"I'm Now Going to the Talk to the Millions of Schoolchildren Watching Today"

News reporters increasingly put the word “deeper” before the word “recession.” These are pessimistic times, making me miss the energy and enthusiasm of “Yes, We Can.”

Many schoolchildren will be tuning into the upcoming inauguration while at school, so I hope that Obama will speak very directly to kids, highlighting an anecdote of a young person embodying the “Yes, We Can” spirit and challenging all of us to contribute to the betterment of our communities and ourselves. Imagine hearing about a high school student running a neighborhood business, a middle student class reducing their school’s carbon footprint, or a college student running a middle school chess club. If done well, it will be a powerful moment in many schoolchildren’s lives. (Not as corny as it sounds here.)

For more inauguration speech ideas, check The Huffington Post and an op-ed in The Washington Post by the founders of the KIPP network.