PALM SPRINGS MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATOR NAMED SECME NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Dawn DeWitt, Science Teacher, and SECME Coordinator and Department Instructional Leader at Palm Springs Middle School has been named the 2013 SECME National Teacher of the Year. Each year SECME, Inc. (formerly the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering) recognizes outstanding K-12 educators who have demonstrated leadership ability in advancing student development and outcomes in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Bruce Wear (SECME Coordinator SDPBC), Dawn DeWitt (SECME Teacher of the Year), Michele Williams (Executive Director, SECME National), Sandra Jinks (Principal, Palm Springs Middle School) Back row; Charles Tharp (Ms. DeWitt’s husband and engineering volunteer)

In honoring Ms. DeWitt, SECME noted,”The SECME National 2013 Teacher of the Year demonstrated exemplary accomplishments in building and sustaining a successful SECME school program through creative and enriching curricular and extracurricular activities, thereby increasing the number of historically under-represented students who are interested in, and academically prepared for, studies in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).”

Bruce L. Wear, Palm Beach County District STEM/SECME Coordinator wrote in his nomination letter, “In her capacity as a SECME Coordinator, I have seen Ms. DeWitt work tirelessly with her own students spending countless hours after school and even on Saturdays leading them towards excellence.  She constantly shares her knowledge and experience with others on a frequent basis.  She runs several of our Saturday Mousetrap and Bridge/Truss Seminars for the benefit of other members of our SECME “family”.  Dawn brings not only her enthusiasm but also her deep felt desire to raise all students problem solving abilities.”

Richard McCombs from Statesboro High School in Georgia was named SECME Co-Teacher of the Year with Ms. DeWitt.  The 2013 SECME National Co-Teachers of the Year will be recognized on June 22 at an “Evening of Elegance” celebration sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation to be held during the 37th Annual SECME Summer Institute, hosted this year by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, from June 16-23, 2013

For more information please contact Bruce Wear at bruce.wear@palmbeachschools.org.

2013 SECME Teachers of the Year have Roots in Palm Beach County, FL

SECME, Inc. (formerly the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering) has selected Dawn DeWitt from Palm Springs Community Middle School in Palm Beach County, Florida, and Richard McCombs from Statesboro High School in Statesboro, GA as the 2013 SECME National Co-Teachers of the Year.

McCombs and DeWitt will be recognized June 22, at an “Evening of Elegance” celebration sponsored by ExxonMobil to be held during the 37th Annual SECME Summer Institute, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, June 16-23.

McCombs was surprised with the announcement Wednesday afternoon during the school’s weekly faculty meeting by SECME representatives from the Georgia Institute of Technology via Internet, Bulloch County Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson, SHS Principal Marty Waters and members of the SHS staff. “I thought this was an announcement about Georgia Southern becoming the 44th SECME member university in the nation,” McCombs said. “I couldn’t do this without all of you,” McCombs expressed to his faculty peers.

According to a statement released by SECME (formerly the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering), the two outstanding educators were selected from a pool of nominees based on submission of extensive portfolios that were adjudicated by a panel of educator and community leaders. SECME also stated that the co-winners “demonstrated exemplary accomplishments in building and/or sustaining a successful SECME school program through creative and enriching curricular/extracurricular activities, thereby increasing the number of historically under-represented students who are interested in, and academically prepared for, studies in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).”

"IM" IS OUT - THINK IT'S POSSIBLE! Hawks Fly 2nd Place Finish

THINK IT'S imPOSSIBLE? THINK sySTEMatically. THINK SECME! Seminole Ridge SECME takes second place during district engineering Olympiad

Seminole Ridge SECME is the winner of five trophies and ribbons at the 2013 SECME Olympiad engineering competition, including second place overall for Palm Beach County! Teams from sixteen high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 23, 2013. Students squared off in competition to race mousetrap powered model cars, launch model rockets, build and break model balsa wood bridges; in general knowledge games during the "Brain Bowl"; and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, banners, and posters.

