April 1, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 56 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





         LEGENDARY LOS ANGELES EDUCATOR DR. GENEVIEVE SHEPHERD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAREN BASS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 1, 2019

  Ms. BASS. Madam Speaker, this past January Los Angeles lost a 
legendary educator, Dr. Genevieve A. Shepherd. She championed 
educational equity for African-American students, especially boys, and 
believed passionately that it is better to raise a child than to mend 
an adult.
  Dr. Shepherd decided she wanted to be a teacher at the age of three, 
when the kindness and support of a Sunday school teacher made an 
indelible impression on her. She loved seeing a child work to 
understand something, and then light up when the concept was mastered. 
She only left the classroom when she realized that she could have a 
multiplier effect on students by nurturing teachers, who could go on to 
support even more students.
  She spent three decades of her half-century career as principal at 
the same school, Dublin Avenue Elementary, which was later re-named Tom 
Bradley Global Awareness Magnet. She always looked for innovative ways 
to address the challenges she saw her students face, including by 
pioneering an academy for African-American boys at Bradley to tackle 
achievement gaps.
  Her signature hats made her unmistakable on school grounds. For 
years, before class could begin, her students would gather on the 
playground to enthusiastically recite the mantra: ``With passion and 
persistence we will perpetually pursue excellence, for learning is our 
top priority.'' She had the privilege of seeing her first students grow 
to send her their own children as students, then their grandchildren 
and even their great-grandchildren over the course of an award-winning, 
56-year career in education.
  A product of Los Angeles through and through, she grew up in the 
LAUSD, attended Los Angeles City College and then California State 
University, Los Angeles. She went on to earn a Master of Science degree 
from Pepperdine University and a Doctorate of Philosophy from Golden 
State University. She married and raised her family in LA, and was a 
faithful member of Bethlehem Temple Church (and served as Sunday School 
Superintendent, of course). Her service extended to playing leadership 
roles in many civic and professional organizations, as well, including 
the Council of Black Administrators and the YMCA Metro LA.
  She also believed in lifelong education and was a long-time president 
of the pioneering Our Authors Study Club, founded to pursue Carter G. 
Woodson's vision of creating and disseminating knowledge about Black 
history across the nation.

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