President Plays With Marshmallows at White House Science Fair

Yahoo News ^ | 7 Feb 2012 | Jennifer Welsh

[mandaladon]

"The Secret Service isn't happy about this," President Barack Obama joked with eighth-grader Joey Hudy, of Phoenix, Ariz., as he convinced the kid to launch a marshmallow across the crowded room today (Feb. 7) at the White House.

The student scientist and the commander in chief were hamming it up at the second White House Science Fair, where Obama stressed the importance of science and engineering education for our country's future and announced increased investment in science education from both the public and private sector.

"This is what's going to make a difference in the country over the long haul. This is what inspires me and gets me up every morning. This is what we should be focusing on in our public debates," Obama said. "This is the kind of stuff, what these young people are doing, that's going to make [the] biggest difference in the life of our country than just about anything."

[RedMDer]

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[DaveA37]

Despite all the rhetoric, the issue is NOT about Buckwheat, it is about what the kids are doing. My grandkids have all participated in a program called “oddesy of the minds” which takes a group of gifted kids who have shown interest in science and mechanics and challenges them to come up with unique ideas to solve real problems. In the case shown in the article, it would appear to be a similar project. The kids came up with a unique idea on how to launch a marshmellow the farthest. The idea created a need for some launching device and the kids designed and built it and tested it, all the while competing against kids from other schools that had the same challenge. It just so happened that Buckwheat got some publicity and a photo op. The kids are the ones who should be getting the press instead of the other way around. Despite what the media tells you, we DO have some pretty bright kids in this country and more needs to be done to promote them.