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Few students in valley see president's school speech
(by Sali McSherry - September 09, 2009)
Few students in valley see president's school speech
By SALI McSHERRY
At noon this Tuesday, President Barack Obama gave a 20-minute Webcast pep talk to school-age children across the country about the importance of taking responsibility for their education.
Twenty Chagrin Falls 10th-graders in American history teacher Brian McKenna's class listened to it live. At Kenston, six social studies classes viewed the speech. But at other schools in the Chagrin Valley, students didn't have the opportunity to view the Webcast live.
In the speech, the president spoke about his own struggles and experiences in school and other inspiring stories of children who worked hard and became successful.
At Chagrin Falls, although the school district gave parents the opportunity to opt their children out of hearing the speech, none of those in Mr. McKenna's class did. Several students said they didn't understand why there was any controversy surrounding the speech. Some said it was ridiculous that there ever was a controversy.
At West Geauga High School, students were required to have written permission from their parents to witness the Webcast, according to Superintendent Anthony Podojil's Web site note.
In kindergarten through eighth grade, the live Webcast was not shown in Solon, West Geauga, Orange, Kenston and Chagrin Falls. School administrators from West Geauga and Solon encouraged parents in their Web-site statements to watch the address with their children outside of the school day.
In Orange, high school social studies teachers were to review Mr. Obama's address to students to determine its educational value as a curricular supplement.
"If a teacher decides to use it, students will be given the option to not watch the address and have an alternative assignment provided," Orange communications coordinator Louis DeVincentis said. The option to view the event would only be available to social studies classes, he said.
At Kenston High School, six social studies classes watched the address. Students were given the option of opting out, but no one did, according to Katy McGrath, director of community relations. The address also was available for viewing in the distance learning lab.
In the Chagrin Valley, where over 95 percent of students seek higher education following high school, the speech could have been viewed as preaching to the choir. Gang violence, poverty and a high percentage of single-parent or single-grandparent homes are not the norm for students who attend schools in the affluent suburbs of Chagrin Valley.
The national average of students who graduate from high school is at 70 percent, according to Arne Duncan, U.S. education secretary under Mr. Obama.
Mr. McKenna said he thought the speech was geared to students on the fringe and to help motivate those who could use a little extra nudge in the beginning of the school year.
Chagrin Falls 10th-grader Annie Wetherbee said she was impressed with the stories about students who struggled in school amid enormous challenges and were successful. She said she realizes that she and many of her classmates don't face the same challenges that many do in urban communities.
Chagrin Falls School Superintendent Stephen Thompson said he received over 50 calls from parents opposing the showing of Mr. Obama's speech and a handful of parents who approved of showing the live Webcast. School principals faced the same issue, he said.
Mr. Thompson said he's proud that Mr. McKenna shared the live speech with his class and thought it likely that other teachers would use it as it fits into their lesson plans. It was never the intent of the school to require written permission from parents for their children to view the Webcast, although parents were notified about the speech and given the option of an alternative activity for their children, he said.
Whether to witness the live speech or not was left up to the teachers, Mr. Thompson said. It was also about timing, he said, because the speech fell on a day when classes were shortened due to a district-wide early release of students at 1:15 p.m. and a teacher in-service in the afternoon.
Chagrin Falls 10th-grader Jennifer Jouriles said, "I thought the speech was well put together and eloquent." She said she appreciated the fact that the president took the time to speak with schoolchildren across the country, as opposed to just speaking to adults.
Jennifer said, "I couldn't find anything controversial in the speech." She said she doesn't believe it was political. It was meant to inspire young people to try hard, so they won't be a bad influence on the future of the country, she said.
Mr. McKenna said, "We have bright students," and he believes they could critically analyze the president's speech. He put the responsibility on his students to make their own decisions about the speech. They talked about the "political jockeying" in the past week among the Democrats and Republicans, he said.
Chagrin Falls 10th-grader Meaghan Diffenderfer said Mr. Obama's speech was easy to grasp for kindergartners, as well as 12th-graders. It was well put together, she said.
Meaghan said there's no reason why the speech should be viewed as controversial. People hold grudges against Mr. Obama, she said, because he's not a typical American president, in part because he is African-American. "A lot of people are just so used to having the Bushes in office," older white males, not someone who is liberal, she said.
Sam Degreen, also a 10th-grader, said the speech was inspiring and that people should be allowed to hear both sides of an issue and decide for themselves.
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