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>> Cristin Dorgelo: Hi, I'm Cristin Dorgelo and
we're here live at the first ever White House
Student Film Festival.
We couldn't be more excited to be here on the
red carpet today and I'm particularly happy to be
here with Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
Welcome, Bill.
>> Bill Nye: It's so good to be here.
So good.
We have a very exciting lineup of films today.
They are remarkable, and one of the key creators
who I believe will
be introducing the President --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: An amazing --
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- young filmmaker.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Hi.
I'm Shelly Ortiz.
I'm from Phoenix, Arizona.
I'm representing Metropolitan Arts
Institute so thank you for having me.
It's such an honor.
>> Bill Nye: It's great to have -- yes, Cristin.
Yes.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Well Shelly, did you know that
you're one of over 2,500 entrants into the White
House Film Festival?
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes, I actually just heard more
than 2,000 and that --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Shelly Ortiz: -- i such an honor.
I am overwhelmed and overjoyed --
so honored to be here.
>> Bill Nye: Great job.
Want me to say great job.
Why did you make this film?
>> Shelly Ortiz: I made this film to share my
story, share how without technology I wouldn't have
been able to be a filmmaker, to have the
passion that I do for film, and to get people's
story out there so that they can start recovering
their wounds and start moving on and share their
stories with others that might help others.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: So tell us what your
movie is about?
>> Shelly Ortiz: I'm making a documentary about
my father who had a very rough childhood with his
drug-addicted mother and then throughout the years
in and out of orphanages -- kind of recovered from
that and turned into a wonderful man who
is a public speaker, who is a wonderful father, and this
is the year to do it and so I decided to and then
when this came around, I thought,
this is what's really important.
I should put this in film.
>> Bill Nye: Well, we're delighted that you did.
So what you are trying to do, if I understand it,
is change the world?
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes, like you, Mr. Nye, (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: Oh.
But, (laughs), you're an artist.
>> Shelly Ortiz: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: It's great.
>> Shelly Ortiz: You're an artist too.
Science is art.
>> Bill Nye: Yeah, well, they're closely related.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: So Shelly, one of the things
we're going to be talking about today is the
President's ConnectED initiative which is an
initiative to get more technology into --
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- classrooms
around the country.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: How has technology played a
role in your filmmaking?
>> Shelly Ortiz: Well without the technology,
I wouldn't have been able to make those steps, learn
those techniques, learn the programs, use the
cameras to develop the kind of technical skills
that I have now and I think that's really
important to any filmmaker -- to understand what
you're using and to make a craft out of it.
>> Bill Nye: You learned to edit and
it's all digital, right?
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes.
It's all digital.
>> Bill Nye: You're not cutting film and gluing --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: No more of that tape.
>> Bill Nye: -- little strips together?
>> Shelly Ortiz: No, I'm not doing that.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: Do you ever use the expression "Let's
roll that tape" or "Let's tape that"?
>> Shelly Ortiz: I'm sure I will be in college when
I do use film, but not currently, no.
>> Bill Nye: But you do say --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: This is a relief.
She's still going to use film.
>> Bill Nye: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: But you did say this is your film?
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes.
This is my film -- digital film.
>> Bill Nye: But the words include more than
they leave out.
They never say all there is to say
about everything -- anything.
So digital film is pretty appropriate.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Yes.
Yes.
>> Bill Nye: Well, it's great to see you.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Thank you so much.
>> Bill Nye: Thanks for coming.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Than you.
Thank you so much.
>> Bill Nye: Let's change the world.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Pleasure to meet you.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Than you.
>> Bill Nye: Carry on.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Well Bill, check out all these
amazing filmmakers behind us --
>> Bill Nye: These people --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- here.
>> Bill Nye: -- you can't see behind
the camera everybody.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: I think we're --
>> Bill Nye: There's 60-something --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- about to meet another filmmaker.
>> Bill Nye: Justin, old buddy.
>> Justin Etzine: Nice to meet you.
>> Bill Nye: Yeah.
>> Justin Etzine: It's such an honor.
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Hi.
Nice to meet you.
>> Bill Nye: Oh, cool.
>> Rachel Huss: Hi.
Thank you for having me.
Nice to --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Hi.
Great to meet you.
>> Bill Nye: See you guys --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: I'm Cristin.
Hi.
>> Bill Nye: Turn around this way a little bit.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Okay.
>> Justin Etzine: It's such an honor --
>> Bill Nye: You know, it's like a film.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Come on.
Scoot on in.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: There's a camera.
You know, the thing.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Scoo on in.
>> Bill Nye: So what's your film about?
Do you want to start?
>> Justin Etzine: Yes.
So we produced the video "Posnack Technology: A Day
in the Life of Kyle."
It goes through the life of our friend Kyle, here,
who's got to -- he gets to attend school via a VGo
Robot because he currently is receiving lymphoma
treatment in Philadelphia, but our school
is based in Miami.
So he --
>> Bill Nye: Miami, Florida.
>> Justin Etzine: Miami, Florida.
Ft. Lauderdale.
He -- so he attends remotely and he still gets
to see his friends and interact.
So it goes through the -- a day -- what a typical
day would be with him and it also talks about all
the different technology that our school utilizes.
>> Bill Nye: So Kyle, is the film accurate?
>> Kyle Weintraub: Yes.
>> Bill Nye: Was it really a day in your life?
>> Kyle Weintraub: Yes.
>> Bill Nye: Was it fun?
>> Kyle Weintraub: Eh.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: Looks like it was.
What did -- Rachel, what did you do on this film?
>> Rachel Huss: Well, I did some filming and I
also helped storyboard the story.
>> Bill Nye: Are you an artist?
>> Rachel Huss: Yeah, I actually am.
I'm a photographer and I -- before -- prior to
this, I won a photography competition.
>> Bill Nye: So you're just on a roll.
(laughter)
You're just on a roll.
Marni.
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Yeah.
