Regardless of your party affliation, race, gender, religion or grade level, this was a special day for kids around the country. It’s not often that the President of the United States decides to speak to you directly.
Opening remarks included Tim Spicer, the senior president of Wakefield Elementary, who was profoundly moving. When he spoke, he raised the achievement bar even higher. When he said that he used “setbacks as constructive energy,” I knew I was listening to greatness in the making and shaping! That’s what is delivered when you have a great education and great opportunities to show your brilliance and gratitude.
President Obama was noteably inspiring in words, imagery, and presence, while transcending all expectations, regardless of the ridiculous criticism that follows him. He continued to reinforce his message of accountability but in a way that was inspiring, encouraging, and humbling for our children.
Unfortunately, a teacher moment was lost on politics as many schools and school systems refused or chose not to carry the speech because they allowed adult politics to get in the way of a child’s message designed for the student’s benefit.
Shame on my son’s school and others for not choosing to carry a speech from the most popular and purpose-driven president of our lifetime. If I had known earlier, I would have kept him out of school in order to make sure he did hear it! The growing boogey-man mentality is shameful and harmful. Once our kid’s see what is being done, they will rise up on the side of doing what’s right and holding us accountable for our crimes against hope.
Shame on those who put politics in our classrooms at a time when our kids need to know they are our best hope for a better, stronger, and more compassionate future!
Shame on those who put politics in our classrooms when the drop-out rate is so high and our kids are dummying down instead of dropping in on creativity, critical thinking, innovation, justice, and collaboration.
Shame on those who put politics in our classrooms instead of encouragement and a open-mind to listen in order to learn; think in order to act wisely; or take action in order to make change.
Shame on those educators who allowed the political bully to keep a mentor from mentoring, a leader from leading, and a President from serving.
Our children should boycott those teachers, principals, adults, and administrators, who denied their school day a 20-minute message from the President of their United States of America, Barack Obama, to be speak directly to them.
Democracy…or hypocrisy?
as u know I have been in mexico for 14 yrs now…almost to the date of speech…nonetheless, I have been closely following everything that happens in my country since my leaving. I can honestly tell you that I would have not voted for Obama, in fact, I voted for Hillary in the primary´s, but I have listened closely to his speeches and have observed his behavior. I can honestly say, that no matter what my opinio is now of him, we cannot close our minds and become so inflexible and rigid that we risk repeating history, with devastating consequences. We as a human race, need to develop and plant the seed in our youth of reflective thinking so that they may have the tools to make the own decisions, in favor of a more humane, fair, and better quality of life. It is a shame that we are still so far behind as a society on he bigger scheme of things. Keep up the good work Blanche!!!
Thanks for your response and your open-minded sense of what our youth need and deserve in these trying and often unyielding times.