By Lori Higgins
Shortly after 5:30 p.m., President Barack
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A roar went up as nearly 300 grads leaped to their feet when a grinning POTUS entered the room at the Western Michigan University student recreation center.
"I wanted to come by in a less formal atmosphere, to just let you know how proud I am ... for everything you've done," Obama told them. The grads, gathered on risers three-deep in a horseshoe formation, held out their cellphones, took pictures and shouted as Obama went on.
He praised the grads for beating expectations, overcoming odds and refusing to buy into "stereotypes" about public school versus private school. He urged them to remain ambitious. "There is nothing you can't accomplish," he said, adding: "I might just be warming up a seat for you."
After his remarks, Obama shook hands all around, working the horseshoe and reaching to grasp scores of outstretched arms. One girl he hugged turned to a friend and jumped up and down in delight.
Crowd excited about Obama's speech
The line to get inside the Kalamazoo Central graduation — where Obama is to be the commencement speaker — extended pretty far from the entrance of Western Michigan University as guests await security checks.
On Stadium Drive, people played bongos. Others held signs saying, “Yes we Can” and a few held some that said “Congratulations Kalamazoo!”
Inside, the crowd anxiously anticipated Obama’s arrival.
Jill Little of Kalamazoo came to watch her niece, Stefannie Toney, graduate. After watching her own two children and other relatives graduate high school in Kalamazoo in the last 10 years, Little is sure of one thing: This is no ordinary graduation.
"Not by any means," she said inside the Western Michigan University Arena, where thousands of people were filing in to take their seats just hours before the start of the ceremony.
"I think it's going to be a mark in history," Little said of Obama's presence as the commencement speaker.
Little didn't mind the long wait to get into the arena, and she said the atmosphere outside was one of calm.
"I think everybody is trying to put their best foot forward and show they didn't make a mistake choosing Kalamazoo Central," she said.
Education official to speak
Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, said during a conference call this afternoon that he’s also looking forwarding to being in Kalamazoo later today.
Kalamazoo Central was the winner of this year’s Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, chosen based on academic achievement, their answers to four essay questions, supplemental achievement data, and videos that the top six finalists had to submit.
“Everyone in that community is committed to great education,” Duncan said of the communities that make up Kalamazoo Public Schools. He said he wants that kind of commitment to be the norm, “not the exception.”
Obama is expected to attend two fund-raisers in Kalamazoo, one for the Democratic National Convention and the other for U.S. Reps. Mark Schauer and Gary Peters, according to White
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