On Tuesday, President Obama will address American children about the importance of staying in school and working hard.
Critics are calling it an effort to force Obama's agenda on children.
His address will be shown live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN at noon EDT.
Area school corporations have received calls both for and against students watching the speech.Warsaw Community Schools provided a press release this morning regarding Obama's speech.
The press release states WCS "always urges our staff to evaluate activities for their educational value before deciding to dedicate valuable instructional time to them. In regards to President Obama's speech on Sept. 8th, we told school leaders that we would arrange, at the system level, to record the message so that interested staff could watch the recorded message and assess whether or not it would make sense to use all or portions of it in an instructional setting - and if so, when and where to use it in the most meaningful way. We noted that the lesson plans offered through the U.S. Dept. of Education might help inform their decision and/or support their educational use of the address.
"Then, if teachers wish to show the president's message, they will notify parents/guardians in advance, allowing parents who do not want their child to view the speech during the school day to opt out by sending a signed note to school."
Whitko Superintendent Steve Classon said Whitko has left it up to the school buildings on whether or not to show the speech.
Classon said two Whitko schools were going to record it and show it at a later date if appropriate. At Whitko High School, teachers were told that if it fits into their curriculum, they can let students watch it if they desire. One of the elementary schools had only two teachers interested in showing the speech.
Classon said he's reviewed the curriculum sent to schools by the Department of Education on Obama's speech.
"It's good stuff," he said. "It's all about staying positive, staying in school."
No one told Triton School Corp. about the speech.
"We didn't know anything about it and I was really surprised," said Triton Superintendent Carl Hilling. He said he read about the speech, but as of Thursday, Triton did not receive anything about it or any curriculum to go with the speech.
As of this morning, Hilling said they have no plans to show it.
"If they sent something, I'd like to know when they sent it," he said.
Manchester Community School Superintendent Dr. Diana Showalter was not available this morning. However, Manchester High School Principal Nancy Alspaugh said right now Manchester is having a couple of technical issues that may affect the showing of the speech.
She said the speech is being broadcast from the White House Web site. Manchester had planned to take all the junior and senior high students interested in hearing the speech to the auditoriums, but there is a concern it may cause issues with the corporation's Internet bandwidth. Since it also will be shown on CSPAN, Alspaugh said, that might help Manchester show it to students.
"We'd like our students to hear the speech. We've had phone calls pro and con," Alspaugh said.
Manchester always offers students an option of going into a study hall if they don't want to participate in a school activity.
She said Manchester feels it is important to offer the students the opportunity to hear the president and leader of the country speak on why it is important to stay in school, study and work hard.
"I think most of our students will take the opportunity to hear the speech," she said.
Wawasee Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington said he heard about the speech about a week ago and knew it would be history making.
Edington said he understands that the president's message Tuesday will be without political policy and is just a message for students to work hard, complete their studies and stay in school. It's the same kind of message he received growing up.
He said Wawasee doesn't have a district-wide plan to show the speech. It is being left up to school principals and teachers how they want to handle it.
"The buildings will make their own plans," Edington said.
He said Wawasee did receive a couple of phone calls from parents who did not want their students to watch the American president's speech. Those students will be allowed to attend study hall.
Edington shared a quote from a kindergarten student about the speech. Edington said the student said, "My grandma said even if you didn't vote for someone, even if you don't like them, this is still the president and you need to respect them."
Some teachers may feel more comfortable in recording the speech, reviewing it and perhaps showing it at a later time, Edington said.
"Our teachers do a great job and walk that fine line between helping students understand broad issues and concepts without getting into the political weeds where you can have issues clogged up and not flow," said Edington.
Brett Boggs, Tippecanoe Valley superintendent, said when he received the information he forwarded it on to the school principals. He encouraged them to give students the opportunity to see the speech.
The message is really encouraging students to excel in school and to stay in school. That's a message that kids need to hear, Boggs said.
"It saddens me that it has become a political thing," said Boggs of the stay-in-school message.
Valley schools are not being mandated to show the speech, however, and it's being left up to the building principals.
"I think it's something our kids need to hear despite what your politics are," said Boggs. Obama is the U.S. president, the speech is historical and students need to hear the message.
Schools do not have to show the speech. According to the Associated Press, districts across the country have been inundated with phone calls from parents and are struggling to address the controversy that broke out after Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals urging schools to watch.
Some conservatives, driven by radio pundits and bloggers, are urging schools and parents to boycott the address, according to the AP. They say Obama is using the opportunity to promote a political agenda and is overstepping the boundaries of federal involvement in schools.
The White House plans to release the speech online Monday so parents can read it. He will deliver the speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.
President George H.W. Bush made a similar address to schools in 1991. Like Obama, Bush drew criticism, with Democrats accusing the Republican president of making the event into a campaign commercial, according to the AP.
Critics are particularly upset about lesson plans the administration created to accompany the speech. The lesson plans, available online, originally recommended having students 'write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.'
The White House revised the plans Wednesday to say students could 'write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.'
