[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 17 (Monday, May 5, 2008)]
[Pages 622-625]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 unseemly here in the Rose Garden. [Laughter] But 
it is a book where 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.
    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.
    * White House correction.
    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 
Chappalear, 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

[[Page 623]]

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.
    * White House correction.
    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 
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

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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] Like, you can sing it here in the Rose 
Garden if you want to. [Laughter]
    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 a 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

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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 Lisa, mother, Ken, father, 
Jennifer, wife, Aspen, son, and Johanna, daughter, of Michael Geisen, 
2008 National Teacher of the Year. The transcript released by the Office 
of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Mr. Geisen.