    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 25, 1991]
    [Pages 427-429]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the United States Academic Decathlon Winners
    April 25, 1991

        The President. Please be seated. Thank you. What a day. I was going
    to apologize for keeping you waiting, but now I think I'll take credit
    for giving you the time in the sun here. [Laughter] It is beautiful, and
    we are just delighted to have you all here. I want to especially
    recognize this gentleman in the front row, Ted Sanders, who's doing such
    a wonderful job at our Department of Education; Bob Suarez of the U.S.
    Academic Decathlon; and the teams from DC's Benjamin Banneker High
    School and Alexandria, Virginia's Thomas Jefferson High School of
    Science and Technology.
        And of course, welcome to our newest American heroes, the 1991
    Academic Decathlon champs--the team's from J.J. Pearce High School in
    Richardson, Texas. We're proud of you, and I think America is proud of
    you.
        I was looking over some of the questions you tackled, like: ``The
    Earth's magnetic field is compressed on the sun-facing side by what?''
    Well--[laughter]--the kids behind me know, but for the media out there,
    the answer is: solar wind. [Laughter] You guys remember that.
        All I can say is, I wouldn't have made it past the round where they
    asked me to spell ``broccoli.'' [Laughter]
        But congratulations to Kevin, Dardy, Eugene, Misty, Christine,
    Craig, Wade, Amie, and Frank, and coaches Dorcas and Linda--the Norman
    Schwarzkopfs of Pearce High. [Laughter] That's what we refer to you as
    around here. [Laughter] You've done something remarkable. This year's
    contest began with more than 35,000

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    students at 3,500 high schools coast to coast, and now it's just you.
        I must admit, it stirs my Texas pride a little to hear that in this
    national competition's 10-year history, your school has won five times.
    And I wish our son's Texas Rangers might be achieving the same kind of
    record in their field.
        But I want to tell every one of the 35,000 across the Nation,
    seriously, what you've done for this country. You've shown great things
    can be achieved by commitment, by perseverance, hard work, and teamwork.
        And there's something I really like about the decathlon, something
    I'm going to tell my grandkids about. This isn't about being the
    smartest kid in your class; after all, each of them is evenly divided
    among A, B, and C students. The lesson, rather, of the Academic
    Decathlon is something each of us needs to take through life. It's about
    learning to be the best you can.
        All right, I have a question: What do you have in common with Bruce
    Jenner, Rafer Johnson, and Jim Thorpe? All----
        Student. ----wearing gold medals.
        The President. That's it. [Laughter] All winning. All winners. All
    winning decathletes and the ones who mastered the ultimate test of the
    athlete and the student. You've shown your peers that it's as exciting
    to root for an academic team as an athletic one. And that it takes
    skill, stamina, and mental and emotional intensity to achieve in the
    classroom as well as in the stadium. And by doing that, you give them a
    priceless gift: the belief in their ability to reach out and shape their
    own futures.
        Last week, along with the Secretaries from the Department of
    Education--Secretary Sanders was there and Secretary Alexander, our new
    Secretary--I unveiled America 2000, our long-range strategy for
    educational excellence. It is ambitious. And it is far-reaching and
    absolutely essential. There's a new century coming, one with unlimited
    horizons. And our goal must be to make sure that our children enter this
    new world equipped with the skills that will let them dream dreams and
    know that they can make them come true. America 2000 is a challenge
    posed to each of us, to literally reinvent American education, to reach
    deep within us to find answers, so that our kids can reach out to find
    the stars.
        And that's why I'm so proud of you as messengers of this idea. Your
    lives and your accomplishments speak to other kids the way no words from
    a government or even a teacher can. These kids look at each of you and
    they see themselves. They look at you and they see what they, too, can
    become. And that's what a new kind of a hero is, a new generation of
    heroes, with the good values you learn from disciplined determination,
    the sharp mind that's not wasted on drugs, the confidence and pride that
    come from stretching yourself, proving yourself. You're the ones who
    will help our America 2000 dream come true.
        You have some pretty impressive partners, too, who will also have a
    big role to play in reaching our education goals--private businesses.
    For instance, in this year's decathlon, there was the local foundation
    in Hawaii which bought sweaters for its team to wear in competition, the
    Toastmasters Club which trained students for the speech segment, the
    companies that sent in experts from within their ranks to tutor the team
    members, and the major national corporations that underwrote
    scholarships for the winners.
        These businesses believe that each of us can play a pivotal role in
    our kids' educational future. This amazing bond between industry and
    individual is the keystone of the American spirit. That spirit is the
    basis of the decathlon. And it's exactly what we must bring to America
    2000. You've proven--and now we'll all act to continue to prove--that
    together we can do great things, great things that will help inspire
    others, great things like what's been done at the decathlon by kids like
    DC's Banneker High's Che-Wah Lee. Che-Wah Lee won the speech gold medal
    telling how his parents fled China so their children could know the
    American dream. Great things done by kids like Christine Liu here at
    Pearce High, the overall top student in the entire competition; by kids
    like Fred Klug, winner of the decathlon's 1990 Caperton Award for
    dedication to learning in the face of major obstacles. Fred is
    permanently paralyzed, and scored 100 percent on the Super Quiz.

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        And there are great things being done by teams like Thomas Jefferson
    High School of Science and Technology in Alexandria, Rookie of the Year
    winner. Teams like Whitney Young Magnet High School in inner-city
    Chicago, which won this year's bronze medal and became the model for
    other large urban schools. Teams like Tennessee's Jackson Christian
    School, State winner although it has just 100 kids in the whole school.
        Abraham Lincoln said, ``I will study and prepare myself, and someday
    my chance will come.'' You've done just that. And you've inspired your
    countrymen to do just that.
        Thank you, and congratulations. And may God bless you in the
    exciting futures out there ahead of you. Thank you very, very much.

                        Note: The President spoke at 11:37 a.m. in the Rose
                            Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he
                            referred to Ted Sanders, Under Secretary of
                            Education; Bob Suarez, vice president of the
                            U.S. Academic Decathlon; J.J. Pearce High School
                            team members Kevin Barenbalt, Dardy Chang,
                            Eugene Chen, Misty Karin, Christine Liu, Craig
                            Macaulay, Wade McIntyre, Amie vonBriesen, and
                            Frank Wilde, and coaches Dorcas Helmes and Linda
                            Berger; Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of
                            the U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf; Olympic
                            athletes Bruce Jenner, Rafer Johnson, and Jim
                            Thorpe; Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander;
                            and Academic Decathlon participants Che-Wah Lee
                            and Fred Klug.