Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A few things happened today...

First, I posted this status update on Facebook this morning:

Jennifer Brown Perkins: is going to relax on the couch with my children, and a big bowl of popcorn while we listen to the President of the United States speak about education and achieving more. What an opportunity Utah school children are missing out on today! Are your children going to be missing out? The only way to make a point to school officials is to take an active stand. Your choice.


I did not foresee people's reactions:

Lindsey DeWitt(an indifferent mother)
I think Elias' school is showing it.

Stacie Campbell Simmons (an educational professional)
The schools in Davis and Weber counties are showing it. If parents don't want their kids to watch it, they will read in the library or do homework. As a teacher, I wish this would have been aired in the evening, so parents could watch it with their kids like you are doing. It's been controversial. It's a little bothersome to me that our teaching time is being taken.

Tiffany Taylor Alexander (A mother who had to be silent in such a conservative State!)
I'm so glad to hear that. I have felt very alone in supporting this speech. Hurray! I'm not alone!

Doree Jo Ashcraft Burt (A mother in my corner)
Home with my 11th grader right now, looking forward to watching and learning. I'm still sad that the school has made it so that students have been denied the great positive peer pressure this could have generated had they all watched it together.
Great comment Jen.

Dayna Brown (a mother making her choice...opposite of mine)
peer preasure, marketing, and others trying to instill their political views on my children is exactly why I am glad that parents can watch politcal speaches at home with their parents and not at school. I don't recall any of the former pres. speaches taking up teaching time. I'm not saying I'm for or against either president or party- it's the pricipal of it. Just read Stacie's comment above. My kids are in school in Weber and boy am i gonna be ticked if they are watching it at school.

Amy Chase Horsburgh (Another mom in my corner! Lucky for her daughters...)
Morgan's school got to watch it, yeah for Edith Bowen! I just watched too and thought it was a wonderful speech and wish people would get off the fear train and trust and unite!

Stacie Campbell Simmons
Dayna: I think it was only Davis that sent an opt-out form home, so parents could tell the school they didn't want their children watching it. In a class of 34 students, I had four opt-out forms turned in. My daughter goes to school in Weber county. I never saw an opt-out form come home with my daughter.

Doree Jo Ashcraft Burt (Topic turns feisty!, but spot on!)
This wasn't a political speech, continuing to refer to it as such is absurd and makes those doing so look lame. Marketing? I don't recall any product placement. Was the leader of the free world holding Pepsi can? Shoot! I missed that! To assume that all children will hear this type of encouragement at home shows a pretty naive and myopic view of ...society and education and family life. Hopefully, some students who heard this will set a goal to spell correctly and do better in English. I know this is snippy, but Dayna, if you are going to point out that kids should be getting their educational advice from parents, you should probably learn to spell correctly.
The speech was awesome. Lives will change. Students who get no support from home got it today!

Dayna Brown
Thanks Stacie. I'm really not trying to make a political statement one way or another. I just think things are divisive enough right now and I don't want my kids to be played as pawns by anyone, left or right!
oh, thanks for the spelling tip- never heard that one before :)

Jennifer Brown Perkins (The moderator?...)
Now, now ladies, settle down. Today's speech was wonderful, insightful, and incredibly motivating to say the least. I don't fess up to a political party, partly because I do not fully support either of them. What I loved about today is that is was a speech...to children of the nation. A Bipartisan, non diplomatic, non puffy, genuine conversation ...between the President of United States and those children who's school administrators, parents or they themselves chose to listen. I feel horrible for those who missed out due to poor school board decisions not to show it in a school setting. This speech was meant to be offered in that setting! I chose the best option for my children. I can only hope that others will choose the best option for theirs. Unfortunately, children who could have used the speech in some parts of Utah today, were not granted that right and will sorely miss out on a good push in life when they otherwise would not have gotten it. At least read it to your kids!

Doree Jo Ashcraft Burt
My apologies. I was rude in someone's electronic home.

Aleisa Christensen Arnold (Solid Point- can we not agree peaceably?)
I, personally, think it would be neat if every president would make a welcome-back-to-school-be-sure-you-work-hard speech at the beginning of the school year. What a fun tradition that would be! Then maybe parents wouldn't worry so much if the president they didn't vote for gave it some years. I really enjoyed it and don't feel like my daughter who was able to watch it at school missed out on her learning time. It was short and inspirational.

Doree Jo Ashcraft Burt
It was kind of like a pep talk by a coach before a big game or eating a good breakfast before a busy day. Yes, it took some time, but the pay-off will be so worth it and save time in the long-run. I think a traditional one would be great. You never know who will reach a person and inspire them. So, if Sarah Palin wins next year, I promise to smack down all the liberals who make a ruckus!

