President Obama's Back to School Remarks

In a back to school speech given Tuesday morning, September 8th, President Obama urged students to embrace activities such as debate in order to expand their potential.

The President remarked, "Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide. . . Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team."

This message comes at the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year, a year in which the NAUDL aims to build two new Urban Debate Leagues while adding 40 schools and 600 students across the country to the burgeoning urban debate network. Studies have shown that participation in high school competitive debate leagues can increase literacy scores by 25%, improve grade point averages by 8-10%, and produce college matriculation rates of 71-91% for urban students. We hope that urban debate helps all students reach their potential and discover their strengths.

Read the text of President Obama's Speech

Watch video of President Obama's speech below