[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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