(Photo: the SRHS SECME team; front row, L-R: Mr. Ed Batchelor and Mr. Erich Landstrom; back row: Nicholas Smith, Kimberly Smith, Kyle Reilly, Patrick Dickson, Kyle Whirlow, Victoria Simmons, James Carter, Cody Summerlin, Jarrett Rimel, and Sam Smith.)

The competition of cogitators was fierce. And the Hawks soared high: honorable mention - balsawood bridge; second place - banner; second place - water rocket (Team Seniors); first place - water rocket (Team Osprey); second place overall in the entire district! Coaches Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, the school SECME coordinators, and principal James Campbell congratulate the Hawks on their awesome achievements.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team competing at Santaluces High School for the 2013 Palm Beach County School District SECME Olympiad on Saturday, February 23, 2013)

20130213 SDPBC SECME Olympiad

Elementary Students Building Bridges, Bottle Rockets and More In 2013 SECME Olympiad

Nearly seven hundred students from 51 schools recently participated in the 2013 Palm Beach County SECME Elementary Olympiad at Santaluces High School.  SECME’s mission is to increase the pool of historically under-represented and under-served students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce.

Overall District Winners:

• Honorable Mention:    Galaxy Elementary
• Third Place:                 Timber Trace Elementary   
• Second Place:              Del Prado Elementary
• First Place:                  Roosevelt Elementary School

The following schools placed in individual events:

2012 Dwyer Award Winner SECME Coordinator Victoria Stedt

Wellington Teacher Honored With Dwyer Award

Equestrian Trails Elementary School teacher Victoria Stedt with some of her SECME Club students at an event last year.

SECME Awards Banquet on Sun., May 6, 2012

The Annual SECME Celebration of Achievement Awards will take place on Sunday, May 6, 2012 from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca
Center (click here for directions). This gala event honors this year’s Achievement Award recipients and celebrates the past year’s accomplishments. It includes student and coordinator awards, SECME Scholarship Awards, and a very dynamic guest speaker. It is not too late to get your reservations in for this great event. Price is $30.00 per person and make checks out to FAU SECME Foundation and mail it to Hazen and Sawyer, 7th Floor, North Tower, 4000 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, Fl. 33021

The following Seminole SECME participants are nominated for exceptional performance:
• SECME Student of the Year: Caitlin Miller
• Outstanding Student of the Year: Sam Smith

SECME Announces 2012 Summer Institute Location and Date

SECME 2012 Annual Summer Institute
June 24 - July 1
hosted by The University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa!

sunday june 24
check-in for Summer Institute Experience: K-12 Professional Development through july 1

tuesday june 26
check-in for SECME National Competition Student Teams through june 29

wednesday june 27
check-in for STEM Pipeline Diversity Summit through july 1

thursday june 28
SECME National Student Competition Day and Celebration of Student Success!

friday june 29
Rock 'n Roll Tide Mixer and Dinner

saturday june 30
Summit Pipeline Keynote and Plenary and
Evening of Elegance Teacher of the Year Celebration

sunday july 1
all institute check-out

PLAN IT – BUILD IT – LIVE IT – WIN IT!

PLAN IT – BUILD IT – LIVE IT – WIN IT! Seminole Ridge Hawks take third place during district engineering Olympiad

Seminole Ridge SECME is the winner of six trophies and ribbons at the 2012 SECME Olympiad engineering competition, including third place overall for Palm Beach County! Teams from fifteen high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 25, 2012. Students squared off in competition to race mousetrap powered model cars, launch model rockets, build and break model balsa wood bridges; in general knowledge games during the "Brain Bowl"; and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, banners, and posters.
Seminole SECME takes 3rd place in 2012 Olympiad
The competition of cogitators was fierce. And the Hawks soared high: honorable mention - brain bowl; honorable mention - mousetrap powered vehicle; second place - water rocket; second place - poster; first place - banner; third place overall in the entire district! Coaches Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, the school SECME coordinators, and principal James Campbell congratulate the Hawks on their awesome achievements.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team competing at Santaluces High School for the 2012 Palm Beach County School District SECME Olympiad on Saturday, February 26, 2012)

20120225 SDPBC Secondary SECME Olympiad

FPL Engineer Shares Love of Engineering with Under-Served Youth

“It’s important to me to be able to give back to my community by promoting science and engineering fields to children who have limited exposure to them,” said FPL Production Assurance Engineer Melanie Roger. “If I can help get young children interested in the sciences and have a desire to enter into the field, than I feel as though I've been successful. We should all do our part in ensuring the success of our future leaders.”
Juno Beach, FL, February 25, 2012 — Florida Power & Light's Melanie Roger has a passion for her profession.

