Stamp of approval
Beginning this week, U.S. Postal Service customers will be able to buy a 33-cent commemorative “improving education” stamp.
The theme was chosen by customers during a monthlong balloting process last May “to recognize the significant gains and marked improvements in the quality of education in the 1990s,” according to the Postal Service. It’s one of 15 stamps that pay tribute to the previous decade as part of the Postal Service’s “Celebrate the Century” Commemorative Stamp and Education Program.
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| The new education stamp from the U.S. Postal Service. |
The education stamp features a young, red-haired boy sitting at a desk, writing an assignment. That’s the perfect symbol for millions of hardworking students, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said during an April 28 ceremony in Chicago at which postal officials unveiled the stamp.
“When I heard that the Postal Service was doing such a stamp, I had contemplated being the one pictured, as I have always wanted to be in the company of the likes of Elvis and Duke Ellington,” the secretary quipped. “But I think it was far more appropriate to choose a student.”
Rufus F. Porter, the postmaster for Chicago, said the unveiling was held at a public school there because the district has shown great strides in improving education.
The “Celebrate the Century” series is saluting notable people, sports, technology, places, and trends. Other stamps from the 1990s collection will pay homage to such cultural highlights as sport-utility vehicles, cellular phones, the World Wide Web, “extreme” sports, the movie “Titanic,” and the TV show “Seinfeld.”
—Joetta L. Sack federal@epe.org
