Obama speaks to K-12 classes, some students opt out of viewing speech

The whoops and cheers of students echoed in Wakefield High School gymnasium when senior class president Timothy Spicer took the stage and encouraged students to get involved with the copious opportunities their school had to offer.

But all was silent when President Barack Obama took the stage at noon.

The president spoke Tuesday at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. to discuss the necessity of a solid academic career for students K-12.

Obama spoke for 20 minutes and stressed that academic success ultimately is achieved through student action alone.

“We can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents and the best schools in the world,” Obama said, “and none of it will matter unless you fulfill your responsibilities.”

However, not everyone tuned into Obama’s speech.

Certain school districts in Indiana were worried that the president’s speech would be peppered with political undertone that many parents did not want their children exposed to.

Two districts in Hendricks County refused to show the speech to elementary school children and screened it before allowing older students to view it.

Hendricks County superintendent Dr. Dennis E. Ward was unavailable for comment.

Some school administrators said they thought parents and teachers did not want students viewing the speech live because it would be a tangent from the current lesson plan, said Bev Smith, assistant director of Human Resources for Monroe County Schools.

“It didn’t have as much to do with the speech itself but the idea that it would thwart lesson plans,” Smith said. “Others felt like it would be a little too politicized.”

As a way to assure parents and teachers that the president’s speech would focus on education, the White House Web site, www.whitehouse.gov, posted the script of the speech Monday for public viewing.

However, other counties in Indiana, including Monroe County, let the schools’ principals and teachers decide how to relay the president’s message to students, Smith said.

“It’s a practice we would have with any new media information,” Smith said. “It would be a normal process that the department head would have the opportunity to review the information and decide how to best use it.”

However, some parents still chose to opt their children out of viewing the speech, said Don Alkire, principal of Martinsville High School.

“They wanted to be able to talk to their children with regard to these things before they were – I guess I’ll use the term – forced to listen to something they didn’t want to,” Alkire said.

Out of the 1,700 students who attend Martinsville High School, only 10 opted out of viewing President Obama’s speech, Alkire said.

“They were relocated to the auditorium for 18 minutes, then sent back to class,” Alkire said.

This is not the first time a president has made a national address concerning the importance of educating the students of America.

In 1988, former President Ronald Reagan addressed a handful of students in the White House on the importance of education and staying away from drugs.

In 1991, former President George H. W. Bush spoke to a classroom at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington about revolutionizing American Education.

This was, however, the first time a president has spoken to a nation of students, saying that there is no excuse not to strive for excellence.

“You can’t drop out of school and drop into a good job,” Obama said. “You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it ... There’s no excuse for not trying.”

The speech was ultimately an encouraging, positive and healthy message, Smith said.

Principal Alkire said he believes President Obama’s speech was proactive and a step in the right direction in the field of education.

“This is the first time in the 32 years that I’ve been involved in education that we’ve had anything like this,” Alkire said.