[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[April 30, 2008]
[Pages 603-607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Honoring the 2008 National and State Teachers of the Year
April 30, 2008

    The President. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the White 
House. Welcome to the Rose Garden. We're walking out of the Oval Office, 
Mike turns to me and says, ``I like what 
you've done with the place.'' [Laughter] All I did was mow the lawn. 
[Laughter] Glad you're here.
    I'm really glad to be taking a part of an event that honors 
America's teachers. It's a tradition that started with Harry Truman. 
It's a tradition that Laura and I have really 
enjoyed carrying on. She's not here, unfortunately. She sends her best. 
You know, I like to tell people that, you know, one of the interesting 
questions you get in my line of work is, ``Can you name a teacher who 
had influenced you?'' I said, ``Yes, my wife.'' [Laughter]
    But she and Jenna are 
out promoting a new book that they wrote called ``Read All About It.'' 
I'm not suggesting that people buy it, of course. That would be un-
seemly here in the Rose Garden. [Laughter] But it is a book they're 
attempting to promote literacy. She sends her love. She understands what 
it means to be a teacher. We were so honored that our little girl chose 
to be a teacher as well. It made her dad feel really well. I'm sure--I 
just hope you know the influence you have on children. I suspect you do; 
that's why you're such a good teacher.
    Good teachers hear a call. Good teachers are empathetic souls. And 
really, the best teachers have a special intuition and, I suspect, a 
little potential, and so the ability to see potential and the ability to 
have the patience necessary to watch it grow. I want to thank you for 
nurturing young minds. I thank you for providing such wonderful 
examples. And I thank you for inspiring the imaginations and unleashing 
the talents of our Nation's young.
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    * White House correction.

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    I'm up here with not only the Teacher of the Year, but with Margaret Spellings, the Secretary of Education. I do want to welcome 
Senator Gordon Smith and Senator 
[Congressman] * Greg Walden. Turns out they're 
both from the State of Oregon. [Laughter] I wonder why you're here? But 
anyway, I'm glad you're here. Thank you for being strong supporters of 
the teachers in your State.
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    * White House correction.
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    I welcome the State Teachers of the Year. 
I really enjoyed seeing you in the Oval Office. It's fun for me to be 
able to greet you and say thank you. And I can't thank you enough for 
serving as such great role models for other teachers in your States. And 
we're sure glad you're here.
    I do want to thank the National Teacher of the Year finalist: Lewis 
Chappelear, who is with us--thank you, 
Lewis--from California; June Teisan, from 
Michigan; as well as Tommy Smigiel, from 
Virginia--that would be Norfolk, Virginia.
    I am obviously up here with the Teacher of the Year. I'll spend a little time talking about Michael in a 
minute, but I am so proud that his mom and 
dad have joined us, as is he. Thank you for 
coming. I know it brings you great pride to have raised a son who is 
dedicated to helping others. His wife is 
with us, for whom I'll say something else a little later; son and daughter is with us, as 
well as brother. Thanks for coming.
    Finally, we got Ken James, president-
elect, Council of the Chief State School Officers, who administers the 
Teacher of the Year program. Thanks for coming. And the rest of you are 
welcome here too. [Laughter]
    One of the things that Margaret and I 
have tried to do is help teachers be able to set high standards and 
achieve accountability. And that was the spirit behind passing No Child 
Left Behind Act. It basically--if you really think about the act, it, 
one, refuses to, what I used to call--still call--refuses to accept the 
soft bigotry of low expectations. I firmly believe that if you have low 
expectations, you'll achieve them. I believe that when you say to 
people, we want you to achieve high expectations, you really have got 
this great faith in the human potential. I also believe that if you're a 
teacher that you ought to welcome a law that says we trust you in your 
ability to set high expectations.
    And secondly, behind that law is a notion that we'd like at least to 
know whether or not people can read, write, and add and subtract. Good 
teachers understand that. As a matter of fact, the Teacher of the 
Year understands that, and I suspect you all 
do as well. I'm often told that the accountability system is a--is meant 
to punish. I don't think so. I think it's meant to diagnose and correct 
and reward. And you're Teachers of the Year because you've got kids in 
your classroom who are excelling. And the reason we know is because we 
measure.
    And so I want to thank you for being people willing to set high 
standards. Curiously enough, because we do measure, we have learned this 
fall that fourth graders and eighth [graders] * earned the highest math 
and reading scores in the history of our Nation's Report Card. That's a 
positive sign. Eighth graders set a record in math scores. In other 
words, because we are people who believe in accountability, we're 
beginning to get a sense for whether or not the achievement gap in 
America is closing. And it must close in order for this country to 
realize its full potential.
    We understand that there's been some tough, tough neighborhoods, but 
that should not be an excuse for mediocrity. And I know our 
Teachers of 
the Year 
understand that and are willing to challenge the status quo and expect 
the best. And so we appreciate very much your work. And we hope Congress 
would reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act. It's--and we're

