Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it was 10 years ago that my office in Chicago, IL, was contacted by a young woman. Theresa Lee, who is Korean by birth, had been part of something known as the Merit Music Program in Chicago. It is an amazing program. A lady in the later years of her life decided to leave some money to a program that would offer to children in the public schools a musical instrument and instruction. Her belief was that many of these students would take up the offer and that learning a musical instrument could be an important part of their future lives. She was right. The Merit Music Program, at least as of last year, had a 100-percent placement rating of graduates in college. It turned out that giving a musical instrument to a young person and giving them a chance to develop that skill did a lot more than create music. It created self esteem, confidence, and a belief they could do something with their lives, even for many students who were from poor families. Ten years ago, the Merit Music Program contacted us and told us about a young woman named Theresa Lee who was one of their star pupils. She had learned piano and had graduated to a level of competence they had seldom seen in their program. In fact, she had played in a concert and now, as she graduated from high school, she was accepted at several of the major music schools around the United States, including Julliard. As she filled out the application to go to school, though, she found out she ran into a problem.…”