[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[April 23, 1991]
[Pages 418-420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Presentation of a Point of Light Award to the United 
States Naval Academy/Benjamin Banneker Honors Mathematics and Science 
Society Partnership in Annapolis, Maryland
April 23, 1991

    Thank you, Admiral Hill. And thank all of you. Thank you very, very 
much. I just can't tell you how pleased I am to be here. Let me salute 
our Secretary of Education from whom you've just heard, Lamar Alexander. 
We've outlined a program of revolution, if you will. We want to start 
from scratch and challenge every school in this country to do better, 
every State to do better. And we have an outstanding former Governor and 
outstanding educator as our Secretary, and we are very blessed. And I'm 
delighted he was here with me today.
    I want to thank Governor Schaefer, too, for pledging to have 
Maryland remain--and I use that word advisedly--remain in the forefront 
of this educational revolution. Under him the State has been innovative, 
and now he's pledged to be out front even further. And we're very 
grateful, Don, and thank you, sir, for that.
    I want to salute the mayor over here, thank him for the weather and 
thank him for greeting us when we arrived over here on the lacrosse 
field, or wherever the hell it was over here. [Laughter]
    And as for J.D. over here--when I saw him up here waving I said, 
we've got an election in '92, I've got to watch this guy. [Laughter] But 
there's a man of commitment. And I'll say a little more about him later 
on. But I'll tell you, I was impressed with what I saw here today, and 
delighted. And also, as one who a thousand years ago wore a naval 
uniform, I wanted to salute the midshipmen of the greatest Navy on the 
seven seas. You don't have to take my word for that. If you want a 
reference, go ask Saddam Hussein--if you can find him.
    And as for General Powell, he went to Yankee--I had a bad day 
opening the Rangers game. [Laughter] Got to throw out the first ball for 
the Rangers game, Milwaukee/Rangers, and I--curve ball, broke a little 
early, went into the ground. That's my side of the story, and I'm 
staying with it. [Laughter] And then a week later, hard, fast, right 
over the center of the plate, Colin Powell up in Yankee Stadium. 
Sergeant Powell will be reporting--[laughter]--to Nome, Alaska. 
[Laughter]

[[Page 419]]

    But I guess there was a lesson in this, because I saw it all through 
the war--able to throw it right over the plate, call them as he saw 
them, lead this great military to a victory that I think has made every 
American proud. Colin, we're grateful to you.
    And we're running a couple of minutes late. We wouldn't have been, 
but Colin and I and a couple others, Secretary Cheney, we just had lunch 
at the White House with General Norm Schwarzkopf. He hasn't had a good 
meal in a long time. You should have seen the guy eat. So, we're a 
little late. [Laughter] I'll tell you, we can't afford to invite him 
over there anymore. [Laughter]
    But now to the business at hand. Because like Colin and like Lamar 
Alexander, I was in those science labs, seeing some of these midshipmen 
and seeing these students from Banneker Honors Society. I heard about 
these projects--I'm a guy that dropped out after one day in physics at 
Yale. Literally--it's in the record. One day and I couldn't take it 
anymore. But here I was hearing these kids talking about satellite 
dishes or rockets or kind of splitting some kind of ray coming through a 
bunch of things. They were trying to tell me what it was. [Laughter] And 
I got to thinking, we are very grateful and very lucky.
    You know, the other day, as one who is computer-illiterate--and to 
answer Lamar Alexander's challenge that everybody, not just those in 
school but everybody out of school ought to learn a little something, 
too, and then share that--I pledged that I would learn to run a 
computer. I'm the guy that doesn't know how to play ``Super Mario 
Brothers'' yet. But I'm going to try hard. And yet, I saw these young 
kids, way in advance of all of that, not only with their computers but 
with their dedication to science.
    It's an honor to be here to celebrate that kind of spirit that I 
think means a bright future for the Navy. And I'm talking not just about 
the sacrifice of these midshipmen that help, but I'm talking about the 
spirit of these kids. This kind of spirit means a bright future for our 
nation, as Colin Powell said. The men and women of our Armed Forces who 
responded so brilliantly when the world needed them in the Persian Gulf 
are also quietly responding to the call to meet the challenges here at 
home.
    No challenge is more crucial than education. So, 2 years ago, as 
Lamar said, we met with the Nation's Governors, and together we set six 
national education goals for the year 2000. Last week, we announced a 
new national crusade to reinvent, literally, to reinvent the American 
school, with the help, though, of citizens, businesses, educators, 
communities, midshipmen--everyone. Secretary Lamar Alexander has put 
together this dynamic, exciting strategy, and we call it America 2000.
    The midshipmen here and the local community have set the kind of 
example that we would like to see duplicated all around the Nation. You 
understand that everyone in America has a crucial role to play in 
education--producing the kind of informed, enlightened public that gives 
power to democracy and gives us a leg up on the 21st century.
    That's why I am so pleased and proud to present our 437th daily 
Point of Light award to this outstanding educational partnership between 
the Benjamin Banneker Honors Math and Science Society and the United 
States Naval Academy.
    The midshipmen here are famous for their many quiet acts of 
community service. Today we salute this group of midshipmen who, with 
the professors here at Annapolis, have served for the last 3 years as 
tutors and mentors. They've helped kids from local schools begin 
discovering the real promise, the real potential.
    The midshipmen give up those precious few, precious free Saturdays 
to tutor young people in math and science and to take them to lunch in 
that friendly little dining hall, King Hall. You're helping kids learn 
math and science, but just as important, they get to see firsthand your 
discipline, your dignity, your determination--the kind of example that 
they need to succeed.
    The midshipmen here today are only half the story. This program 
would never have been launched without the parents determined to accept 
nothing less than excellence from their children. Let me offer my 
special thanks and congratulations to you parents, to the local schools 
who have been superb in cooperation, and especially to the