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committed to working with Members of Congress to do it. The good news is 
the act doesn't go away without reauthorization; it still exists.
    And so what--last week, what Secretary Spellings did, because the act hasn't been reauthorized, is 
that she announced a package of reforms that the Department of Education 
is now implementing to improve the No Child Left Behind Act, reforms 
that support our teachers and provide help to struggling students.
    One thing about No Child is that when you find somebody struggling, 
it's important to get extra resources to help that child get up to speed 
now, before it's too late. The reforms are going to deal with--help 
schools deal with dropouts, increase accountability, and ensure that 
more students get the tutoring we want.
    And so I want to thank you, Margaret, 
for being a leader, realizing the situation needs to be constantly 
improved, and improving it. And I think you'll find these additional 
tools and these measures will help you, not hurt you, and make it easier 
to do your job.
    And I hope Senators in Congress--we don't give up on 
reauthorization. I understand it's an election year and sometimes things 
don't get done, but this is a brilliant, important piece of legislation. 
And I thank you all for supporting us the first round. And I hope we can 
work together on this round as well.
    One person who believes very strongly in the potential of each child 
is our Teacher of the Year, Michael Geisen, 
who happens to be from Prineville, Oregon. Before he entered teaching--
interesting enough, if you're from Prineville, one of the options for 
you is to be a forester. And he loves nature. He's an outdoors guy, and 
yet he really longed to be with his fellow citizens. There's no better 
way to do so than teaching. And so 7 years ago, after being a forester, 
he got in the classroom at Crook County Middle School.
    It was not an easy time for that school when he entered. Crook County had gone through five 
principals in 6 years. Students' test scores had flatlined. In other 
words, kind of, they were just maintaining, which is unacceptable. It's 
unacceptable to Michael; it should be unacceptable to everybody if we're 
just kind of maintaining.
    And so Mike saw his challenge, and he 
rose to it. You raised a good guy. Great teachers like Mike are 
optimists who believe in setting high standards. He believes that every 
child can learn if given a chance. And so when he became head of the 
science department, he created assessments for the students, and he put 
a system in place to measure results. That's what confident, optimistic 
people do; they say, ``I'm not afraid to measure.'' And if you believe 
every child can learn, then you want to assess to make sure they are.
    He knew the importance of parental 
involvement, so he created family-oriented school projects that would 
enlist moms and dads in their children's work. I suspect a lot of the 
Teachers of the Year understand how important that is, and that's why 
you're sitting out there. And he saw results. In his first 2 years as 
the department chair, the school State achievement scores in science 
rose from 55 percent to 72 percent, and they're still rising.
    Great teachers like Mike instill a love 
of learning in young people. And so he captivates his students. I told 
you about his humor, right? [Laughter] ``Did a fine job out here, 
President.'' [Laughter] Well, that--he takes that humor into the 
classroom.
    He also loves to use music in his 
classroom, and he has a hands-on science curriculum. So, like, on the 
music deal--so he turns to songs to get people to pay attention. One of 
the greatest hits he's used is about gravity. One I like was a blues 
song written from the perspective of a lonely bacterium. [Laughter] 
Mike, you can sing it here in the Rose Garden if you want to. [Laughter]

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    Michael Geisen. You got a band? 
[Laughter]
    The President. Yes, I probably suggest you don't. But--[laughter]--I 
tried to dance here one time, and it made a--[laughter]--it didn't work. 
[Laughter]
    But here's what one of his students said, ``Mike Geisen is such an awesome teacher''--actually called him Mr. 
Geisen--``[he's] an awesome teacher. He could make watching grass grow 
interesting.'' No wonder you're Teacher of the Year. One of his 
signature achievements is the annual science fair where the students 
create everything from electric cars to electric hotdog cookers. The 
fair culminates with what Mike calls ``a legendary evening of science, 
creativity, food, and wackiness.'' It's not what a lot of people think 
as a science class, to be frank with you, but nevertheless, it's a 
reason he's the Teacher of the Year.
    He's found innovative ways to use his 
innate humor and creativity to encourage students to take science 
seriously. And we need a lot of scientists in America.
    He also is a role model. You all are all 
role models. He teaches his students the--about the importance of 
service by demonstrating it in his own life. One of the things he's done 
is he's volunteered a lot of time to raise money for rock--for a rock-
climbing wall. He's an outdoorsman, as I told you. He strongly has a--
respects the environment. And he's a family man. He's a role model 
because he's a good family man.
    Jennifer is here--thank you for coming--
as is Aspen and Johanna. And as Mike says, he calls 
them his favorite teachers. Isn't that an interesting concept? They 
are--I know they're proud of their dad, as is his family, and so am I. 
And so we join the Geisen family in congratulating Mike on his well-
deserved recognition as the 2008 National Teacher of the Year. 
[Applause] Not yet--[applause]--maybe.
    I do want to say one final thing, and then we'll get Michael up here and let him give a speech. This is the last 
Teacher of the Year ceremony I get to do as President. And as I told 
you, I'm sorry Laura is not here, because she 
would share in this sentiment. This has really been one of the favorite 
events of ours during our time in Washington. You're probably just 
saying, of course, he says that to every event. [Laughter] It's always 
the favorite.
    Actually, this is a fabulous opportunity for us to thank our 
teachers, people who could be doing something else in life and have 
chosen to go in the classroom to lift somebody's life up, to make a 
difference in the future of the country.
    And so I know you know this: You represent teachers from all over 
America. So when I thank you, I'm teaching--I'm thanking teachers from 
all across our country. I appreciate you making our experience here in 
the White House a joyful experience. I thank you for making America a 
more hopeful place. And I ask God's blessings on your work and the work 
of teachers all across America.
    And now the Secretary and I will give 
Michael his award.

Note: The President spoke at 11:20 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Jennifer, wife, Lisa and Ken, 
parents, Aspen and Johanna, children, and David, brother, of 2008 
National Teacher of the Year Michael Geisen. The transcript released by 
the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Mr. 
Geisen.

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