Hundreds Of Students To Compete In Upcoming SECME Olympiads

The competition will be intense when students from 55 elementary schools, 20 middle schools, and 15 high schools participate in one of two Palm Beach County SECME District Olympiads scheduled for February.

SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Enrichment) is a national organization with the goal of increasing the pool of students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce.

The Elementary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, February 11, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Santaluces High School.

The Secondary SECME District Olympiad will be held Saturday, February 25, from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Santaluces High School.

During each of the Olympiads, students will participate in a variety of competitions which will include bridges, mousetrap cars, water rockets, Brain Bowl, essays, poems, banners, and posters. The theme for this year’s SECME program is “Plan It٠Build It٠Live It!”. The winning entries in the essay and mousetrap car competitions will advance to the SECME National Student Competition which will be held in late June, at The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa.

Olympiad supporters include: Florida Atlantic University College of Engineering and Computer Science, Hazen and Sawyer, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, CH2M Hill, and FPL. Florida Atlantic University awards up to 25 four-year scholarships each year to qualified SECME students. SECME participation has been credited for encouraging career and occupational selections, stimulating college and university visitations, as well as establishing mentoring and internship programs for students with area businesses.

Bruce Wear, SECME district coordinator, says the competitions develop high-level thinking and problem-solving skills. “SECME is an excellent program that provides students with opportunities to apply “hands on” problem solving techniques to real engineering challenges. They get to design, test, re-design, and re-test until they produce a working model – pretty much the same way engineers do their jobs.”

For further information please contact Bruce Wear, 561- 357-1125 or email bruce.wear@palmbeachschools.org.

Adopt-A-Classroom and Wells Fargo Get Into The Holiday Spirit Helping Classrooms

At this Holiday Season, a generous partnership is putting much needed dollars into the classroom. The School District has partnered with Adopt-A-Classroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, in efforts to increase community support and donations for local classrooms. Wells Fargo is sponsoring the campaign in challenge and matching grant dollars. Thanks to the generous donation, Wells Fargo has helped raise over $125,000 for Palm Beach County schools, providing for much needed materials and supplies in the classroom.

Adopt-A-Classroom is the nation’s only nonprofit organization that enables donors to identify and make a donation to a specific classroom. Donations are tax deductible and teachers receive 100% of funds donated. Teachers have full discretion to budget the expenditure and purchase classroom materials that meet their students’ specific needs. The best part is that donors get to see exactly what the teacher purchased.

Grassy Waters Elementary School in West Palm Beach was recently awarded one of the Wells Fargo $5,000 Challenge grants. According to Grassy Waters Principal Amy Wilkinson, “Adopt-A-Classroom and Wells Fargo have been extremely beneficial to all our teachers and students. It’s enabled the teachers to get many of the materials and supplies that they need to become better teachers and our students love the new supplies.” Lisa Park, Senior Relationship Manager, Wells Fargo At Work believes, “The Adopt-A-Classroom program has been tremendous. What a gift to see how we have been able to help the classrooms, and most importantly get the extra school supplies and all the things students need to be more successful in their day-to-day endeavors in school.”

Since 1998, Adopt-A-Classroom has raised more than $16 million on behalf of classrooms, impacting more than one million students in the United States. “Anyone can easily make a difference for a teacher and a classroom of children by using our program to make a donation,” said James Rosenberg, Founder and Executive Director of Adopt-A-Classroom. “There is no easier way to donate to a classroom in such a transparent and accountable way. We are thrilled to partner with the School District of Palm Beach County in order to bring much-needed funds into classrooms.”

