Science Fair Winners Should Be Just as Celebrated as the Super Bowl Winner – President Obama

President Obama is a brilliant orator. When I listened to his State of the Union last night, his comments about education, innovation and science, in particular, really hit home.

Nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science… however, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world’s best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any other place on Earth.

Sure, it’s easy for people to point how how our educational system has allowed our students’ basic understanding of science to slip in the rankings over the years, but there’s always hope through creative ideas, out of the box solutions and good old hard work.

What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That is why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

However, I believe the best part of the speech for me was the president’s remarks on how each one of us has the responsibility to help educate our children.

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don’t meet this test. That’s why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top. To all fifty states, we said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”

Last night’s message from the president encouraged me update some of the themes I share with audiences in the future. Thanks.