Their Hopes and Dreams: "Letters to Obama"
They may be too young to vote, but Melrose Leadership Academy's middle-school students are eager to make their voices heard.
National Public Radio's "California Report" gave them that chance this month, broadcasting several students' wishes and hopes for Barack Obama's presidency. Listen to "Letters to Obama" here! (You may need to to hear the piece.)
The kids' thoughtful agenda includes creating more jobs, spending more wisely, improving the environment, and of course giving our youth the best education possible, so that "people who work hard and want to go to college can go to college."
The students also speak of personal and collective responsibility. As one 6th-grader puts it, "America will change if we help Obama change, because he can't do it by himself." "We need to think smarter and make better decisions," states another student. "I can start by focusing more on my schoolwork."
Here again is the link to the broadcast. NPR also assembled a photo gallery of MLA's students. Check out the slideshow here."