“Wells Fargo invests in building strong communities, and our matching grant to Adopt-A-Classroom goes right to the source: the classrooms where our teachers teach and where our children learn,” said Frank Newman, Wells Fargo’s regional president for South Florida. “At a time when county funds are being scaled back, we need to contribute to public education and inspire others to do the same.”

To make a donation to Seminole Ridge SECME, go to http://www.tinyurl.com/AdoptSeminoleSECME and click on Donate $ button to give $2, $20, or $200. Donations can be made by credit card or check.

About The School District of Palm Beach County
The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida, is the eleventh largest in the nation and the fifth largest in the state of Florida with 187 schools, serving 174,000 students who speak 141 languages/dialects. The School District has 21,361 employees including 12,480 teachers. Over 37,000 community volunteers provide academic assistance to students through the Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) Program. Additionally, approximately 1,000 business partners offer resources to support increased student achievement. For more information please visit www.palmbeachschools.org .

About Adopt-A-Classroom
Adopt-A-Classroom is a national, award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting classroom teachers and ensuring all children have equal access to a quality education. Since 1998, the organization has raised over $16 million on behalf of classrooms across America. Donations are tax-deductible and 100% is passed through to the teacher. Teachers have the ability to purchase resources that create a more engaging learning environment and also provide valuable new ways to inspire children about the wonders of learning. To support a classroom, visit www.adoptaclassroom.org .
About Wells Fargo Foundation
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. We want to help all of our customers succeed financially and create long-term economic growth and quality of life for everyone in our communities. In 2010, the Company invested a record $219 million in grants in 19,000 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.3 million volunteer hours around the country. For more information, please visit: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr.

Adopt A Classroom

Dear Seminole SECME supporter,

Did you know that teachers’ access to and use of hands-on learning resources in the classroom is the single most important teacher input factor toward student success?

Did you know that teachers spend an average of $1,200 of their own money each year purchasing resources and materials for the classroom?

Attached please find information about Adopt-A-Classroom. The program enables individuals and businesses like you to help teachers like me succeed in the classroom.

- 100% of the donation is provided to the teacher in an online account.
- Adopt-A-Classroom takes $0 for administration.
- All donations are tax-deductible.
- No donation is too small. Any amount helps.
- You receive Impact Reports that show exactly how the teacher spends the money, so it’s fully accountable and transparent.
- You receive direct feedback from the teacher so you can experience first hand the impact you have made.

You can learn more about our Adopt-A-Classroom program by visiting its website at www.adoptaclassroom.org.

This is a great opportunity to get involved. As we all know, children learn best when the community works together toward helping students reach their highest potential.

Sincerely,
Erich Landstrom
2010 SECME National Teacher of the Year

SECME: Plan it, Build it, Live it!

T-1 day until SECME Summer Institute

Seminole SECME wins silver

2nd place overall Olympiads in the district!
Seminole Ridge SECME won four trophies at the 2011 SECME regional Olympiad, including second place overall for the county! Teams from twenty high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Students squared off in racing mousetrap powered model cars, launch model rockets, build and break balsa wood bridges; in general knowledge games during the "Brain Bowl"; and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, banners, and posters.

The competition of cogitators was fierce, but the Hawks, those gladiators of grey matter, came in third in the poster competition, second in the water bottle rocket competition, and first in the banner competition. This put overall Olympiad performance second in the entire district! Principal Lynne McGee, and Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, the school SECME coordinators, congratulate the Hawks on their awesome achievements! Team captain Cindy Dosch commented “Proud of you guys! We did awesome against all odds.” Freshman Sam Smith posted “Today, those months of work on that mousetrap car came into fruition, and the hard work showed. It destroyed the competition without a problem, and couldn’t have done better on the test run. Even though it didn’t place, and we have our suspicions as to why it didn’t, I’m proud of Murphy’s Law, because it has overcome every one of the obstacles it was presented with.”