Well, I raised the money to get the robot that Kyle
is, like -- and basically.
So --
>> Bill Nye: Well, where did the money come from?
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Well from -- like, it started
out just close friends, family, and then the world
spread around the school.
Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Where's the robot now?
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Well right now it's at our
school and, like, it's at our tech office
when he's not on it.
So --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: So the robot didn't get to make
the field trip to the White House today?
>> Justin Etzine: No, it would have been --
we tried to get him on the airplane.
Airport security wasn't happy --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Justin Etzine: -- with it so we left
it back at home.
He's actually sitting in the tech department in
Mr. Shapiro and Mrs. Alboukrek's office.
They are the ones who helped us produce the
video from the technology standpoint.
>> Bill Nye: So Kyle, you could
be at school right now?
>> Kyle Weintraub: I could if I wanted to --
>> Rachel Huss: (laughs)
>> Kyle Weintraub: -- but I don't want to.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: Where would you rather --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: You prefer to
be at the White House, huh?
>> Kyle Weintraub: I'd rather be here.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: It's great to have you.
It's great to have all of you.
Congratulations.
So just tell everybody the name of your film again.
"A Day in the Life of Kyle."
>> Justin Etzine: Thank you so much.
It's such an honor to be here.
>> Bill Nye: Oh, it's (inaudible).
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Than you for having us.
>> Rachel Huss: Thank you for having us.
>> Kyle Weintraub: Thanks for having us.
>> Bill Nye: Well --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Congratulations, guys.
>> Bill Nye: -- carry on, people.
So glad you're here.
>> Rachel Huss: I'm a huge fan.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: Oh, cool.
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Me too.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Grea work.
>> Bill Nye: So, you know we had 2,500 entries.
So here you are.
>> Rachel Huss: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: You beat out --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: On the red carpet.
>> Bill Nye: -- 2,000 people.
>> Justin Etzine: It's such an honor --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughter)
>> Justin Etzine: -- the group as well.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Have fun today --
>> Bill Nye: Oh.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- you guys.
Enjoy.
>> Bill Nye: Very small role
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Carry on.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: I think we might --
>> Bill Nye: You'll notice it really is a red carpet.
(laughter)
>> Justin Etzine: Perfect.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: I think we've
got another young filmmaker --
>> Bill Nye: -- you guys
You have --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- ready to come and talk.
Are you guys ready?
>> Bill Nye: -- one of those name tags
on your seats.
It's very cool.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Hey.
Welcome --
>> Bill Nye: Hi, Alex.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- to the red carpet.
>> Alex Buangsuwon: Hello.
>> Bill Nye: Aaron.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Nice to meet you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: I'm Cristin.
Hey.
>> Bill Nye: Talk
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Great to meet you.
>> Bill Nye: -- come in a little closer.
So what is your film about?
>> Alex Buangsuwon: It's about how --
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: It's about him.
>> Alex Buangsuwon: Yeah (laughs).
It's about me.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Yep.
>> Bill Nye: And so it's fascinating?
>> Alex Buangsuwon: Yeah.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: What gave you --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And what happens in the movie?
>> Bill Nye: What gave you the idea to do it?
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Okay well, I wanted to
highlight a disorder that really is overlooked
in modern society and that is dyslexia
and he suffers from dyslexia.
And I wanted to talk about how technology is helping
kids like him improve their reading
and writing skills.
So, yeah.
That's basically --
>> Bill Nye: Does it work?
>> Alex Buangsuwon: Yeah it does.
It works a lot, (laughs).
>> Bill Nye: And you feel better?
>> Alex Buangsuwon: I do feel better.
>> Bill Nye: So how long did it take
you to make it?
How long did it take you to make it?
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: We made the video
in two days.
>> Bill Nye: Oh, wow.
How long did it take you to have the idea?
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Less than a week.
>> Alex Buangsuwon: Less than a --
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: We made
it pretty quickly, yeah.
It was more or less improv.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Did you think that it was
going to get you here to the White House?
So you feel pretty confident?
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Not really.
No.
(laughter)
>> Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: You know, there were 2,500 entries.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Yeah I know.
It's crazy, but I don't know.
Everything fell together perfectly, I guess.
Like --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And you know, one of the
things we've been talking about today is ConnectED,
which is an initiative to get technology
in the classroom.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Right.
Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Did you have to use a lot of
your technology that you work with at school
to get the film made?
How does technology play a role in how you learn?
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: We actually didn't talk
to our school about this.
We --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: -- worked on this independently.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: It was just us two.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Cool.
Good initiative, guys.
>> Bill Nye: Just -- do you other -- do you do
other kinds of art?
>> Alex Buangsuwon: Yeah.
I do some other kinds of art.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: He's really good at drawing.
Yeah, and I take him --
>> Bill Nye: Not surprised.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Yeah (laughs).
>> Bill Nye: Well congratulations, you guys.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Than you so much.
>> Bill Nye: We're really looking forward
to seeing your film.
All we saw was the title go by.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Can ask you one favor?
>> Bill Nye: Depends.
>> Aaron Buangsuwon: Can take a selfie with you?
>> Bill Nye: -- move fast --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Selfie away.
Hurry up guys.
We're live on the air.
>> Bill Nye: Here we go.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: Look at the lens, not at yourself.
Here we are.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Selfies in action.
This is technology in action here at the White
House Film Festival.
>> Bill Nye: This way.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Come on up guys.
Nice to meet you.
>> Bill Nye: Hi --
>> Richard White: Hi, I'm Richard.
>> Bill Nye: -- Richard.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Welcome.
>> Nicolas Ramey: Nice to meet you.
Nick.
>> Bill Nye: Nick.
>> Trad Willman: I'm Trad.
>> Bill Nye: Cool.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Welcome to the
White House, guys.
>> Richard White: Thanks.
Nice to be here.
>> Bill Nye: What's your film about?
Yeah, tighten it up.
Tighten it up --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Come on in.
