Omaha students hear Obama

Henry Farnan was sent to the principal's office Tuesday morning — to watch President Barack Obama's speech to the nation's school children.

The fifth-grader's father, John Farnan, was one of a small number of parents in the Bellevue Public Schools who called the district to make special arrangements for his sons to see the president's speech.

“I don't care if it was Richard Nixon, U.S. Grant or Calvin Coolidge,” the older Farnan said. “You have to show respect for the office. Regardless who is in that office.”

Farnan said because the President was taking time to speak directly to students — something not very common — it was important for students to hear the message.

Concerns that Obama would include political rhetoric led a number of parents not to require teachers to show it. In some districts, the speech only aired in civics or government courses, where it fit the curriculum.

Farnan said a message from the President should always fit the mission of public schools. He called the Bellevue district in advance of the speech and was told the planned curriculum outweighed the importance of the President's message. He said during the 15-minute conversation an administrator told him he could keep his two sons home for the day if he wanted them to see it, before agreeing that arrangements would be made for them to watch the speech at school.

“I pushed and pushed,” Farnan said.

School district spokeswoman Cathy Williams said every school made the speech available to students whose parents wanted them to see it, and it was shown in government and civics classes. The school district added a link to the speech on the “Parents” page of its web site so families could watch it together.

At Beveridge Magnet Middle School in the Omaha school district, students in Pat Becker's eighth-grade social studies class watched attentively. Several classes at the school near 120th and Pacific Streets showed the 20-minute speech Tuesday. Students on their lunch hour were invited to watch in the library. Those who didn't want to see it, or whose parents didn't want them to see it, spent time in the auditorium with school counselors. They talked about goal setting — a strong theme in Obama's message.

For many students, including Kenny Tyler, 13, the speech had the intended affect.
Kenny wants to run a company. And President Obama, he said, reminded him that he can do it if he keeps his grades up and focuses on his education. As he and his 19 classmates listened in Becker's classroom, they took notes about the common themes of the speech.

Obama told students, “The circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home — none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher or cutting class or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.”

In a district such as Nebraska's largest, where most students come from low-income families and many students move often, the message resonated.

The Beveridge teacher followed the speech with a discussion about goal-setting.
“I know some of your lives are hard,” Becker told his class, “but as the president said, you still have to put the effort forth.”

Levi Miller, 13, echoed that thought during the discussion.

“People who have a rough life still manage to get through it and somehow manage to get the work done,” Levi said.

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