Showing posts with label First Lady. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First Lady. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
 |
| First Lady, Michelle Obama |
On Thursday April 17, 2014, USD 501 announced that the First Lady Michelle Obama was going to be speaking at commencement. We were also informed that seats would be limited to around 4 per student for families to come and that all commencements would be combined.
We are honored to have the First Lady speak at commencement and the student body was literally crying and jumping for joy when the news was announced and we are in no way shape or form ungrateful for what the Board has done for us.
There are problems that come with the combining of the commencements. First of all, for most families in 501, money is short and we have spent hundreds of dollars buying graduation announcements that are now incorrect. The district has stated they will not refund this. Topeka High School’s graduation on its own takes approximately two and a half hours. The combining of five high schools will increase that to about six hours. With increased security the total time will be brought up to eight hours. Secondly, families have many people coming from states away taking sick leave to see the graduation. They will come to Topeka, only to find that they cannot be involved. Those with divorced families have to choose which side of the family they want to invite, this doesn’t even include siblings.
This petition will go to the Board to keep graduation times the same and find a way for the speech to be given at all commencements, whether the First Lady is there in person or she has her speech recorded and replayed.
Source: www.change.org
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
Saturday, April 19, 2014
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — If expanding the guest list to include Michelle Obama at graduation for high school students in the Kansas capital city means fewer seats for friends and family, some students and their parents would prefer the first lady not attend.
A furor over what the Topeka school district considers an honor has erupted after plans were announced for Obama to address a combined graduation ceremony for five area high schools next month an 8,000-seat arena. For some, it was the prospect of a tight limit on the number of seats allotted to each graduate. For others, it was the notion that Obama's speech, tied to the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education outlawing segregation in schools, would overshadow the student's big day.
"I'm a single mother who has raised him for 18 years by myself," said Tina Hernandez, parent of Topeka High School senior Dauby Knight. "I've told him education is the only way out. This is one of the biggest days of their lives. They've taken the glory and shine from the children and put on Mrs. Obama. She doesn't know our kids."
Hernandez was among the parents and students who spoke Thursday at a school board meeting and urged district officials to reconsider their decision to invite Obama. Ron Harbaugh, spokesman for the Topeka school district, said Friday discussions were under way to work out the logistics and planning for the event, including how many tickets each family would be allotted.
"We will have a clearer picture of what's going on," Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh said officials asked the president or first lady to speak at graduation as a tie-in with the anniversary of the Brown decision, which outlawed school segregation. The district plans to place a priority on seating students and their families, and could broadcast the event to an overflow room at a hotel adjacent to the graduation arena for those unable to find a seat inside.
That's not good enough for Taylor Gifford, 18, who started an online petition Thursday evening to urge the district to reconsider its plans. She and the more than 1,200 people who had signed it expressed concern that Obama's visit would limit the seating options for family and friends.
"I really would like it to have a peaceful solution, but there is so much misinformation going on," Gifford said.
Gifford said her initial reaction to the news was excitement, saying she was "freaking out" about the prospect of the first lady speaking at graduation. When rumors of limited tickets surfaced, Gifford felt like the focus was being shifted from the students to Obama.
"People think it's a great opportunity, but it's the graduates' time. They are getting that diploma that they worked so hard for," Gifford said. "Families are feeling that they are being cheated out of the loved ones special day."
Read the full story: www.news.yahoo.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
Friday, April 18, 2014
 |
| Credit: sodahead.com |
By Radar Online.com, Apr. 18, 2014
Number 1 of 15: Last week, former staffer Reid Cherlin called Michelle’s office a “miserable place to work” in an essay for The New Republic, claiming there was an inappropriate focus on fashion and intra-office politicking instead of making real change. The White House said in a statement, “From day one, the First Lady ambitiously set out to make a measurable impact on the lives of everyday American families. The First Lady is laser-focused on moving the needle wherever and whenever possible.”
Number 2 of 15: After working on the 2008 Obama campaign, digital activist Scott Goodstein said he’d clashed with Mrs. O. “I got yelled at by Michelle Obama for creating ringtones,” he said. “‘Oh my god you’re turning him into a hip hop star’ [she yelled,] ‘Novelty cell-phone rings are not going to get anyone elected President!’ Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people were joining the mobile program to download ringtones.”