>> Richard White: We made Pip, and it's about a boy
who uses technology like -- because he wants
to go to space one day.
So he's trying to follow his dream with technology.
So --
>> Bill Nye: And he does.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: So do you guys want
to go to space
>> Nicolas Ramey: Did he what?
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- one day?
>> Bill Nye: Do you want to go to space one day?
>> Nicolas Ramey: We would all love to go to space --
>> Richard White: That would --
>> Nicolas Ramey: -- some day.
>> Richard White: -- be amazing.
Yeah.
>> Nicolas Ramey: Yes.
>> Bill Nye: So why did you make this film instead
of a film about going somewhere else?
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Like the bottom of the ocean?
>> Richard White: We wanted to make a -- kind
of about the dream that almost every kid has,
like, they want to do something that people
think is ridiculous whenever they grow up,
but to the kid, it's not ridiculous.
It's, like, something that you really want.
So I wanted to go to space on day and I was like,
you know what?
I mean, everyone wants to go to space at some point,
but then they lose that dream.
So I was like, technology can help
you follow that dream.
So that's kind of --
>> Bill Nye: Where are you guys from?
>> Richard White: New Orleans.
>> Bill Nye: So have you been
to the Air and Space Museum?
>> Trad Willman: No, don't think so.
No.
>> Bill Nye: You would --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Oh, you've got
to check it out.
>> Bill Nye: You' remember, (laughs).
>> Richard White: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: I think you'd remember.
Yeah.
(laughter)
>> Nicolas Ramey: Driven by.
Driven by.
>> Bill Nye: Yeah, yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: You know, one of the things in
the Air and Space Museum is this thing
called SpaceShipOne,
which was the first commercial spacecraft.
And, you know, you think you want
to go to space one day?
I'm telling you, a lot of new startup companies are
forming that are going
to be able to send you to space.
So that's one thing you should check out.
Go over there and check out SpaceShipOne.
>> Richard White: Than you.
Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: And to give you some more ideas, look
at the Spirit of St. Louis which is hanging there and
you'll say to yourself, "Well, that looks just
like the Spirit of St. Louis,
but it must be a model because it's so small."
>> Nicolas Ramey: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: No, the guy --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: It's the real thing and --
>> Bill Nye: -- got in there and flew
for two days.
Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And you know why
Lindbergh did it?
To win a prize.
>> Richard White: Wow.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Just like you guys won today.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: Yeah.
So there's 2,500 other entries
and you were selected.
Not bad.
>> Richard White: Yeah.
It's an honor, definitely.
>> Bill Nye: Did you see that going in -- that hey,
we're going to win.
We're going to go to the White House.
Yeah, cool.
>> Nicolas Ramey: Not in any sense --
>> Richard White: No.
>> Nicolas Ramey: -- a all.
I think we were so far from that.
We were so astounded and so honored to be here.
>> Bill Nye: Do your classmates have any
comments on this whole thing?
>> Trad Willman: They love it.
They're really happy for us and they can't --
they're excited to see the results
that we got accepted.
>> Bill Nye: It's pretty cool, you guys.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Well have --
>> Bill Nye: Way to go.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- fun while you're here.
>> Bill Nye: Have fun.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Enjo the red carpet.
>> Richard White: Can just do a quick selfie?
>> Bill Nye: Yeah, yeah.
Go, go --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Uh oh.
>> Bill Nye: -- go.
Reach --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: We'v got another --
>> Bill Nye: -- way out.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- selfie going on.
>> Bill Nye: Reach way out, people.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: We'r shortly going
to meet a few more --
>> Bill Nye: Tighten it up, people.
Tighten it up.
Tighten it up.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- student filmmakers here --
>> Bill Nye: Look at the lens, not at yourself.
Look at the lens, not at yourself.
(laughter)
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Here we go.
>> Bill Nye: Cool.
>> Richard White: Thank you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: All right.
>> Bill Nye: -- you guys.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: More student filmmakers coming
up here at the first ever --
>> Bill Nye: Well, Joshua.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- White House
Student Film --
>> Joshua Leong: Hey.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- Festival.
>> Bill Nye: Stephen.
Greetings.
>> Joshua Leong: Greetings.
>> Bill Nye: Welcome to the White -- you know,
welcome to the White House and the red carpet.
You know the deal.
>> Joshua Leong: (affirmative)
>> Bill Nye: No, welcome --
>> Joshua Leong: You know, we do this regularly.
>> Bill Nye: Sure you do.
>> Joshua Leong: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Firs time here?
>> Joshua Leong: No, I've been here like 50 times.
(laughter)
>> Stephen Sheridan: Yeah it's our first time.
Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: Where are you guys from?
>> Joshua Leong: Here.
Virginia.
>> Stephen Sheridan: Virginia.
Vienna, McLean area.
>> Bill Nye: At the end of the Orange Line there?
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs) What was
your movie about?
>> Stephen Sheridan: I don't know where that is.
>> Bill Nye: Say again?
>> Stephen Sheridan: I don't know where that is.
>> Bill Nye: It's the subway,
the train, the metro.
Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: The --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: So tell us what your movie
was about, guys.
>> Bill Nye: -- rails aren't really orange.
That's just an expression.
>> Stephen Sheridan: (laughs) Yeah, yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Tighten it up.
Tighten it up.
>> Joshua Leong: Our video was about collaboration
from two different kids across the world working
on one project with the use of technology.
>> Bill Nye: You're from different schools on the
other side of the globe?
>> Stephen Sheridan: Well not actually.
We just --
>> Joshua Leong: Well, in the video --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: But the movie was about --
>> Stephen Sheridan: Yes, yes.
Yes.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- that.
>> Stephen Sheridan: In the video, yes, (laughs).
>> Bill Nye: Where'd you get the idea
for such a thing?
>> Joshua Leong: I don't know.
>> Stephen Sheridan: Well, I mean, on the thing it
just said -- on the, like, (beeps),
it said part, like --
>> Joshua Leong: Global.
