No one in Jahana’s family had gone to college. No one at home particularly encouraged education. She lived in a community full of poverty and violence, high crime and low expectations. And drugs were more accessible than degrees. As a teenager, Jahana became pregnant and wanted to drop out of school. But her teachers saw something. They saw something in her. And they gave her an even greater challenge, and that was to dream bigger and to imagine a better life. And they made her believe she was college material and that she had the special gift to improve not only her own condition, but those around her.
And today, Jahana’s principal at Kennedy High says she gets through to her students precisely because she remembers what it’s like to be one of them. And she doesn't forget that everyone in her class brings their own different and sometimes difficult circumstances. And she meets them where they are. And she sees a grace in them, and she sees a possibility in them. And because she sees it, they start seeing it.
And that’s what makes Jahana more than a teacher; she’s a counselor and a confidant. That’s how a woman who became a teenage mom is now a mentor to high schoolers in the same city where she grew up.
And meanwhile, outside of the classroom, Jahana has been a leader in the afterschool theater program. She put together a “Teen Idol” singing show. （Laughter.） She won the school’s “Dancing with the Stars” competition. （Laughter.） I wish I had met you before I started tangoing in Argentina. （Laughter.） Could have given me some tips.
And this is something that I think is particularly remarkable: Jahana inspires her students to give back. I think she understands that actually sometimes the less you have, the more valuable it is to see yourself giving, because that shows you the power and the influence that you can bring to bear on the world around you.
One year, she had been assigned to a group that seemed unmotivated, so she found out what was distracting them. Seven students in one class had recently lost a parent to cancer. So she organized a Relay for Life team through the American Cancer Society, and it became an annual event.
Last year, when Jahana went online to register her team, she noticed not one, not two, but fourteen teams led by former students had already signed up. She organized her students to walk for autism, to feed the homeless, to donate clothes, to clean neighborhoods, and even to register voters. And so it takes a unique leader to get students who don’t have a lot to give of themselves. But because Jahana understood those kids, she knew not to set low expectations, but to set high ones and to say to them, you can make a difference.
And that's the kind of leader our Teacher of the Year is. She knows that if students learn their worth, then the class rank and the college acceptances and the exam scores will follow.
Now, if there’s one thing Jahana wishes she had in school, it was more teachers who looked like her, as she already mentioned. And so she wrote and won a state grant to inspire more students to become teachers –- but especially to recruit more black and Latino teachers in her district. （Applause.） And that's important.
Not one of the teachers standing behind me or in front of our children’s classrooms chose this profession because they were promised a big payday or a short workday. （Laughter.） Although, you all do need to be paid better. （Applause.） That I believe. But the main reason teachers do what they do is because they love kids. They love our kids. And yes, we should pay teachers more because what they do is invaluable and essential. And the teachers here, though, will tell you that what would be most helpful, in addition to a little financial relief, would be people understanding how important the work you do is -- （applause） -- and to appreciate it, and not take it for granted.
And so part of the reason this event is so important is for us to be able to send a message to future generations of teachers, to talented young people all across the country to understand this is a dream job; that this is an area where you will have more influence potentially than any other profession that you go into.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Say it again! （Laughter.）
THE PRESIDENT: This is a profession where you have the potential to make more of a difference than just about anything you can go into. （Applause.）
So over the past seven years, we’ve looked at every element of our education system with an eye towards boosting the teaching profession. And thanks to our educators and the opinions you’ve voiced and the leadership that you’ve shown, we’ve come a long way since we came into office.
One of the first things we did, in the middle of the worst economic crisis in generations, when states and cities were slashing budgets, was to keep more than 300,000 educators in our kids’ classrooms. That was part of the Recovery Act.
We’ve taken the first steps towards making sure every young person in America gets the best start possible. And keep in mind that in 2009, when I started here, only 38 states had their own preschool programs. Today, all but four have. We've expanded Head Start programs for tens of thousands of kids who need it. （Applause.）
We made turning around America’s low-performing schools a national priority. The year before I took office, a quarter of our high school students didn’t graduate on time. More than a million didn’t finish high school at all. And today, high school graduations rates have never been higher, dropout rates have gone down. We’re transforming hundreds of America’s lowest-performing schools.
We’re also bringing new technology and digital tools to our classrooms to modernize and personalize learning. Three years ago, less than a third of all school districts could access high-speed Internet, and a lot of low-income communities were left behind. Today, 20 million more students and most of our school districts have fast broadband and wireless in the classroom. And by 2018, we’re going got make sure that we reach the goal I set: 99 percent of our students will have high-speed Internet. （Applause.）
We're making remarkable progress towards my pledge to train 100,000 STEM teachers by 2021 thanks to the great work of “100K in 10” –- which, with new commitments to prepare 70,000 more teachers, I want to just announce today this is a goal that we are going to achieve on time. We're on our way.