Obama calls on students to hit the books

Michele Rehder thinks students always need a little motivation on the first day of school.

President Obama provided that spur Tuesday, the Goodhue High School teacher said. The president spoke to the nation's schoolchildren in a live address from Arlington, Va., urging them to take personal responsibility for their education.

After the speech, Rehder asked the students in her senior government class - several of whom showed signs of first-day excitement - to write out what in Obama's message hit home. Each student fell silent and wrote out a thought.

For more about how Goodhue students and teachers responded to the president's speech, see Wednesday's print edition of the Republican-Eagle.

Tags: local news, president obama, first day of school, news, goodhue, education