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man on my left over here who made this outstanding program happen--Mr. 
Joseph D. Speller--J.D. We need millions more like you, J.D.--people 
concerned about the condition of their communities and moved not just to 
complain about it but to do something about it.
    I'm proud to recognize this program during the Points of Light 
National Celebration, here on National Youth Service Day--a day when we 
shine the spotlight of national attention and praise on young people who 
make a difference in their communities through direct and consequential 
acts of service.
    These midshipmen in this program and in all of the Navy's community 
efforts--Academy's community efforts--are learning the true satisfaction 
that comes from serving others. They'll tell you they get far more from 
their relationship with these kids than they give.
    Midshipman Lionel Hines, for instance, who's suffering through being 
a plebe here, says, ``Helping these kids makes you feel like you're not 
so much of a nobody.'' Lionel, I'll be rooting for you and your 
classmates when you climb that big lard-covered pole next month.
    Before I go--and I really don't want to go back to work--I want to 
share a story that really embodies the spirit of our Points of Light 
celebration. Midshipman Paul Schimpf has been tutoring fourth-graders at 
school in Annapolis. Their teacher, Mrs. Young, wrote the commandant to 
describe Paul's impact on her children. The students rarely miss 
Tuesdays when ``their Mid'' comes to class. They dress better. And she 
writes, ``A funny thing has happened. After a major discussion of 
President Bush's Thousand Points of Light goal and Midshipman Schimps' 
example, my students now give up their Monday morning break to become 
`reading buddies' to one of the kindergarten classes in their own 
school. The Points of Light theory,'' she says, ``has become 
contagious.'' Well, if the spirit of community service really is 
contagious, I hope an epidemic breaks out all over America.
    To all of the midshipmen who've served their community and their 
country--to the parents and local leaders who've turned their concern 
for education into direct action--for all that you've been doing to help 
these promising youngsters, please accept the heartfelt thanks of this 
President and the entire Nation. I salute you as our 437th Point of 
Light.
    Thank you. Congratulations to each and every one of you. And may God 
bless the United States Navy. Thank you all very, very much.
    Now it is my pleasure to present Mr. Joseph D. Speller, representing 
the Honors Society, and Midshipman Alex Campbell, representing the 
Academy. Where is he? Here we go. The letter is designating their 
organizations as our 437th daily Point of Light.
    J.D., congratulations and thank you for what you're doing. And, 
Alex, congratulations to you. Good luck.

                    Note: The President spoke at 3:12 p.m. in Bancroft 
                        Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy. In his remarks, 
                        he referred to Virgil L. Hill, Jr., 
                        Superintendent of the Academy; Secretary of 
                        Education Lamar Alexander; Gov. William Donald 
                        Schaefer of Maryland; Alfred Hopkins, mayor of 
                        Annapolis; Joseph D. Speller, parent/sponsor of 
                        the U.S. Naval Academy/Benjamin Banneker Honors 
                        Mathematics and Science Society; President 
                        Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Gen. Colin L. Powell, 
                        Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary 
                        of Defense Dick Cheney; Gen. H. Norman 
                        Schwarzkopf, commander of the U.S. forces in the 
                        Persian Gulf; and midshipmen Lionel Hines, Paul 
                        Schimpf, and Scott A. Campbell.