President Obama Hosts First-Ever White House Student Film Festival

On Friday, President Obama hosted the first ever White House Student Film Festival, demonstrating the Administration’s commitment to bringing America’s classrooms into the 21^st century with high-speed internet and cutting-edge educational technology. The President recently set a goal of providing 99% of America’s students with these technologies, through placements in schools and libraries, by the year 2018.

At the film festival, the President recognized 16 of the nearly 2,500 films submitted by K-12 students in response to the White House’s call for videos showcasing the positive role technology plays in education.

Seventeen-year old Kira Bursky’s short film was one of the 16 selected by the White House to be featured at the festival. Her video, titled “Hello From Malaysia”, chronicles how Aiman, a young immigrant from Malaysia, uses technology both to share her culture and build connections with her new classmates.

Aiman’s journey to learn English, work hard in school, and build a new American life, reminds us of the immigration stories of individuals all across the country, including the struggles many immigrants face each day.

People from all around the world are drawn to the United States by a belief in the power of opportunity. Throughout the White House, there are similar stories of staffers and their families who through hard work and sacrifice came to the United States to pursue their version of the American dream. In fact, last year, the White House chronicled these immigrant stories, in this video.     

Aiman’s journey, reminded me of the story of my own childhood growing up in Chicago’s Little Village surrounded by hard-working immigrant families. Although every immigrant’s story is fiercely unique, one aspect holds true within us all: the power of an immigrant family to overcome adversity is strong.

Today, there are students, workers, entrepreneurs, faith leaders, families, and many others who want to help us write the next great chapter of the American story.  Passing commonsense immigration reform will enable many to do so – it is not only good for immigrants themselves but also for our economy. In fact, according to independent experts, the bipartisan Senate bill would reduce deficits and grow the economy by more than 5% or 1.4 trillion dollars by 2023. That’s why President Obama continues to urge Congress to take action on immigration reform this year.

America’s rich tradition as a nation that welcomes immigrants is in full display in Kira Bursky’s video and we were excited to feature her and many other young filmmakers today at the White House.

Jorge Neri is Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

"We Are All Our Brothers' Keepers"

Ed. note: This is cross-posted from United States Department of Justice.

Photo Courtesy of Department of Justice.

Last week I attended the President’s announcement of his new initiative, “My Brother’s Keeper,” a plan to make sure that every young man of color who is willing to work hard and play by the rules has the chance to reach his full potential.  The initiative is aimed at finding ways the federal government, community leaders, the private sector and philanthropies can create more opportunities for young men of color and send the message that our country is stronger when all Americans are doing well. 

A key goal of this effort is to address the overrepresentation of African American and Latino men in the criminal and juvenile justice systems and reduce the rates of violence and victimization that they experience. At the Office of Justice Programs we’re taking what we know about adolescent development and working to promote a juvenile justice system that is both effective and fair. 

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that African American young men between the ages of 16 and 19 have the highest rate of violent victimization of any race or age group.  For African American young men between 10 and 24, homicide is not only the leading cause of death, but it results in more deaths than the next four leading causes combined. Homicide is the second leading cause of death for Latino youth in the same age group. At the same time, the rates of arrest and incarceration for young men of color are disproportionately high. African American youth make up just 16 percent of the overall youth population but more than half of the juvenile population arrested for committing a violent crime. As the President said, “these statistics should break out hearts. And they should compel us to act.”

It is in our collective interest to recognize that the image many people of color have of our criminal justice system is that it is biased against their young men.  We need to simultaneously work to build trust and to end the violence that threatens so many of our youth. The reality is that no one wants to see these problems – not the families who live in these communities, and not the officers who keep the communities safe. The Justice Department’s COPS Office and Community Relations Service, for example, are striving to build trust and mutual respect and a stronger relationship between law enforcement officials and the neighborhoods they serve.  These programs work closely with law enforcement and human service agencies to identify these challenges and design effective solutions. 

