The first day of school has traditionally been about sizing up your new teacher, meeting your new classmates, making some new friends, making mental notes on future crushes, and getting your brain ready again for ten months of learning.
Not anymore. For this year, the first day of school will be - like so much else since January - about Barack Obama:
PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DELIVER NATIONALLY BROADCAST ADDRESS TO STUDENTS ON SEPT. 8
The President will deliver a speech about the importance of persisting and succeeding in school on Sept. 8, the first day of school for many children across America... The speech will be broadcast live on www.whitehouse.gov at 1 p.m. EDT. The Department of Education has also asked a group of U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows to develop some suggested classroom activities around the speech to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives. The suggested classroom activities will be available on http://www.ed.gov/.
Ah, suggested classroom activities by the government? Like asking "How can we serve Dear Leader", perhaps?
No, really. I'm serious:
Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions...
Go to the link to see the suggested questions, such as "Are we able to do what Barack Obama is asking of us?"
Scary. Just the kind of thing a dynastic, charismatic ruler would do to initiate his nation's youth into his cult of personality. The type of ruler Barack Obama dreams of being. No Jefferson or Lincoln he....it's Che or the highway!
Meanwhile....maybe September 8th would be a good day for parents to have a discussion with their children about subjects, citizens, and what the president's role should be in the lives of his fellow Americans...
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