>> Stephen Sheridan: -- suggestion --
>> Joshua Leong: Yeah.
>> Stephen Sheridan: -- subjects.
So there was -- one of the things
was global collaboration.
>> Joshua Leong: Collaboration.
>> Stephen Sheridan: Yeah.
So --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
In fact, that's part of The President's ConnectED
initiative -- is get these devices into the
classrooms so we're going to have new ways
to learn, right?
>> Joshua Leong: We use their textbooks
in school actually online.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Very cool.
>> Joshua Leong: ConnectED.
Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Your textbooks are electronic?
>> Joshua Leong: Yeah with ConnectED.
>> Bill Nye: Hmm?
Hear the tone and the way he said that.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: He just said yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Did you grow up in a barn?
Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: My textbooks weren't electronic.
>> Bill Nye: Yeah, no.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: I don't know about you.
>> Bill Nye: No.
No, no.
They weren't.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: So it's great.
What are you guys going to do next?
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Film school?
>> Joshua Leong: I --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Are you going
to become engineers?
Are --
>> Joshua Leong: I want to be a movie --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- you going to space?
>> Joshua Leong: -- director when I grow up.
>> Bill Nye: Oh, cool.
That's great.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And you?
>> Stephen Sheridan: Oh, was thinking an architect
maybe or like music --
>> Bill Nye: Now, you don't have
to decide right now.
But it's great.
Congratulations --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: -- guys.
There were 2,500 entries --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah you guys --
>> Bill Nye: -- and here you are --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- rock.
>> Bill Nye: -- at the White House.
Not bad.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Enjo --
>> Joshua Leong: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- your time here today.
>> Joshua Leong: Than you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Good to meet you.
>> Bill Nye: We'll see you in a few minutes.
You take the red carpet --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Hi, ladies.
>> Bill Nye: It's all about --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Welcome.
>> Bill Nye: -- you.
It's all about you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: More student filmmakers.
It's great to meet you.
What are your names?
>> Bill Nye: Lexus.
>> Lexus Wolf: Yes.
>> Bill Nye: My esteemed colleague.
Great.
>> Lexus Wolf: Hi, (laughs).
>> Bill Nye: Let's tighten it up --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And Natalie.
>> Bill Nye: -- Natalie.
>> Female Speaker: (laughs)
>> Cristin Dorgelo: What are your names?
>> Caroline Proffit: I'm Caroline.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Caroline.
>> Elizabeth Russell: I'm Elizabeth.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Hey.
Welcome, guys.
What's your movie about?
>> Lexus Wolf: It's a music video --
>> Natalie Koeritzer: Yeah.
>> Caroline Proffit: Yeah.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yes.
>> Lexus Wolf: -- about technology.
(laughter)
Yes.
We were like --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Who sings?
>> Lexus Wolf: We all do.
>> Natalie Koeritzer: We all do.
>> Caroline Proffit: We all do.
>> Elizabeth Russell: We all do.
>> Caroline Proffit: Yeah.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yes.
(laughter)
>> Lexus Wolf: Caroline wrote most
of the lyrics though.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yeah.
>> Caroline Proffit: Yes.
>> Elizabeth Russell: So --
>> Bill Nye: What made you want to do that?
>> Lexus Wolf: We just wanted to, like,
do something different and --
>> Caroline Proffit: Yeah.
>> Lexus Wolf: -- w thought a lot
of documentaries would be there so we wanted to,
I don't know, just do a music video.
So -- (laughs).
>> Caroline Proffit: Change it up.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yeah, change it up.
>> Lexus Wolf: Change it up.
>> Bill Nye: So did you write --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: What style of music --
>> Bill Nye: -- your own melody?
>> Elizabeth Russell: What?
>> Bill Nye: Did you write your own song?
Not just lyrics, but your own melody?
>> Elizabeth Russell: No, we got it off a free --
>> Caroline Proffit: -- music site --
>> Elizabeth Russell: -- archive.com.
Yeah.
>> Caroline Proffit: Yeah.
>> Lexus Wolf: One of those relative free ones.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And where are you
from in the country?
>> Elizabeth Russell: Ohio.
>> Lexus Wolf: Yeah.
>> Caroline Proffit: Delaware, Ohio.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: First time at the White House?
>> Caroline Proffit: Yes.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yes.
>> Natalie Koeritzer: Yes.
>> Lexus Wolf: Yes.
(laughter)
>> Cristin Dorgelo: What do you think so far?
>> Elizabeth Russell: It's amazing.
>> Caroline Proffit: It's great.
>> Lexus Wolf: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Did you know we have
a red carpet?
>> Caroline Proffit: No.
>> Elizabeth Russell: No, I did not.
>> Lexus Wolf: No.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: It wasn't -- it was blue before, but
because you were coming --
(laughter)
-- they decided to take it up.
>> Lexus Wolf: Thank you.
Thanks.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: So you made this music video.
There were 2,500 entries and you
are one of the selectees.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: The official selections.
>> Bill Nye: Now, did you see that going in?
This is so good --
>> Lexus Wolf: No.
>> Caroline Proffit: No.
>> Elizabeth Russell: No.
>> Bill Nye: -- man.
(laughter)
This is going to take it to the top.
(laughter)
>> Lexus Wolf: No, it was a really big surprise.
It was -- yeah.
>> Elizabeth Russell: We just did it just
to challenge ourselves and to have fun and -- you know.
So --
>> Bill Nye: Now did you --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: It worked.
>> Bill Nye: -- get academic credit for this?
>> Lexus Wolf: Well, we have a class.
>> Elizabeth Russell: We have a class.
>> Lexus Wolf: Yeah.
>> Elizabeth Russell: But we didn't actually
do it for the class.
>> Lexus Wolf: Yeah, it's like a video making class.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yeah.
>> Lexus Wolf: And so --
>> Elizabeth Russell: Yeah.
