Mr. PUTNAM. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and career of Polk County’s beloved educator, Hazel Haley, who died on April 7, 2008.

Holding the record for the longest tenure of a Florida teacher, and thought to have been the longest-serving teacher in the country as well, Miss Haley dedicated 69 years of service to the classroom and to multiple-generations of Polk County families, including Florida Governor Lawton Chiles. 

Polk County, and especially Lakeland High School – where Hazel taught for 67 years – has not only lost a dear friend, but an advocate, a mentor, and a community leader.  Her legacy and memory lives on through the thousands of students lives she impacted.  It is estimated that she taught 13,500 students, proving that one person can touch many lives.  In addition, Florida Southern College and Polk Community College both award scholarship funds in her name. 

A fan of crossword puzzles, episodes of “Law & Order,” and all things Shakespeare, Hazel also had a passion for traveling.  Living life to the fullest, in 1973 at the young age of 57, Hazel made it a goal to take two international trips each year.  Hazel even managed to physically travel around the world, not just once, but twice.  She considered herself the biggest Anglophile in the U.S.A., and always found a way to work London into her itinerary.

Known for her sharp wit, frankness and big heart, Hazel will long be remembered in the halls of Lakeland High School.  Classroom 106 – where she taught from 1953 to 2006 – will forever retain the many lessons Hazel instilled in students of American and English Literature.  In 1984, the Polk County School District honored Hazel’s steadfast commitment to education officially naming the wing where her room was located as the “Hazel H. Haley Building.”

There is no arguing the multitude of contributions Hazel conveyed to her students, her community, and her profession.  Hazel’s life is not one that we should mourn, but one that we should commemorate for her genuine love of live she bestowed upon so many lives.