At the Department of Justice we are engaged in a number of efforts to encourage and facilitate this collaboration. The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, which is led by the White House and involves the Justice Department and other federal agencies, brings all major community stakeholders together to develop strategies for addressing youth violence – citizens, community and faith-based groups, law enforcement, public health, businesses, and philanthropies.  Our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention also manages the Community-Based Violence Prevention Demonstration Program, which supports evidence-based violence reduction efforts that involve community residents in changing norms and helping their youth find a way to avoid crime and violence.  Through the Defending Childhood initiative, we are promoting early intervention programs designed to put kids who are exposed to violence back on the path to healthy development and steer and harmful behavior.  And we provide support for mentoring services that help children who have parents behind bars, and work to keep young people from entering the school-to-prison pipeline.

But the Department of Justice is only one part of the response.  The “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative will rely on the resources of the private sector and philanthropies  to use evidence-based solutions to strengthen and replicate programs that work, and reinforce to our young people the message that their country believes in them enough to invest in their success.

Working together, we can – and will – make a difference.

Karol V. Mason is the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs

Using STEM to Grow Strong Children

Dr. Reagan Flowers is being honored as an African American STEM Champion of Change.

My passion and drive for helping children learn and succeed runs deep.  As a child I failed the second grade and was, unfortunately, labeled a slow learner.  Since education wasn’t reinforced in my broken home I was simply promoted from one grade level to the next one without acquiring basic skills.  Subsequently, I was moved to a small town in Mississippi and attended a rural school where, for the first time, teachers invested in me personally and made me feel like I could achieve.  I was a fifth grader when I started that school, but I’d never learned to multiply.  With the support and guidance of several caring teachers I began to thrive as a student, and during my sixth grade school year I’d made the honor roll and was even becoming a math wiz!  Thus, my calling to help other children rise above their challenges began.

I started my career as a science teacher at Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas.  In an effort to give my students hands-on experiences with real world problems, I enrolled them in a national robotics competition. Those students, who were of mixed performance levels on campus, had no prior robotics experience nor had they been placed in such a competitive environment. My students were initially intimidated and doubtful about the competition.  However, the group outperformed everyone’s expectations. While their performance in the competition was encouraging, it was also very humbling because I saw first-hand the stark reality of the vast academic achievement gap between my students and their peers from other schools. This experience caused me to take up a new mission: closing the academic achievement gap.

In 2002, I founded C-STEM (Communication-Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) Teacher & Student Support Services, Inc, the first integrated Pre K through 12th grade STEM enrichment program in the nation.  The distinguishing factors of C-STEM Pedagogy and research model include: integrating communications (literacy) in STEM to ensure students can read, comprehend, write, and articulate solutions to math and science problems; implementing a curriculum influenced by STEM industries; developing a unique collaborative model that creates Pre K -12^th grade pipelines; supporting interdisciplinary teacher teams through training and supplemental workshops; providing schools with innovative STEM instructional tools and resources; and developing competitive environments that support high performance and accountability for both teachers and students. In implementing C-STEM I have found teachers to be more effective in the classroom with connecting state approved curriculum to the real-world, which allows students to think critically and problem-solve.  I find that C-STEM students are particularly drawn to the program because it helps them understand how STEM applies to their life and the world.

It is imperative that our schools remain leading authorities in STEM education worldwide.  To accomplish this, educators must have adequate training, funding, and partnerships that aid in their development and leadership.  This enables teachers to continue to inspire innovation, creativity, and exploration with their students.  In my efforts I’ve also recognized that economic development in STEM is instrumental to future innovations.  This is why my STEM approach provides support and services aimed at creating and sustaining STEM learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and level the playing field for the underserved and underrepresented.  Children cannot dream or become that which they have not been exposed to, which is why opportunities provided by C-STEM create unlimited possibilities in communities across the United States.

Since founding C-STEM Teacher and Student Support Services, Inc. in 2002, the organization has grown from 20 students working out of the janitor’s workspace in a school building to impacting over 100,000 students. I have great success stories of students impacted by C-STEM that have completed college, are currently working as STEM professionals, volunteer with C-STEM, train teachers, mentor students and donate to support the organization that supported them.  Their success and my triumph is proof that every student has potential and promise. At C-STEM, “Everyone is an Artist and an Engineer”. 

Dr. Reagan Flowers is the founder of C-STEM, the nation’s first integrated STEM enrichment program for Pre K through 12th grade.