>> Lexus Wolf: -- we were in that.
>> Elizabeth Russell: That's how
I found out about it --
>> Caroline Proffit: Yes.
>> Elizabeth Russell: -- but we didn't actually do
it for the class.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: So what are
your future careers?
What do you want to do now that
you are successful filmmakers --
(laughter)
-- music video creators?
>> Elizabeth Russell: I don't --
>> Bill Nye: Natalie, what are you going to do next?
>> Natalie Koeritzer: I don't know yet.
(laughter)
>> Lexus Wolf: We're all undecided.
(laughter)
>> Bill Nye: That's fine.
You don't have to.
That's what growing up's --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Mayb you can walk around and
ask some of the other filmmakers
and get some ideas here today.
>> Caroline Proffit: Yeah that'd be great.
>> Elizabeth Russell: Definitely.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Okay well --
>> Bill Nye: -- you guys.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- enjoy your time --
>> Bill Nye: Carry on.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- a the White House.
>> Lexus Wolf: Thank you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: You guys rock.
Congratulations.
They literally rock.
They made a --
>> Bill Nye: That's right.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- music video.
>> Bill Nye: Daniel.
>> Daniel Nemroff: Hi.
>> Bill Nye: John.
>> John Gallagher: Hey.
>> Bill Nye: Samuel.
>> Samuel Kruger: Hi.
>> Bill Nye: Welcome to the White House.
Your --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Welcome, guys.
>> Bill Nye: -- first time?
>> Daniel Nemroff: Yep.
First time.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Firs time here?
>> John Gallagher: Than you very much.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Where are you from in the world?
>> Daniel Nemroff: Philly.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Philly.
Took the train down?
>> Daniel Nemroff: Yep.
>> John Gallagher: Yeah.
>> Samuel Kruger: No, we drove down.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Oh, drove down.
Nice.
>> Daniel Nemroff: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: What's your movie about?
>> Daniel Nemroff: It's essentially just a theoretical
look at sort of what a future classroom
could look like and it sort of shows, like, the
-- how the dynamic between the student
and the teachers is going to change.
We sort of tried to capture that in the film.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Is i going to be better?
What's it going to be like?
>> Daniel Nemroff: Hopefully better.
>> John Gallagher: It'l be really good.
Yeah.
We think the future is really going to be great.
>> Bill Nye: Do you have elements to that in your
classroom as it is right now?
>> Samuel Kruger: Well, as -- yeah.
We have some really high tech elements but a lot of
the stuff in the film is stuff that
we hope to see coming.
So --
>> Bill Nye: It's --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Like what?
>> Bill Nye: -- your own science fiction future.
>> Samuel Kruger: Yeah hopefully.
(laughs)
>> John Gallagher: Well, I mean, next year our
school's going one to one,
which is nice, with computers.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: What's one to one?
>> John Gallagher: (laughs) One to one with,
like, every student getting
a computer to themselves.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: That's kind of awesome.
Again, Bill, I didn't have that when I was in school.
>> John Gallagher: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: I had my own slide roll.
(laughter)
I did.
And then I had my own calculator.
Well, it's very reasonable.
Seriously.
You think about the future,
everybody would have his or her own computer, yeah?
>> Daniel Nemroff: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Tablet.
It's not clear whether or not it should be implanted
in your brain yet.
(laughter)
It's not obvious.
>> John Gallagher: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: That wasn't part of your movie?
>> Bill Nye: But --
>> John Gallagher: No.
>> Bill Nye: -- let me ask you this.
Is this --
>> Daniel Nemroff: Not here.
>> Bill Nye: -- is your movie -- I guess we'll see
in a few minutes, but is it optimistic?
>> Daniel Nemroff: Yes, definitely.
>> John Gallagher: Very.
>> Daniel Nemroff: Very optimistic.
>> Bill Nye: Because you know, so much of science
fiction is apocalyptic, dystopian, miserable.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: But then again, some of the
coolest technologies we have came from science
fiction -- science fiction becoming science
fact, like satellites, yeah?
>> Samuel Kruger: Well hopefully the optimistic
parts of science fiction become reality.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: We'r there with you.
>> Bill Nye: Well congratulations you guys.
2,500 films and yours is one of them.
Not bad.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Enjo your time here.
You guys are --
>> Bill Nye: And just notice --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- awesome.
>> Bill Nye: -- that you really are
walking on a --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Take care.
>> Bill Nye: -- red carpet --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: -- at the actual White House.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: It's not bad.
Oh, go this way.
You're going to have a seat --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Oh --
>> Bill Nye: -- with nametags and stuff.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: We'v got another --
>> Bill Nye: Kira.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- filmmaker.
>> Bill Nye: Kira welcome.
This is -- you're by yourself?
>> Kira Bursky: I actually -- I came with
my lead actress, Aiman.
So, yeah.
She's --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: What's your movie --
>> Kira Bursky: -- in the audience.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- about?
>> Kira Bursky: Oh, my movie, Hello from
Malaysia, is about this girl who is going
to a boarding school in the U.S.
and she's coming from Malaysia and she's dealing
with the cultural differences and she
realizes that through technology,
she can connect with others and feel at home basically.
>> Bill Nye: We are more alike than we are
different kind of thing.
>> Kira Bursky: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: And what sort of technology enhances
that or drives that home?
I guess we'll see in a few minutes, right?
>> Kira Bursky: Yeah, we will, I guess.
>> Bill Nye: Give me a preview.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Kira Bursky: I'll give you a preview.
So there are a few elements that I touch base
on in the film, one of which is when she feels
really lonely, she connects through Skype
with her mother and she is able to feel like
she's at home again.
And another element is through the
use of the internet, there's this girl who's able
to use a translation software and connect
through her language.
And the last element is with the iPhone,
you're able to have access to photos that showcase,
like, her culture and her home so she's able
to show people that.
So just a few different elements.
>> Bill Nye: So there --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Fantastic.
