Just saw this story about a school in South Carolina who recently got a donation of roughly $250,000 from a business in Chicago for new desks and a coat of paint in the cafeteria.
Part of the inspiration for the generous act? President Obama.
And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina – a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters." President Obama Feb 24th - address to Congress
After hearing the speech:
Darryl Rosser, CEO of classroom furniture supplier Sagus International, called Principal Amanda Burnette the day after Obama read Bethea's plea. After visiting the campus four weeks ago, Rosser said he knew he had to do what he could.
This is the good part of America and human nature - looking out for one another. The student reactions are priceless:
Other students could be heard uttering the words "awesome" and "excellent" as they stared at the new furniture, custom made in black with varnished oak tops, that replaced creaky old desks coated in graffiti and chewing gum.
And here is a reaction from the student who wrote the original letter that reached President Obama that he quoted in his speech:
"Even though our dream is not yet completed ... We now have a better school. We now feel better about our school," Ty'Sheoma Bethea said. "We are not quitters," she added, mimicking the words in her letter, "and we are not through."
As an instructor I often think about what the environment I teach in conveys to my students. During graduate school during a presentation one of my professors remarked about how uncomfortable the chairs were that she was sitting in listening to my speech. It made me think about how students sit in these seats all day long all semester long. Perhaps we need less standardized testing and more comfortable seating.
Regardless, I'm proud that we have a President that inspires.