Vanessa Gramlich, a fifth grader at the time, was the student council president while first grader William Davis was the vice president when the letter was sent to Obama.
Both presented the letter from the nation’s president to the current council members yesterday.
In his letter, Obama said: “Each day I am inspired by the encouraging messages of hope and determination I have received from students across the country. America needs young people like you who are studying hard in school, serving your community, and dreaming big dreams. Our country faces great challenges, but we will overcome them if we work together.”
The idea of sending a letter to Obama occurred last year during his inauguration day, when Marsha Rose Joyner, a civil rights activist from Hawaii, visited the school.
Joyner, who used to live on Saipan, talked about the significance of electing the nation’s first African American president.
San Vicente’s sixth graders told her they wished Obama would visit them.
Joyner said they should write a letter to the president.
With the approval of their teacher Jaime Vergara, the students drafted a letter and submitted it to the student council before mailing it to the White House.
“It happened very quickly, within a day, they finalized it,” school vice principal Betty Miller said.
“They were really excited that the president sent a signed picture. They thought that was pretty cool,” she added.
According to Gramlich, “I didn’t expect him to write back at all. I didn’t think that he would actually have the time to write back. So it’s actually amazing. So I’m pretty ok with him writing back.”
The student council members said they will send the president a “thank you” letter.