>> Bill Nye: -- were 2,500 entries and you're
one of the selectees.
>> Kira Bursky: Woo.
>> Bill Nye: Not bad.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: (laughs)
>> Bill Nye: Nicely done.
Feel great.
>> Kira Bursky: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: Feel good about that.
>> Kira Bursky: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: And while you're feeling good about
that, it really is a red carpet actually
at the real White House.
>> Kira Bursky: I love --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: In the real White House.
>> Kira Bursky: Yeah, I love red and the White House
is pretty nice too, (laughs).
>> Bill Nye: And I think if you look, you will also
find some blue somewhere.
>> Kira Bursky: Yeah.
(laughter)
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Well Kira, enjoy your --
>> Bill Nye: Congratulations.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- time here.
Congratulations.
>> Kira Bursky: Thank you very much.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yep.
>> Bill Nye: See you --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: You're awesome.
>> Bill Nye: -- in a few minutes.
>> Kira Bursky: Thank you.
Nice meeting you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: All right.
Well, those were just a few of our fantastic
student filmmakers.
We're so excited to see all these movies today.
Aren't you, Bill?
You're going --
>> Bill Nye: Yeah.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- to have a front row seat.
>> Bill Nye: Oh, yes.
Yes.
I can't get over how all of them are anxious or
nervous because we're at the White House --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
I think --
>> Bill Nye: -- but they're also --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- red carpets make
people nervous too.
>> Bill Nye: They're also just confident.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: Yeah.
>> Bill Nye: That's what -- you know what I mean?
They're just like, "Yeah, I'm an artist.
Yeah, I crank this out.
That's what I do," and it's --
>> Cristin Dorgelo: And think --
>> Bill Nye: -- really exciting.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- they all deeply believe
that technology's going to help in the classroom.
I think that's fantastic.
So we're going to see more
of these amazing official selections.
Thank you so much, Bill, for --
>> Bill Nye: Oh, no.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- being here today.
>> Bill Nye: It is I who must thank you.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: You are so --
>> Bill Nye: No, no.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- inspiring.
So follow along, watch the official selections,
and follow along
the White House Student Film Festival.
Thank you --
>> Bill Nye: Turn it up loud.
>> Cristin Dorgelo: -- very much.
Get the popcorn.
(video playing)
>> The First Lady: Hi everyone, and welcome
to the first ever White House Student Film Festival.
The President and I want to thank
you all so much for participating this year.
We were thrilled by the response we received from
young people all across the country -- films that
show us how you connect with other young people
from around the world, films that show how you
use technology to help you learn, films that show how
we might connect with each other in the years
to come, and films that show all the energy and
creativity and passion that lie within
our young people.
And you managed to do all of that in less
than three minutes.
I am so excited about this festival because, more
than anything else, it is truly a testament
to the unmatched potential of our next generation.
Today you're dreaming up video shorts and tomorrow
you'll be dreaming up ideas
for the next blockbuster film and next game-changing
businesses and the next scientific breakthrough.
So I want to urge all of you to keep pursuing this
passion of yours.
Keep exploring new ideas and experimenting with new
equipment, and keep asking your teachers and parents
for help when you need it.
And whether you pursue your passion for film
or some other passion, make sure you get a good
education, whether that's at a community college or
a four-year school or somewhere else
where you can get the degree or certification
you need to succeed.
That is how you'll be able to turn your passion
into a career that can take you places that
you have never even imagined.
So thanks again for taking part in this event and
I hope you have a wonderful time here
at the White House today.
(video ends)
(applause)
>> Male Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen,
the President of the United States accompanied
by Ms. Shelly Ortiz.
(applause)
>> The President: Hey.
Hey.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Thank you.
>> The President: All right, everybody.
Have a seat.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Than you, (laughs).
Hello.
My name is Shelly Ortiz.
I'm a senior at Metropolitan Arts
Institute in Phoenix, Arizona and I'm so excited
to be here at the White House today.
>> The President: Yay!
(applause)
>> Shelly Ortiz: I started at Metro in eighth grade
and I've spent five years honing
my skills as a filmmaker.
Looking back, I realize without the technology
Metro has provided for me, I would have never
been able to make films, or discover
what I'm passionate about.
So when I noticed a flyer for the
White House Film Festival in my teacher's room,
I saw an opportunity to share my story and
my passion with others.
Technology has taught me to tell stories, teach,
and then make an impact.
I believe it's important for my generation
to embrace technology and find ways
to use it for good.
And now it's my pleasure to introduce President
Barack Obama.
>> Barack Obama: Yay.
(applause)
>> Shelly Ortiz: Than you.
>> The President: Good job!
Thank you.
Hello.
>> Audience: Hello.
>> The President: My name is Shelly Ortiz and --
(laughter)
Oh.
Wrong page.
(laughter)
All right, then.
I was just teasing.
I knew I wasn't Shelly Ortiz.
(laughter)
Everybody give Shelly a big round of applause
for the great work.
(applause)
Thank you so much.
Thanks for -- and thanks not only for the
introduction, but for the beautiful video that you
made about your dad.
>> Shelly Ortiz: Than you.
>> The President: You know, the -- us dads -- we
get pretty touched --
>> Shelly Ortiz: (laughs)
>> The President: -- stuff like that and I am
thrilled that all of you are with us for our first
ever White House Student Film Festival.
And I know we're running a little bit late.
It's not because the projector was not working.
(laughter)
It was because of me.
But I appreciate all of you guys being here
and your patience.
The Academy Awards are not until Sunday, but as you
can see we brought the Oscars to the White House
a little bit early.
And I want to thank our partners, Fox, National
Geographic, and the American Film Institute.
We've got the red carpet, we've got the big screens,
the opening monologue.
The only difference is nobody asks
what you're wearing.
(laughter)
And we've got Bill Nye the Science Guy --
(applause)
-- and Neil deGrasse Tyson
from the Hayden Planetarium --
(applause)
-- who might even give you a sneak peek of his new
show, Cosmos, if everybody behaves themselves.