2011 Seminole SECME Olympiad

POSTER: Students create posters based on the Olympiad's theme “SECME: STEMulating Minds”
• Third Place: Seminole Ridge

Poster, 3rd place: senior Brie Codner Poster, 3rd place: senior Brie Codner

BANNER: Students create banners based on the Olympiad's theme. Banners must contain the school mascot and SECME logo.
• First Place: Seminole Ridge

WATER ROCKET: Students build a model rocket around a standard 2 liter soda bottle. All teams must have: rocket (constructed and launch-ready); design drawing blueprint of rocket; technical report on rocket; and mission patch design. At the Olympiad, rockets will be "fueled" with 355 milliliters of water and 60 PSI of air pressure. The rocket with the greatest combined "hang time" airborne and score will be declared the winner
• Second Place: Seminole Ridge

Water bottle rocket, 2nd place: Chris Garrett (retired rocket engineer with Pratt & Whitney) Damian Coleman, Cindy Dosch

Water bottle rocket, 2nd place: Damian Coleman, Cindy Dosch

OVERALL HIGH SCHOOL PALM BEACH COUNTY CHAMPION:

• Second Place: Seminole Ridge High

• First Place: Suncoast High Seminole SECME - 2nd place Olympiad overall in the county!

MOUSETRAP CAR: Students build cars that are propelled by the spring of a mousetrap. All teams must have a mousetrap car (constructed and running), design drawing blueprint of mousetrap vehicle (MTV), technical report on MTV construction and operations. A combination of the scores from the race, the report, and the drawing is used to determine the winner.
Mousetrap Vehicle: Sam Smith and Cody Summerlin

Inspecting the Mousetrap Vehicle: (left to right) Sam Smith, Cody Summerlin, Dr. Thelma Jackson, and AJ Fandrey

BRAIN BOWL: Students compete against the clock and each other in a quiz show style contest filled with science and math questions.
left to right: Arnold Banner, Joe Pavicic, Yiro Shimabukuro, Robert Botkin



SECME is too serious to be taken seriously
SECME is too serious to be taken seriously
Seminole SECME Captain Cindy Dosch holding aloft our trophy
GO HAWKS!

Invitation to The SECME K-12 STEM Summer Institute Experience

The 35th Annual SECME Summer Institute K-12 STEM Summer Institute Experience

Experience STEM professional development the way you would design it!

• You want to experience the opportunities a national Institute has to offer.
  
• You want to experience the "best of the best" in their fields of expertise.
  
• You want to experience tested, hands-on, inquiry-based activities that you can use in your classroom.
  
• You want to experience innovative classroom activities that you can use while on a shoe-string (or no-string!) budget.
  
• You want to experience activities aligned to national standards.
  
• You want to experience time to network with like-minded, dynamic educators that have a passion for getting kids excited about STEM.

SECME: STEMulating Minds!
You would design your professional development to experience all this... and more. SECME listened – This year's Summer Institute theme says it all. Join us for the only professional development Institute dedicated to bring K-12 educators, university faculty, and industry and government experts together with a focus on "learning and doing science, technology, engineering, and math."Are You

Interested in Attending?
Please take a moment to respond:
Yes, I would like to register now ** Please have your method of payment readily available when registering (Credit Card, PO Number, or Invoice – please specify who to invoice)

Yes, I want to attend, BUT... I need to speak with my administrator and I will respond later.

No, I will be unable to attend

View Event Website

Having trouble with the link? Simply copy and paste the entire address listed below into your web browser: http://guest.cvent.com/d/hwRKubM7DEGNwqTubl54Rw/bn51/P1/1Q?

Del Prado Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Glade View Elementary, and Beacon Cove Intermediate Take the Top Spots at the 2011 Palm Beach County SECME

Over five hundred students from 52 schools participated in the 2011 Palm Beach County SECME Elementary Olympiad on February 12 at Santaluces High School. The following schools were the overall district winners:
1st Del Prado Elementary School
2nd Roosevelt Elementary School
3rd Glade View Elementary School
4th Beacon Cove Intermediate School

Business Bash & Academy Open House 2010

Seminole SECME table at the Business Bash 2010
Academy Open House for the Class of 2022
Seminole Ridge High School hosted its annual Business Bash on Thursday, November 18 at the school campus. Business owners and community organizations will have the opportunity to learn how the school can support their business, and in turn, how businesses can support the school.
Senior Cindy Dosch explain how SECME is STEMulating Minds



The United States is struggling with a serious shortage of technology-based professionals, including engineers, scientists and mathematicians. SECME has proven to be highly successful in helping educationally disadvantaged students excel in math and science so they can become the technology-based professionals that America needs. Industry knows it can count on SECME for a well-trained STEM workforce.

