
1 blue line down the side used as a border

Whitten Elementary School

Press Release

DATE: August 30, 2000

The forth day of his America Goes Back to School bus tour, Secretary Riley split his day between Arkansas and Tennessee, visiting high-performing schools and speaking with community leaders. Secretary Riley, U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, and U.S. Representative Marion Berry road the Success Express into Marianna, Arkansas to visit the 1999 Title I Distinguished School for Arkansas: Whitten Elementary School.

Through the adoption of the Direct Instruction model and use of Title I funds to purchase computers, student achievement levels have increased significantly in both reading and mathematics in this school.

Secretary Slater, who grew up in Marianna, underscored the reason why education is a national priority in his introduction for Secretary Riley. Secretary Slater observed that "No tool for success is more important in the new millennium than education." Educators from Whitten and other elementary schools visited by the Success Express will receive free books from Scholastic, Inc. to use as a teaching tool.

Pictures

Secretary Riley greeting the children at Whitten Elementary School. Click here to enlarge photo.
8/30--Secretary Riley greeting the children at
Whitten Elementary School.

Secretary Riley in Ms. Brenda Rankin's reading class. Click here to enlarge photo.
8/30--Secretary Riley in Ms. Brenda Rankin's
reading class.

Students present Secretary Riley with books. Click here to enlarge photo.
8/30--Students present books to
Secretary Riley

 

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This page last modified September 14, 2000 (lcl)