(applause)
And I saw the original version -- I'm a little
older than all of you -- and it was spectacular and
wonderful and I know this is going to be not just as
good, but even better.
And so we're thrilled with that.
And we're putting on a big show here because we're
honoring some remarkable filmmakers.
I've said before, I believe and I hope all of
us believe that every child in America deserves
a world-class education, especially in science and
technology and engineering and math because it's
skills like these that made us an economic
superpower and built our middle class.
We also need folks who are studying the arts because
our film industry is a huge generator of jobs and
economic power here in the United States and it tells
us our story and helps us to find what's --
our common humanity.
And it's skills like these that allowed NASA to
announce the other day that we've discovered more
than 700 new planets.
(applause)
That's cool.
(laughter)
I mean, we didn't make the planets, but we --
(laughter)
-- found out that they were there.
And one of the ways that we deliver the best
education in the world is by empowering our students
with the best technology in the world.
To help inspire us, we invited students from
across the country to send their videos about how
their schools use technology today, how they
might use it in the future.
So kids got to -- got their cameras out and they
went to work and we received about 2,500
videos -- 2,500, and we watched them all.
I did not personally watch them all, but --
(laughter)
-- the White House watched them all.
And today, the Oscar goes to --
(laughter)
-- all of you because among all the incredible
videos we received, yours stood out.
And in my official capacity as President,
let me just say these movies are awesome.
(laughter)
Like all great movies,
yours do something special.
They tell a story.
They help us understand in this case the amazing
things that are going on in classrooms and how
technology is empowering our students and
broadening their imaginations and
challenging them to dream bigger and reach further.
Now, here is the spoiler alert.
There is some wonderful stuff going on out there,
so even before you have seen some of these films,
you need to know that what these filmmakers have
displayed is the incredible innovation
and creativity of this generation coming up.
You've got Gabrielle Nafie and Miles Pilchik from
ScienceTech Kids in New York.
(applause)
Hi.
They showed us that their class isn't just dreaming
about going into space; they're actually
going into space.
They designed density experiments and used a 3D
printer to build tiny satellites --
(laughter)
-- to hold them.
And then they actually launched a giant balloon
that carried their satellites up to the edge
of space -- very cool --
(laughter)
-- so they could collect the data.
(laughter)
When I was in elementary school, I was not
launching satellites into space.
You've got Alex Emerson who showed us how his
sixth -- his eighth grade class at Brookwood School
in Massachusetts changed the definition of pen pals
by video chatting with students in Uganda.
And one of the things they did was collaborate on
cook stoves that helped families in rural areas
cook safer and with cleaner energy.
And it doesn't stop with what's possible today.
These videos show how students are imagining the
future, classrooms that are fully accessible
to classmates with disabilities,
individualized learning platforms that you can
carry around in your pocket, and that's the
kind of creativity and imagination we want all of
our young people to embrace.
We cannot wait to see more of that innovative spirit
later this year when we host our first ever White
House Maker Fair.
We've --
(applause)
We already have a White House Science Fair.
This new event is going to highlight how Americans
young and old, tinkerers and inventors, are
imagining and designing and building tools and
machines that will open our minds
and power our economy.
We want to bring this spirit, including more
technology, into the classroom and that's why I
launched something we're calling ConnectED, our
initiative to close the technology gap in our
schools and connect 99 percent of America's
students to high speed broadband internet within
five years because when the average American
school has about the same internet bandwidth as the
average American home but serves 200 times
as many people.
That means our students are at a disadvantage.
And when less than 30 percent of our students
have access to true high speed internet in their
classroom while in South Korea students have 100
percent, that's like waving the white flag when
it comes to our global competition.
But here's what I think.
In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi at our
coffee shops, then we should demand it in our
schools and in our libraries.
So --
(applause)
-- this is not something we can do alone and
as a consequence, I picked up the phone and started
asking business leaders to help bring our schools and
libraries into the 21st century.
They did not just answer the call;
they came up huge.
So earlier this month, some of our biggest
technology companies committed to more than
$750 million in computers and software and broadband
access to put our kids in classrooms on the cutting
edge of technology.
Today, I'm proud to announce that more
companies are getting on board.
Prezi will provide
over $100 million in presentation products to
help students develop ready-to-work skills in
slideshows and creative communications.
So give them a big round of applause.
(applause)
We're very proud of them for that.
And Adobe will make available, for free, more
than $300 million in creating -- creative and
teaching software so that kids can turn their ideas
into films and graphics and teachers can deliver
lessons electronically.
So give Adobe a big round of applause.
(applause)
I'm proud of them.
Thank you.
If you're quick at math, which I know you are,
then you'll see that this means we've delivered over
$1 billion in technology commitments to our
schools, which isn't too shabby for one month.
But there's still more to do, and we need even more
companies to get on board, because, thanks
to innovative schools and teachers and students like
all of you, we know what school might look like in
the century ahead -- classrooms wired to space,
students who are fluent in coding and web design,
teachers collaborating on projects with peers
around the world.
We've always imagined giving every child the
chance to learn like that, and with these private
sector partners, we're helping to make
it a reality.
So let me leave you with a wonderful example of the
difference that technology can make.
Kyle Winetraub is a seventh grader at
David Posnack Jewish Day School in Florida.
And last year, he was diagnosed with lymphoma,
had to move to
Pennsylvania for treatment.
In the past, that meant Kyle would have had to
leave his school and his friends behind.
But every day, Kyle puts on his school uniform and
without even leaving his room in Pennsylvania, he
goes to school in Florida because he has a special
robot with a high-tech video feed that goes to
class for him.
And even as he's getting medical treatment and
fights to get better, Kyle can keep up with his
studies, controlling his robot from his
computer at him.
And through a video feed, Kyle can see his
classmates, they can see him.
So the robot doesn't just have a name.