Tiffany Taylor Alexander
You know. I not only strongly remember Ronald Reagan giving a speech, during school, when I was little.......I found said speech on the Internet. I don't recall any big old hullabaloo about that, nor about the speech George H.W. Bush gave to us students in the 90's.

I'm saddened that we, as a society are teaching our children to ignore the words of our leaders.

I've seen this speech. What exactly was SO damaging to our precious children?

Jennifer Brown Perkins
Not a darn tootin' thing Tiffany! I have to laugh at all the socialist fearing, right field, radical republicans. I wonder what they think of the speech now that it has been delivered? Are we wrong to set our children up for success, hard work and achievement? If so, then this country is going to hell in a hand basket in a real big hurry!
I love that you remember Ronald Reagan!



Mick and I even had a lunch time debate about the whole topic. What is it with Barak Obama
that brings out such opposition? This simple encouraging address has risen to levels of propaganda and hatred. Heated to say the least! Even the paper might be calling to ask me about my decision to excuse my kids from school for the speech. Who knows if the phone will ring, but mark my words, I will have words in my defense ...and words of moderation!

*
After I removed the girls from school to watch President Obama's speech, I hurried to get Aspen back to school and checked in. On our way out the door I asked her what she heard the President speak to her. Her reply was short and sweet. "Respect" she said. In that same instant, she lowered her head and whipped out her lime green 4 foot long snake from the back of her pants and replied with a serious tone "I guess I won't take this so I don't get in trouble". Maybe the fiasco of getting her excused from and back to school again, just so she could hear the Presidents' speech, may have been worth it!

*
Today was Abbie's first day at the Infant Toddler Lab at Utah State University. I knew she was slightly young for preschool, but I can't get the child to speak- so we signed her up! Her happy self did not even cry or miss me! I left her in the arms of a loving caring teacher, shut the door behind me and left. How strange it felt to leave my baby. An hour later, I spied on her through the mirrored glass and she was loving the rhyme Ram Sam Sam. It warmed my heart to remember my others girls loving the same cute little jingle! As Liberty and I awaited her in the Greeting Hall, she walked in hesitantly, made eye contact with me and proceeded to run open armed with a big smile right into my hug. Precious moment for the history books. Made my day! I'm wishing my camera had been there to capture the moment, but my mind will have to remember.














7 comments:

  1. I really liked the final product!
    I don't know if you got a chance to look at the first draft of his speech, the workbook that was originally planned or the video with Demi Moore - those were what had everyone up in the air. They were not anything like what was shown today.
    The final speech was a good one and very positive - I'm so glad it turned out like that!
    What a great mom you are to have watched it with your children at home. Good for you!

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  2. I may not agree with everything that Obama says or does, but no one agress completly with everyone. We need to teach our kids that it's importnat to get an education and if it comes from the President of the United States, I think that means something. It's showing our kids that people in higher positions think it's important & our kids should think so to. I didn't watch it because I had extra kids and would like to have seen it.

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  3. I was so bummed, I couldn't get it on my TV in the portable, so I found it online to have my students listen to but my volume on my computer wasn't working right. So we missed out. But we talked beforehand about what it means to be president and such. As a teacher, I teach about respect, and it's very difficult to teach it when I have parents who are teaching their kids through example not to respect even the President of the United States. I can't wait to watch it later tonight, and hope that my students will get to watch it with their parents!

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  4. I have to say that I loved that you blogged your whole facebook feed. SO many times I have wanted to do that. I missed the big speech, I suck, so I can't give my own personal enlightenment of it.

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  5. Rani- don't love it too much, it was a pain in the tushy to get the whole feed on here! Had to do it though.

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  6. I had a similar outburst on my fb page that had me bewildered.

    This whole debate reminded me of a very 'important' debate we had when I was on ASUSU. There was a group of rambunctious/hilarious guys that had started howling in the new library every wednesday night for 5 minutes during finals week to express their agony which had become a bi-annual tradition. All the tightwad studious students wanted the school to out rule it from happening again because it was ruining their education, etc, etc. etc and reached the newspapers. I had to go to a meeting with school officials with students on both sides to discuss this, it was pretty ridic that THIS was the biggest issue on campus. It made me realize that sometimes we OVERUSE our rights because yeah we all have a say of the ins and outs of our lives but are such things worth arguing about?

    I don't think this lady is serious, but either it's a great video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofxVMlU97yA

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  7. Amen Tabbi! Thanks for the link.

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