Prospective students for the Class of 2015 could operate the VEX robot during the Academy Open House

The event began at 6 p.m. in the gymnasium with a tour of academy, academic, fine arts and athletic displays from the classes, clubs and sports. This was followed by an academy program presentation at 6:45 p.m. in the auditorium.

Coach Landstrom says: Join SECME! Get Smart! Have Fun! Win Prizes!

For more event information, contact academy coordinator John Walker at (561) 422-2600 or walkerjo[at]palmbeach[dot]k12[dot]fl[dot]us.

The Final "E" in SECME - EFFORT

The President's Back to School Speech: "Life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity, that all of us are different."

This afternoon the President gave his second annual back to school speech, this time in Philadelphia, PA, at at the Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School. He told students that while government would do its part to help provide access to a quality education, students still needed to take individual responsibility for their future.

He began by talking to them on the level about what they see in their daily lives, and what might be on their minds even beyond the dreaded end of summer vacation.

The President pledged that government at all levels, working with communities and families, would do its part to make it possible for students to get the best education. But he hammered home the point that the only people who could really make sure that happened were the students themselves, and harkened back to his own childhood:

I wasn’t always disciplined. I wasn’t always the best student when I was younger. I made my share of mistakes. I still remember a conversation I had with my mother in high school. I was kind of a goof-off. And I was about the age of some of the folks here. And my grades were slipping. I hadn’t started my college applications. I was acting, as my mother put it, sort of casual about my future. I was doing good enough. I was smart enough that I could kind of get by. But I wasn’t really applying myself.

And so I suspect this is a conversation that will sound familiar to some students and some parents here today. She decided to sit me down and said I had to change my attitude. My attitude was what I imagine every teenager’s attitude is when your parents have a conversation with you like that. I was like, you know, I don’t need to hear all this. I’m doing okay, I’m not flunking out.

So I started to say that, and she just cut me right off. She said, you can’t just sit around waiting for luck to see you through. She said, you can get into any school you want in the country if you just put in a little bit of effort. She gave me a hard look and she said, you remember what that’s like? Effort? (Laughter.) Some of you have had that conversation. (Laughter.) And it was pretty jolting hearing my mother say that.

But eventually her words had the intended effect, because I got serious about my studies. And I started to make an effort in everything that I did. And I began to see my grades and my prospects improve.

And I know that if hard work could make the difference for me, then it can make a difference for all of you.

The President spent the last portion of his speech touching on the pressures almost all kids face growing up at some time or another, and challenged students to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

So, what I want to say to every kid, every young person -- what I want all of you -- if you take away one thing from my speech, I want you to take away the notion that life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity, that all of us are different. And we shouldn’t be embarrassed by the things that make us different. We should be proud of them, because it’s the thing that makes us different that makes us who we are, that makes us unique. And the strength and character of this country has always come from our ability to recognize -- no matter who we are, no matter where we come from, no matter what we look like, no matter what abilities we have -- to recognize ourselves in each other.

I was reminded of that idea the other day when I read a letter from Tamerria Robinson. She’s a 12-year-old girl in Georgia. And she told me about how hard she works and about all the community service she does with her brother. And she wrote, “I try to achieve my dreams and help others do the same.” “That,” she said, “is how the world should work.”

SECME Summer Institute Evaluation

SECME Summer Institute DAY SEVEN
Sometimes as a teacher, I am faced with a dozen different demands that pull me in a dozen different directions at the same time. By the end of the week, I am running on empty. SECME helps refuel me, and the summer institute is the refinary!

AUDIO: Jackson Brown "Running on Empty" - Live 2004