THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2011 Remarks

of President Barack Obama As Prepared for Delivery Back-to-School Speech Benjamin Banneker Academic High School Washington, D.C. September 28, 2011 As Prepared for Delivery Hello, everybody! Its great to be here at Benjamin Banneker High School, one of the best high schools in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Donae, for that introducti on. I also want to thank Arne Duncan, our excellent Secretary of Education, for being here with me today. Weve got students tuning in from all across America, and so I want to welcome all of you to this new school year. I know that here at Banneker, youve been back a t school for a few weeks now. So everythings starting to settle in for you, just like for your peers all across the country. The fall sports seasons are underw ay. Musicals and marching band routines are shaping up. And your first big test s and projects are probably just around the corner. I know that youve got a lot to deal with outside of school, too. Your circle of friends might be changing. Issues that used to stay confined to hallways or loc ker rooms now find their way into your Facebook feeds and Twitter accounts. And some of your families might be feeling the strain of this economy. You might h ave picked up an after-school job to help out, or maybe youre babysitting for a y ounger sibling because Mom or Dad is working an extra shift. So youve got a lot on your plates. You guys are growing up faster and interactin g with the wider world in a way that old folks like me didnt have to. So today, I dont want to be another adult who stands up to lecture you like youre just kids. Because youre not just kids. Youre this countrys future. Whether we fall behind or race ahead in the coming years is up to you. And I want to talk to you abou t meeting that responsibility. It starts with being the best student you can be. Now, that doesnt always mean y ou have to get a perfect score on every assignment. It doesnt have to mean strai ght As all the timealthough thats a good goal to strive for. It means you have to keep at it. It means you have to work as hard as you know how. And it means th at you take some risks once in a while. You wonder. You question. You explore . You color outside the lines every now and then. Thats what schools for: discovering new passions and acquiring the skills to pursu e those passions in the future. Thats why one hour you can be an artist; the nex t, an author; the next, a scientist. Or a historian. Or a carpenter. This is the time when you can try out new interests and test new ideas. And the more y ou do, the sooner youll figure out what makes you come alive. If you promise not to tell anyone, Ill let you in on a little secret: I wasnt alw ays the very best student. I didnt love every class I took. I remember when I w as in eighth grade, I had to take a class called ethics. Ethics is about right an d wrong, but if youd have asked me what my favorite subject was in eighth grade, Id have said basketball. I dont think ethics would have made the list.

But you know what? I still remember that ethics class. I remember the way it m ade me think. I remember being asked questions like What matters in life? What do es it mean to treat people with respect and dignity? What does it mean to live in a diverse nation? Each question led to a new one, and I didnt always know the an swer right away. But those discussions and that process of discovery are still with me today. Every day, Im thinking about what those issues mean for us as a n ation. Im asking all sorts of questions just like those. And Ill let you in on a nother secret: I still dont always know the answers. But if Id have just tuned ou t because the class sounded boring, I might have missed out on something that I enjoyed and something thats still useful to me today. So thats a big part of your responsibility: Testing things out. Taking risks. W orking hard. Engaging with the world around you. Those are the things that wil l make school more fun. And down the road, those are the traits that will help you succeed the traits that will lead you to invent a device that makes the iPad look like a stone tablet. Or figure out a way to use the sun and wind to power a city. Or write the next great American novel. Now, to do almost any of those things, you have to not only graduate from high s chool, but continue your education after you leave. That might mean a four-year university, a community college, or a professional credential or training, but the fact of the matter is that more than 60 percent of jobs in the next decade w ill require more than a high school diploma. Thats the world youre walking into. So I want all of you to set a goal to continue your education after high school. And if that means college for you, just getting in isnt enough. Youve got to fi nish. Our country used to have the worlds highest proportion of young people wit h a college degree. Now were 16th. Thats not good enough. And so we need your g eneration to bring us back to the top. If we do that, you guys will have a brighter future. And so will America. Well be able to make sure the newest inventions and latest breakthroughs happen right here in the United States. It means better jobs, more fulfilling lives, and gr eater opportunities for your kids. So I dont want anyone listening today to thin k that once youre done with high school, youre done learning. Or that college isnt for you. You have to start expecting big things for yourself right now. I know all this can be intimidating. You might be wondering how youll pay for co llege. Or you might not know what you want to do with your life. Thats OK. Nob ody expects you to predict the future. And we shouldnt expect you to make it on your own. Youve got your parents. They love you to death and want you to have even more op portunities than they had. So dont give them a hard time when they ask you to tu rn off the video games and the television, and sit down to help you with your ho mework. Youve also got people all across this country including me working on your behalf . Were taking every step we can to ensure that youre getting an educational syste m thats worthy of your potential. Were working to make sure that you have the mos t up-to-date schools with the latest tools for learning. Were making sure that o ur countrys colleges and universities are affordable and accessible. And were wor king to get the best teachers into your classrooms, so they can prepare you for college and a future career. Now, teachers are the men and women who might be working harder than anybody. W hether you go to a big school or a small one, whether you attend a public, priva te, or charter school your teachers are giving up their weekends and waking up a t dawn. Theyre cramming their days full of classes and extra-curriculars. Then theyre going home, eating some dinner, and staying up past midnight to grade your

papers. And they dont do it for y live for those moments tellect and they see the the citizens and leaders ure. a fancy office or a big salary. They do it for you. The when something clicks, when you amaze them with your in kind of person you can become. They know that youll be who take us into tomorrow. They know that youre the fut

But I also want to emphasize this: with all of the challenges that our country f aces today, we dont just need you for the future we need you now. America needs your passion, your ideas, and your energy right at this moment. I know youre up to it because Ive seen it. Nothing inspires me more than knowing that young peop le all across the country are already making their marks. Theyre not waiting for anybody. Theyre students like Will Kim from Fremont, California, who launched a nonprofit that gives loans to students from low-income schools who want to start their own businesses. And hes raising the money doing what he loves: through dodgeball t ournaments and capture-the-flag games. Jake Bernstein, a 17-year-old from a military family in St. Louis, worked with h is sister to launch a website devoted to community service for young people. Th eyve held volunteer fairs, put up an online database, and helped thousands of fam ilies find volunteer opportunities that range from maintaining nature trails to serving at local hospitals. And last year, I met a young woman named Amy Chyao from Richardson, Texas. At j ust 16 years old, she discovered a breakthrough process that uses light to kill cancer cells. Its incredible and shes been approached by some doctors and researc hers who want to work with her to develop her discovery. So, just like Will, Jake, and Amy, you dont have to wait to make your mark. A lo t of the time, youve got better ideas than the rest of us anyway. We just need t hose ideas out in the open, in and out of the classroom. I have no doubt that Americas best days are ahead of us because I know the potent ial that lies inside each one of you. Soon enough, youll be the ones leading our businesses and our government; youll be the ones charting the course of our unwr itten history. All of that starts this year. Right now. So I want you all to make the most of this year ahead of you. Your country is depending on you. So set your sights high. Have a great school year. And lets get to work. ###