Number 3 of 15: In 2013, one heckler learned the hard way that Mrs. Obama will not back down from controversy. After an audience member yelled out during her speech, Obama snapped, “One of the things that i don’t do well is [deal with hecklers]. Do you understand me? Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.”
Read the full story: www.radaronline.com
Number 1 of 15: Last week, former staffer Reid Cherlin called Michelle’s office a “miserable place to work” in an essay for The New Republic, claiming there was an inappropriate focus on fashion and intra-office politicking instead of making real change. The White House said in a statement, “From day one, the First Lady ambitiously set out to make a measurable impact on the lives of everyday American families. The First Lady is laser-focused on moving the needle wherever and whenever possible.”
Number 2 of 15: After working on the 2008 Obama campaign, digital activist Scott Goodstein said he’d clashed with Mrs. O. “I got yelled at by Michelle Obama for creating ringtones,” he said. “‘Oh my god you’re turning him into a hip hop star’ [she yelled,] ‘Novelty cell-phone rings are not going to get anyone elected President!’ Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people were joining the mobile program to download ringtones.”
Number 3 of 15: In 2013, one heckler learned the hard way that Mrs. Obama will not back down from controversy. After an audience member yelled out during her speech, Obama snapped, “One of the things that i don’t do well is [deal with hecklers]. Do you understand me? Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.”
Read the full story: www.radaronline.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
Monday, April 7, 2014
By Elisabeth Herrington, Mar. 6, 2014, The Washington Times
New school lunch standards implemented as a result of First
Lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign have led to more than 1 million
children leaving the lunch line, according to a new report.
The Government
Accountability Office (GAO)
released a wide-ranging audit
of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act nutrition standards last week, finding 48
out of 50 states faced challenges complying with Mrs. Obama’s Healthy
Hunger-Free Kids Act.
The new standards led to kids throwing out their fruits and
vegetables, student boycotts, higher lunch costs, and odd food pairings such as
“cheese stick with shrimp” in order for schools to comply with the complicated
rules.
The National School Lunch Program saw a sharp decline in
participation once the healthy standards went into effect during the 2012-2013
school year. A total of 1,086,000 students stopped buying school lunch, after
participation had increased steadily for nearly a decade.
The report found that 321 districts left the National School
Lunch Program altogether, many of which cited the new standards as a factor.
The decline was “influenced by changes made to comply with
the new lunch content and nutrition standards,” state and local officials said.
Though the USDA has claimed the standards were “proving
popular,” the GAO
report cited numerous cases where kids are unhappy with their new menus.
Read the full story: www.washingtontimes.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Sunday, April 6, 2014
By Dave Urbanski, Apr. 5, 2014, The Blaze
First, about one million public school students said “no way” to their cafeteria menus after Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign led to anger and frustration over food that apparently many American kids didn’t want to stomach.
But for those without other options, all that’s left is the power of social media and cell phone cameras when they simply can’t take another bite:
See all the Tweets and photos: www.theblaze.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
At NPR’s food blog “The
Salt” on Tuesday, Eliza Barclay channeled the fat-shamers (with no
quote from Michelle Obama) who want the Girl Scouts to stop selling addictive
cookies. They don't make the world a better place.
Barclay pushed how “a few
brave voices argue it's no longer all that delightful to see little girls
peddling packaged cookies, or to buy them in the name of supporting the
community. (And no, this is not an April Fools' joke.)” It’s a public health
menace:
To some doctors and parents, the tradition
increasingly feels out of step with the uncomfortable public health realities
of our day.
"The problem is that selling high-fat sugar-laden cookies to
an increasingly calorie-addicted populace is no longer congruent with [the Girl
Scouts' aim to make the world a better place]." That's what John Mandrola,
a heart doctor in Louisville, Ky., wrote on his
blog in March. (He also blogs for Medscape/Cardiology.)
Read the full story: www.newsbusters.org
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
By David S. Joachim, Mar. 18, 2014, New York Times
WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama’s trip to China starting on Wednesday will be
nonpolitical, the White House says, a “people-to-people exchange” emphasizing
the importance that both nations place on education. As if to underscore the
point, no reporters are traveling with the first lady, and she does not plan to
give interviews while there.
But with the United States and
China locked in disagreements over trade, cyberweapons, territorial claims and,
as always, human rights — and with President Obama preparing to meet with
President Xi Jinping next week at a nuclear summit meeting — political
overtones will be almost impossible to avoid.
Read the full story: www.NYTimes.com
Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"LIke" Larry Elder on Facebook
