First Lady Michelle Obama joined U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to launch the fifth annual back-to-school bus tour Monday in Atlanta. This year’s “Partners in Progress” trip will include stops in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, (see map) highlighting the states' commitment to encourage reform and innovation and help all students achieve success. Traveling through places that represent the cradle of America’s civil rights effort, the tour places a focus on important work that is closing gaps of opportunity many young Americans face. Secretary Duncan will also showcase the investments the Department has made in each state and discuss initiatives such as Investing in Innovation (i3), Race to the Top state grants, Preschool for All, College Access and My Brother’s Keeper that are aimed at improving outcomes for students.
On Monday Secretary Duncan’s day hosted a roundtable with students at Spelman College to spotlight the importance of teacher recruitment. Teachers are needed at all K-12 levels, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Afterwards Mrs. Obama joined Secretary Duncan atBooker T. Washington High School – which opened in 1924 as the first public high school for African-Americans in Georgia that includes Dr. Martin L. King Jr. among its graduates. Mrs. Obama and Secretary Duncan delivered remarks at a “Prep Rally” in the high school’s gymnasium as part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative, which aims to increase college access and opportunity for all students. Reach Higher focuses on the importance of pursuing and completing some form of higher education and encourages students to do their part to answer the President’s call to ensure that by the year 2020, America once again has the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
Secretary Duncan will then travel to Carrollton, Georgia to showcase the Southwire Company’s 12 for Life program. Southwire, North America’s leading manufacturer of wire and cable used in the transmission of electricity, has joined with the Carroll County School System to place at-risk students in jobs at Southwire, allowing them to earn wages while working toward a diploma.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will then proceed on to Alabama and Tennessee on Tuesday, Sept. 9, where he will visit Birmingham, Huntsville and Chattanooga. The Secretary will discuss President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative in Birmingham and then highlight the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in Huntsville. In Chattanooga he will spotlight the importance of high-quality early learning opportunities in young children’s educational development.
Secretary Duncan will participate with U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, Birmingham Mayor William Bell, young men and women from local high schools and community members in a My Brother’s Keeper Roundtable Discussion at John Herbert Phillips Academy in Birmingham, Alabama. Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell, director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Education will moderate the discussion.
Secretary Duncan will also visit the NASA Davidson Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base, in Huntsville, Alabama for a Space Camp tour and a STEM Education Town Hall.
On Wednesday, Secretary Duncan will conclude the tour in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with an event at the Chambliss Center for Children.
He will then host an “Early Learning Town Hall” in the center’s gymnasium, exchanging ideas with about 100 parents, teachers and stakeholders on what works in effective early learning programs.
As part of the "Partners in Progress" tour, senior Department officials will hold additional events highlighting the Obama administration's work to increase access and opportunity for students.
Preceding Secretary Duncan’s visit on Monday, Sept. 8, David Johns, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans will visit Memphis, Tennessee for a rally and panel discussion at Shelby County Schools Frances E. Coe Auditorium.
Also on Monday, Libby Doggett, deputy assistant secretary of education for policy and early learning, will join a roundtable discussion on pre-kindergarten education at the Normal Park Museum Magnet School - Lower School Campus in Chattanooga. On Tuesday, she will visit the Siskin Children's Institute, followed by a tour of the Creative Discovery Museum, both in Chattanooga. Later she will participate in an early learning roundtable at the Chambliss Center.
Meanwhile, Johan E. Uvin, acting assistant secretary in the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education, will tour the Carroll County Career Academy on Monday in Carollton, Georgia. On Tuesday he will visit the Volkswagen Academy in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Afterwards, he will tour the Chattanooga State Technical Community College’s Wacker Institute. On Wednesday, he will visit Walker Valley High School in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Alejandra Ceja, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, will participate in a “Partners in Progress Promoting Education – Youth Town Hall” Wednesday at Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Georgia.
In addition, Jill Levine, principal at Normal Park Museum Magnet School in Chattanooga and a U.S. Department of Education principal ambassador fellow, will participate in a teacher leadership roundtable at the Public Education Foundation in Chattanooga.
This is the fifth back-to-school bus tour for Secretary Duncan. Last year, the tour traveled throughout the Southwest. In 2012, the Department’s tour went coast to coast; in 2011, the tour rolled through the Midwest; and in 2010, Duncan and his team visited the South and the Northeast.
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