Third and fourth graders at Viers Mill Elementary School were delighted to receive a surprise visit from President Barack Obama during lunch on Monday, causing one student to declare today "the best day of my life - in school." Another student said he knew the president was coming "when we saw suits. And we saw police."
POTUS spent about 20 minutes making his way through the cafeteria, shaking hands and asking students what they were reading. He shared that "Where The Wild Things Are" was one of his favorite books growing up, and mentioned that he and his family had watched Spike Jonze's film adaptation over the weekend, saying "it's worth seeing."
*Scroll down for photos of their reactions, the pool report, and full remarks*
From the pool report:
Some snippets overheard from the president's chats with the students as he moved from table to table.
He asked each kid what he or she was reading. One kid said "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." The president said, "Sacha and Malia loved that. They think it is hilarious." When another kid responded "Goosebumps," he said a couple of other students had said that was good. "I haven't read it." Another said Harry Potter. The president said, "Malia and I read the Harry Potter books. We thought those were pretty good." As he left each table, the president said, "You guys keep on reading, alright?"
At one point, he noted that just yesterday he had seen Spike Jonze's movie adaptation of the classic children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are." The First Movie Critic said "That's a great book" and proclaimed of the movie, "It's worth seeing."
The kids were quite excited to see their famous visitor. One little girl, eight-year-old Maya, said, "This is the best day of my life - in school."
Clustered at another table squealing and jumping up and down were Christian Torres, Jaina Mosely, Katherine Blanco, Rosa Alvarado and Marta Rostran. All are 8 and all in the third grade. Christian, who kept covering his face with his hands and jumping up and down, said he knew the president was coming "when we saw suits. And we saw police." Jaina also was surprised to see all the police at school.
Full remarks:
For Immediate Release October 19, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO STUDENTS
Viers Mill Elementary School
Silver Spring, Maryland
11:30 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Here's the reason that I wanted to stop by for lunch today, and that is, I have heard great things about this school. I hear everybody here is reading all the time. Right? The motto here is?
PRINCIPAL DEVAN: Viers Mill, what's our goal?
STUDENTS: Read! Read! Read!
PRINCIPAL DEVAN: Viers Mill, what's our goal?
STUDENTS: Read! Read! Read!
PRINCIPAL DEVAN: Because great readers have?
STUDENTS: Great choices!
THE PRESIDENT: So you guys are readers. And so, being a reader myself, I wanted to come meet all these outstanding readers. Because you guys are reading so much and you're working so hard, you guys are doing great in terms of your test scores and how this school is doing. And so this was just a great example of how much improvement a school can make just in a really short time when you've got motivated kids.
So I wanted to come by and introduce myself, to say I'm very proud of you. I am hoping that you guys will continue to read, read, read, and that all of you are going to be really working hard not just this year but all the way through high school and then all the way through college, because how many people here plan to go to college? Everybody, right? I just wanted to make sure everybody's going to college. But that means everybody's going to have to work hard.
So here's what I'm going to do. I didn't want to give a long speech. What I'm going to do is I'm just going to come around, I'm going to shake people's hands, I'm going to say hi to folks, and I'm sure that somebody out there is going to be taking a bunch of pictures. (Laughter.) And you guys can tell me what you've been reading. All right? So get ready to tell me what you've been reading lately and what's going on. All right? Okay, guys.
END 11:32 A.M. EDT
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