Obama's Address to Schoolchildren

I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.

Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community.

You'll need the insights and critical-thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.

And I've talked about responsibility a lot.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending some time each day reading a book.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

So if you get into trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to act right.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities, unless you show up to those schools, unless you pay attention to those teachers, unless you listen to your parents and grandparents and other adults and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And my mother, she didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school, but she thought it was important for me to keep up with an American education.

And a lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table.

I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University -- is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to becoming Dr. Jazmin Perez.

You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

I am here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.

You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.

Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or the new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know it until you do your project for your science class.

But he never fell behind.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google and Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

And we've got students tuning in from all across America, from kindergarten through 12th grade.

They chose to take responsibility for their lives, for their education, and set goals for themselves.

It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous.

That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and you get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with the Xbox.

You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer?

Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods in the city, she managed to get a job at a local health care center, start a program to keep young people out of gangs, and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.