Yuma students, educators view Obama's speech

President Obama addressed the nation's youths from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, and some classrooms in Yuma tuned in, according to local educators.

Yuma Union High School District Superintendent Toni Badone said not all classrooms had TVs, but some social studies teachers said they intended to watch the broadcast live.

Badone said Obama's overriding message was that students are in control of their future, and he encouraged them to persist in efforts to graduate high school and continue with higher education.

"He emphasized commitment, responsibility and persistence," Badone said. "That's the same message the district gives students, and we hope every educator out there does the same."

At Vista School, Jason Morien, social studies teacher, downloaded the speech from the CNN network and played it back to two social studies and one art class for a total audience of 40 students. Morien said it was a good speech and he did not see anything that had to do with party politics.

"It went straight to the point, especially since Vista is an alternative school. Obama's emphasis on staying in school and not making up excuses for problems going on around you really hit home with students."

Morien said several students told him they felt motivated after listening to the president and they really seemed to enjoy his address.

At Yuma Elementary School District 1's Carver Elementary, most classes did watch the president's speech, Principal Debra Drysdale said. Maria Incinas, a kindergarten teacher, watched the broadcast over cable TV with 33 students from her class along with her colleague Leticia Morales' class.

Incinas said it was a great speech and as a teachers, they always try to do their best.

"Sometimes it looks impossible to get to a benchmark level, especially because I'm teaching ELL (English language learners) students. But what I got from that speech was never give up, because one day we will achieve."

Incinas said previously, Carver was a performing school, according to Arizona Learns standardized test rankings, but last year progressed to performing plus because the entire staff makes an effort to persevere.

Tuesday as she was encouraging one student to trace his letters continually over again and as he protested he could not do it, she implored him to persist.

"I reminded him of what the president said about never giving up. When the president talked about the flu and washing your hands, all the students remembered their lessons and yelled out, 'The president said to wash your hands.'"

In addition to Carver students and teachers, teaching assistants and visiting Northern Arizona University-Yuma students also watched Obama's speech, Incinas said.

In the days leading up to Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren, some had expressed concern it would be used to promote an overly partisan political message. But it avoided any controversial political initiatives.

Instead Obama's text focused on reminding students that being successful is hard and whatever they resolve to do in life, they should commit to it. Also, what they learn in school today will determine whether the U.S. can meet its greatest challenges in the future, according to the Web page www.cnn.com.

At Centennial Middle School, the speech was not viewed live, but social studies teachers taped the broadcast for viewing at a later time, according to an administrative assistant. Crane Superintendent Cindy Didway noted last week that the speech was scheduled right in the middle of a reading block teachers were reluctant to abandon, but she did urge anyone who wanted to view the address to tape it for rebroadcast later.