President Obama Commencement Orator @ Booker T. Washington in Memphis

Subject: Public Policy - PUBLIC SCHOOL
Area: National-Local-Global

Memphis, TN - Posted by Jesse Lee on May 16, 2011 at 02:57 PM EDT.

"Every commencement is a day of celebration," said the President at the commencement for Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, "But this one is especially hopeful." BTW, as the school is known, was the winner of the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, chosen as a finalist on the basis of its inspiring turn-around story and voted the winner by the public after each finalist school submitted a video making its case. The President continued:

This one is especially hopeful because some people say that schools like BTW just aren’t supposed to succeed in America. You’ll hear them say, “The streets are too rough in those neighborhoods.” “The schools are too broken.” “The kids don’t stand a chance.”

We are here today because every single one of you stood tall and said, “Yes, we can.” (Applause.) Yes, we can learn. Yes, we can succeed. You decided you would not be defined by where you come from but by where you want to go, by what you want to achieve, by the dreams you hope to fulfill.

For more text, go to:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/16/president-obama-booker-t-washington-high-commencement-challenge-winners