Presidential Address

There is a lot of controversy swirling around President Obama’s address today. I wanted to let you know what we talked about after watching it in class this morning.

When it was over, I asked the children to tell me about what they remembered from the speech. Two big messages came across: if you see someone being bullied, you should stick up for them and don’t ever give up. The children had lots to say about how important it is to work hard and keep trying, even if you fail sometimes. We also talked about his comment that “if you quit on school - you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.” [This is an idea that relates directly to an important component of our charter - how the choices you make affect you, the people around you, in your community, etc.] Additionally, we talked about how school can help you discover things you are really interested in or really good at.

After our discussion, I asked them to do some writing. We made a promise to work hard in school so that we could achieve our goals - for most of the children, the goals focused on what they want to become when they grow up. I asked them to finish the writing and include a drawing for homework tonight so your child can show it to you if you are interested in seeing what they wrote.

Here is a link to the address in case you missed it:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-Message-of-Hope-and-Responsibility-for-Americas-Students/