VIDEO-- Obama's influence on education: He inspires teacher's book

By GottaLaff


Okay, so there's this kid sitting in the back of the class. And he totally gets the teacher to listen to him when he had a suggestion about all that boring vocab memorization:

The Rev. Eugene Williams Sr., of Clinton, has self-published "Words, Cross & Across: Word Searches on Barack Obama," a book of word searches and puzzles based on the president-elect and his family.

Mr. Williams, 67, said he got the idea for the book last year when his 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade English students at Annapolis Road Academy, in Bladensburg, didn´t understand many of the words in Mr. Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. [...]

Mr. Williams said he eschewed the traditional memorization approach to vocabulary by building on the suggestion of student Aaron Johnson, who sits in the back of the class.

Pshyeah. Teens are so kewl that way. Serious.

Mr. Williams said he crafted the searches and charts with word meanings and usage components so students also could learn definitions. [...]

Words such as "father," "nice" and "bank" are included to balance out "elucidate," "puissant," and "gregarious" so that even younger children can learn from the book. [...]

Mr. Williams said he spent months researching before writing the 156-page book, even watching the president-elect on the Web site YouTube, to help him make better associations with Mr. Obama's word choices. [...]

"One best remembers words through association," Mr. Williams said, adding that students will not forget the word "loquacious" when used to describe them.

Omg, I know, right? Like, Bush: Cretin. Bush: Embarrassment. Bush: Destruction. Cheney: Torture. Cheney: Felon. Cheney: Unconstitutional.

The proceeds from his most recent book will go to Academic Resources Unlimited Inc., a nonprofit group created by Mr. Williams that provides tutoring services for underprivileged students in the D.C. area. [...]

Mr. Williams also has taken a more "grass-roots" approach to sales. He is allowing residents to sell copies of "Words" for 30 percent to 40 percent commission. This not only gives the book publicity, but it also allows people looking for a little extra cash to take advantage of "Obamania."

"People are buying everything about Barack Obama," Mr. Williams said.

Upon release, he sent two copies of "Words" to the Obama campaign office in Chicago - one to Mr. Obama, another to the president-elect's wife, Michelle.

Mr. Williams said he knew the Obamas would appreciate his book because they shared the same philosophy on education.

"With an educated populace, we have a better society," Mr. Williams said.

That last sentence explains so much about the policies of the past eight years. With an uneducated populace, we have a weaker, more compliant society. And what more could a power-hungry administration wish for?