Keynote to kids

Area students found President Barack Obama’s back-to-school address Tuesday to be “real” and “down to Earth.”

Not unlike other presidents before him, Obama addressed students at the beginning of the school year. His talk has generated a firestorm of controversy across the country.

Augusta County, Waynesboro and Staunton school divisions made it optional for teachers and students to watch Obama’s 15-minute speech Tuesday about students being responsible for their own success in school.

Classes at Staunton’s Robert E. Lee High School and at Fishersville’s Wilson Memorial High School tuned in to the president’s remarks.

About 35 R.E. Lee students gathered in one classroom to watch. Students, mostly silent and attentive throughout, sat two to a chair and atop the classroom air conditioner and stood leaning against a white board as the room filled.

“It kind of makes you feel good that the president took some time out to talk to us,” senior Karima Scott said.

Students agreed the president’s message wasn’t new, but said it still carried weight.

“He was short and to the point,” said senior Blair McDonough. “You can’t drag on with teenagers.”

“He didn’t bore us,” added junior Keoshia Crawford.

Across the room, sophomore Jayme Ewing was comparing the speech to her mother’s advice.

“It’s pretty much everything my mom has told me,” she said. “You obviously need an education, but some students need to hear it from somebody different.”

The president’s speech also had an attentive audience in Kevin Clark’s advanced placement history class at Wilson.

Junior Taylor Morris was impressed by Obama’s statement about how students working hard and succeeding “can change the shape of the country.”

Morris, who hopes to study criminal justice after graduating, said he found the speech inspirational.

“Even if I make mistakes now, I have my whole life ahead to do well,’’ he said.

Junior Emily Boward said she liked Obama’s blend of inspirational stories about real people who had overcome health and personal family situations to finish school.

“This helps me to look forward,’’ said Boward, who wants to become a teacher.

She said young people frequently hear about students failing, but the message on Tuesday was one of success.

And Boward said with all of Obama’s responsibilities, “it’s cool he took time to focus on students and make us a priority.”

Jay Singleton, a government teacher and debate coach at Wilson, said Obama attempted to do Tuesday what educators attempt to do every day.

“He was trying to get students to be better citizens,’’ Singleton said. “That is what we try to do.”

Singleton said it is important that what the president was asking for “is attainable.”

Wilson Memorial Principal Doug Shifflett said 43 of Wilson’s 765 students chose not to watch the speech, and spent the time in the school auditorium studying or reading.

In Waynesboro, Superintendent Robin Crowder said there were a few people that called and complained about Obama’s speech.

However, Crowder left it up to the district’s teachers to decide whether to show the speech if it applied to classroom instruction.

Obama told students nationwide that even with dedicated teachers, supportive parents and the best schools, “none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, pay attention to those teachers, listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults, and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.”

“I feel it’s a very good message,” R.E. Lee Principal Mark Rowicki said. “We’ll just have to see if the kids listen.”