Did you know....?

There have been some interesting tidbits I have gathered about the new US administration. Among the more interesting for me are:

• The Obama's head speech writer, Jon Favreau, is only 27. He helped to write the Iowa speech when he was 26. I am hoping this will be motivational for my undergraduates taking my course in Speech Composition and Presentation.
• Jill Biden received her Ph.D. in Education Leadership in 2007. This definately gives me inspiration to finish my dissertation! And should inspire all my fellow bloggers working on their Ph.D.'s (Janet Clarey), while working and raising a family.
• There were almost 2 million people at the inauguration, yet not one arrest. It just goes to show that people can be respectful of each other.
• President Obama's mother died of ovarian cancer. It is no wonder he is so keen on health care for all. Any child (young or adult) who has had to go through a parent's fatel disease knows of the fear as to whether your parent will be able to get the best treatment available.
• As a child in Indonesia, Obama's mother would wake him up in the early morning to give him English lessions for 3 hours before school began. This is the life that many immigrant children live in the US as well. I have friends and family from all over the world that teach their children their home language so their children can maintain contact with relatives in other countries.

Some questions I would like to pose to the new administration if I had the chance:

• How much of the speech does President Obama write himself? (This is a common question my students pose about speech writers that I don't really have an answer for).
• What skills did Jon Favreau develop to become such an effective speech writer? What skills would he suggest that my students develop if they want to be a speech writer?
  
• What languages does President Obama speak? I know that Bill Clinton was fluent in German. Will foreign languages be put back into a national priorty for educational policy?
• How long did it take for Jill Biden to get her Ph.D.? How did she balance a job, her husband's job, family, and school?
• As our first Tech Savvy President, how will President Obama support teachers (at all levels of education) to integrate technology into the classroom? What is his proposal for closing the digital divide, especially in rural areas where there is no infrastructure for the type of high tech equipment needed to be tech savvy?

If you had the opportunity to ask the administration any questions, what would they be? (I have not heard any of these questions addressed by the press!).