TySheoma Bethea – A talented young black girl named TySheoma Bethea earned a place in the limelight with a heartfelt plea to Barack Obama for school repair funds, putting a human face on the stimulus plan.
Bethea, a student at J.V. Martin Junior High School in Dillon, S.C., took her plea for better conditions at her crumbling school to Congress in a moving letter that won the attention of both her Representative and the White House after it was forwarded by her principal.
Obama visited the school, built in the 1880s, and mentioned conditions there in his first news conference as President as an example of why the federal government should help with school construction.
President Obama spoke of the leaky ceilings, peeling paint, and deafening noise from the nearby train tracks, and said Bethea had been told her school was “hopeless” before quoting her letter:
“We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.”
Bethea’s willingness to do something to create a better learning environment for herself and her classmates earned her a seat next to Michelle Obama during Tuesday night’s address, as well as a heartfelt hug from the First Lady.
TySheoma Bethea on CNN:
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