[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[April 24, 2002]
[Pages 654-656]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the National Teacher of the Year Award Ceremony
April 24, 2002

    The President. Well, thank you, Rod. 
Thanks very much. I want to welcome you all to the White House and the 
spectacular Rose Garden. I'm a part of a proud tradition: For 25 years, 
American Presidents--for 50 years, American Presidents have been 
privileged to present the National Teacher of the Year Awards.
    This ceremony not only honors a single individual; this ceremony 
honors an entire profession. Teachers make extraordinary contributions 
to the communities in which they live and, therefore, make extraordinary 
contributions to our entire country. We give our teachers a great 
responsibility, to shape the minds and hopes of our children.

[[Page 655]]

We owe them our thanks and our praise and our support.
    I wish the First Lady would be here today. 
She is--she reminds me on a daily basis of the importance of being a 
teacher. When I married her, she was a public school librarian. She 
really didn't care for politics much--[laughter]--didn't particularly 
care for politicians. [Laughter] But I'm so glad she said yes when I 
asked her to marry me. She's a great First Lady and loves the idea of 
teaching, and one of her jobs is going to go around the country and 
remind people of the noble profession of teaching and encourage people 
to become teachers.
    I appreciate Secretary Rod Paige. I've 
known Rod a long time; we're fellow Texans. When I picked somebody to be 
the Secretary of Education, I didn't want some theorist; I wanted 
somebody that had actually been in the trenches, who understood the 
importance of public education and how to make it work. And I wanted 
somebody that had a passion to make sure that no child got left behind 
in America. And I found the right man in my friend Rod Paige, to be the 
Secretary of Education.
    Secretary Paige. Thank you.
    The President. I want to thank two Members of the United States 
Congress: Judd Gregg, with whom I worked closely 
on the education bill we passed--he's from the State of New Hampshire--
Todd Tiahrt from the State of Kansas. Thank you 
both for coming.
    I just had the honor of having my picture taken in the Oval Office 
with 57 teachers of the year, and it was joyous. It was great. I want to 
thank you all for coming. It seemed like some of you were just as 
excited as I was to welcome--[laughter]--but it's a great office, as you 
could see. It's such an honor to be in that office on a daily basis, 
just like I know you feel it's an honor to be in your classrooms on a 
daily basis. So congratulations; thanks so much for being a teacher; 
thanks for setting such a great example; and welcome.
    I also want to thank and congratulate our four finalists: Marian 
Galbraith, Henry Brown, Tracy Taylor Callard, 
and Chauncey Veatch. I'm going to say 
something about Chauncey a little later on.
    Before I do so, though, I want America to remember how important it 
is to have good teachers in our classrooms. Teachers help students to 
read and write and to think and to count. These skills are essential, 
yet teaching them is only a part of a teacher's work. A good teacher 
instills in their students a lifelong interest in learning. A good 
teacher gives young people a sense of their own possibilities, along 
with a respect for themselves and for others.
    To paraphrase Oliver Wendell Holmes, the greatest teacher makes 
others believe in greatness. And they leave a lasting mark on the lives 
around them. And that's why it's easy for me to say teaching is such a 
profound profession. Teachers are indispensable. We ask a lot from them, 
and teachers are right to expect a lot from us.
    I believe there is a role for the Federal Government in public 
education. It's--the role is to work with local folks to set the highest 
of high standards and to expect the best. It's to support people at the 
local level, with the full understanding that the best education 
emanates out of the classrooms, not from bureaucracies in Washington, 
DC. The role is to fund, which we do. And the role is to support our 
teachers through teacher training, retention, and recruitment, as well 
as to understand that simple things can matter to teachers a lot, like 
allowing for there to be a tax deduction for out-of-pocket expenses. 
We'll take the side of teachers as we work hard to provide a first-class 
education for every child--and we mean every child--in America.
    This year's National Teacher of the Year understands the need to 
make sure no child gets left behind. He's made extraordinary 
contributions to his students, two of whom are with us today. I'm so 
honored that both these gentlemen came from California all

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the way over here to Washington to honor a teacher. It says a lot about 
our honoree.
    This is a man who spent more than 25 years serving his country in 
the United States Army. Colonel Veatch, 
after serving the Army, turned to teaching over a decade ago. He now 
teaches social studies at Coachella Valley High in Thermal, California, 
where the overwhelming number of his students come from migrant 
families.
    Chauncey Veatch is known as a kind and 
courteous, a tireless worker, a team player, a man who has transformed 
the school in which he works and the community in which he lives. Nearly 
all of the students at Coachella Valley High School are Hispanic. Y por 
eso, Mr. Veatch habla espanol. [Laughter] He speaks Spanish. He uses the 
language to communicate with his students and to show respect for a 
culture. He's involved in many after-school programs and community 
events. In short, he's changed a lot of lives for the better.
    Through Chauncey Veatch's efforts, 
students long considered discipline problems started showing up on the 
honor roll. A teen with a learning disability who read at the elementary 
school level became an active participant in class. Boys dropped out of 
gangs to join the Cadet Corps, the student campus security force that he 
helped organize.
    One migrant student at the high school had to work with his family 
until November, but Mr. Veatch saved him a 
place in his class and then spent hours with the student helping him 
catch up. According to this young man, ``Mr. Veatch does this for all of 
his migrant students.'' No child will be left behind.
    Mr. Veatch's former principal, Rick 
Alvarez, has paid this tribute to him. 
``Believing our students can succeed,'' Rick says, ``is not a desire or 
a facade but is actually something Chauncey lives. This caring can be 
seen in his eyes and heard in his voice and felt in his presence and 
mostly seen in his actions.''
    Chauncey Veatch says his mission as a 
teacher is to be ``a dream maker for my students, not a dream breaker.'' 
He understands that parents of every background share the same dreams 
for their children, dreams of improvement and independence and hope. 
``To dream is to be filled with hope,'' he says, ``I know this because I 
see the faces of hope daily.''
    We want all our schools and all our teachers and principals to look 
at our children and see the faces of hope. And that's exactly what the 
teachers we honor today have done, on a daily basis.
    Mr. Veatch, for teaching is not just a 
career; it is a high calling; it's a form of service to children and to 
a nation he loves. He has served both the children and our country 
extraordinarily well, and it is my honor to present Chauncey Veatch the 
National Teacher of the Year Award. Congratulations.

Note: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Rick Alvarez, assistant 
superintendent of administrative services, Coachella Valley Unified 
School District.