Obama speech to students seen throughout most N.J. schools

by Jeanette Rundquist and Ryan Hutchins/The Star-Ledger

Tuesday September 08, 2009, 7:47 PM

After all the hype over President Obama's televised speech to schoolchildren, today it came down to scenes like the one at Barlow School in Plainfield: rows of students sitting in a darkened gymnasium and watching the nation's leader urge them to work hard, set goals and do their homework.

In some New Jersey school districts, the noon address stirred controversy. In the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, where students could watch the speech or opt out, officials had been flooded with calls and e-mails, beginning last week, from parents pro and con, spokeswoman Maren Smagala said. She said a "minimal" number of students sat out the speech.

But in other schools, reaction was similar to that at Barlow. There, students broke into applause and cheers, and a few jumped out of their seats, when Obama appeared on both a TV monitor and a projector screen set up in the gymnasium.

While a few Barlow students squirmed or fidgeted during the speech, others, like Jose Zometa, 10, kept their eyes on the president.

Dressed in his school's new uniform of a white shirt and navy pants, arms folded across his chest, the fourth-grader leaned forward to hear Obama say things such as "no matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it" and "I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and to do everything you can to meet them."

Afterward, Jose said he liked the message.

"He said if I stay in school, I can be whatever I want when I grow up," the boy said.