Weekly+Discussion+1+-+An+Open+Letter+to+the+President

Weekly Discussion 1 media type="file" key="Weekly Discussion 1 open letter mps.mp3"
 * An Open Letter to the President **

This is the beginning of a weekly discussion for the Current Events classes at Fairview High School, Fairview, PA. The purpose of the weekly discussion is to begin a discussion on Monday and have each student’s thoughtful reply posted by Friday night. The author/editor of the weekly discussion will have the responsibility of replying to each post, and creating a summary of the class posts for a review. The discussion this week is centered on the challenges facing President Obama. Currently, the President is considering a $825 billion dollar “stimulus” package to jump start the economy. This comes on the heels of a $700 billion dollar bank bailout, to sure up the financial markets. Certainly the economy is complex, and the challenges facing the nation are serious. CNN Money posted fifteen open-letters to President Obama from ordinary citizens titled, [|Dear Mr. President]. Their concerns range from health care to taxes, and small business encouragement to the fear of losing a job. The people are from across the nation; and they are carpenters and directors, they are unemployed and company CEO’s. Each person was given an opportunity to voice their concerns about their region and financial future. Similarly, students from across the country created a writing project to provide advice for the new president. Their book //[|Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country]// is in stores now. In their open letters, some ask for help in find jobs for their parents. Another asks for help in reducing the cost of whipped cream. Each of them had something to say to the president. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THE PRESIDENT? Read some of the open letters to the president and [|listen to some to the letters from the kids]. Write an open letter to President Obama and post it to the wikispace using the discussion tab on **Weekly Discussion 1** by the end of the day Friday.