Obama's words lift audience at a troubled school

[The Straight Story]

Obama's words lift audience at a troubled school

January 21, 2009 | 9:00 AM

At Harper High School in Englewood, yesterday began like any other day.

A Dr. Pepper delivery truck hummed in the parking lot.

Teenagers trudged through slush to make the eight o’clock bell.

And Kenyatta Stansberry Butler, the school’s principal, made her morning stop at McDonald’s.

Of course, the day was anything but normal for this young, African American principal, her almost entirely black student body and the rest of America.

“I think everybody is just excited. It’s a different kind of feeling in the building today. It is,” said Stansberry Butler.

During a morning computer class, seniors wrote letters to incoming President Barack Obama, as CNN’s pre-inaugural coverage played on a large overhead screen.

"I have lived in Chicago the Englewood community my whole life and hope someday become a carpenter," wrote senior Stephen Reed. "You have inspiration to me because you let me see that anything is possible for a black man living on the south side of Chicago."




http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/Obamas_wor...

[Fireweed247]

1. Thanks for posting this!

This story made me cry. This might just be the most important thing that Obama does for our nation, inspire the youth!