They just say, "Hey, Kyle."
And he can look around the classroom, move down the
hallways, even sit with his friends at lunch.
And I know the teachers think this is just
extraordinary as well because if there's one
thing you don't want to do is start a food fight
with a robot.
(laughter)
And so everybody kind of seems to be better behaved
when Kyle's robot's around.
Kyle was here today.
He did not bring his robot, but everybody, give
Kyle a big round of applause.
(applause)
Kyle's story is just one example of what's possible
when we put our extraordinary technologies
to work for our students and our schools.
And that's what this film festival is about.
So to all the young film makers out there,
remember, you are much better at this than
all the adults.
(laughter)
It's your imagination and your creativity and your
innovation and your dreams that are going to help
this country move forward.
Keep up the great work.
We could not be prouder of you.
Your parents are proud of you, I know that,
but I am too.
And American's counting on you.
So, with that, let's start the show.
All right?
Thank you guys.
(applause)
(video playing)
>> Conan O'Brien: Hi there.
I'm Conan O'Brien.
I've been asked to introduce a montage of
some of the highlights from the over 2,500 videos
the White House Student Film Festival
has received.
The President personally asked me, because I've
done over 2,500 shows, and the President said my
highlights said my highlights would also take
about 5 minutes.
(laughter)
>> Mr. President.
Anyways, enjoy.
(music playing)
(video ends)
>> Kal Penn: How's it going, everybody?
Hold on.
I met all of you guys -- film makers back there.
How's it going?
(cheering)
That's better.
That was the reaction you had backstage.
Welcome to the first-ever White House
Student Film Festival.
That was an incredible introduction, great
remarks by the President.
You guys are all currently in the East Room
of the White House.
This is actually the biggest room
in the White House.
Abigail Adams used to hang her laundry
to dry in here.
President of France was in here about two weeks ago
meeting with the President.
And I'm pretty sure this is the first time they've
put two huge movie screens in here.
So you guys are a pretty big deal.
Now a couple of months ago, the White House
challenged kids from all over the country to create
short films illustrating the importance of
technology in the classroom and imagining
how it'll change the classrooms of the future.
And all of you here stepped up to the plate.
We actually received more than 2500 entries, way
more than I thought they'd get.
That's huge.
Now some of the work that we do on the President's
committee on the arts and humanities is in making
sure that students in the highest needs schools all
across the country have access to teachers and
classes that nurture exactly the kind of
creativity and imagination that we've seen in the
films you submitted.
The arts complement and enhance the use
of technology in building creative learners and
thinkers, like yourselves.
And I thought it was particularly amazing,
having seen the films we're about to see, that
almost all of the films that were selected have
really strong and very high
quality artistic components.
You guys really came up with your own scoring,
original music, your own animation, thoughtful film
making, unique drawing, really
incredible creative writing.
Without all of this, the technology that created
the devices on which you made your art would be
worthless by themselves.
As we like say, the iPads can't movies themselves.
Young women and men like you, who have had their
creative talents nurtured at home and by great
teachers, you're the ones that do.
So let's get on with that creativity.
I want everybody else to see this stuff.
We watched all of these films and picked 16
official selections, and we're here to watch them,
and I've got some pretty cool folks here to help me
introduce them.
The first category of films that we're
celebrating is the young visionaries.
And you guys are real pioneers here.
These films were so artistic and outside the
box that we had to actually create a whole
new category for them.
So without further ado, let's check them out.
(applause)
(video playing)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: We live in a world fueled by
technology and invention.
We are shaped by what we learn, touch, and see.
We start with dreams.
Female Speaker: I want to be
a pro volleyball player.
>> Female Speaker: Fashion Designer.
>> Male Speaker: Doctor.
>> Female Speaker: I want to be a teacher
or a nurse.
>> Female Speaker: I've been given the proper
tools, manifest themselves in the real world.
There's skill building and creativity.
>> Aditya Koopula: Robotics is a very
interesting field because it combines engineering
and programming, and both of those skills can
be very useful in the classroom.
Our society as a whole is moving towards a more
technology-oriented world.
Programming teaches you a lot about creativity,
ingenuity, and problem-solving.
You have to be able to think outside the box in
order to solve the problems that arise
in your programs.
Chris Johnson: My name is Chris Johnson and
I teach photography.
I'm lucky enough to have a small amount of DSLR
cameras for this class.
We also have some limited software for our
computers, have a great studio light that has
(inaudible) Students are able to create things that
would not be possible.
>> Kayla Briet: From seeing at a microscopic
level, the cells and DNA that make up life itself,
to seeing some of the greatest monuments that
make up the world we live in.
At the click of a button, knowledge, ideas, and
creations of all languages are able to be instantly
shared in this vast interconnected web of
information we like to call the internet.
So maybe one day, we could create something
just as revolutionary.
But through this new eye, we also see poverty,
corruption, and struggle, wounds in which we must
mend as global citizens of this world.
Technology does not only shape the way we see this
world; it shapes the way we see people.
We see the beauty that exists
in everyone, equally.
Let the classroom be your drawing board and social
media our stage.
Ask your school how they will use technology to
lead education, take a picture.
My name is Kayla Briet and this is our time to become
the thinkers, builders, and creators
of our generation.
We are the 21st century.
And as always, stay curious.
(applause)
(music playing)
(applause)
>> Female Speaker: At High-Tech High, our number
one focus is that students make a difference in the
world, and our guiding philosophy is that
technology helps students make a difference
in the world.
Take a current project my classmates and I are
working on, for example.
Beyond the Crossfire is basically a social justice
research project where we are seeking
to answer two questions.
Then end product of Beyond the Crossfire will be a
documentary and which will present our ideas on how
to reduce the amount of gun violence
in the United States.
Now, documentaries cost money -- a lot of money.
And we don't have a lot of money.
In fact, we estimated that Beyond the Crossfire will
cost at least $18,000 to produce.
If this was 1980, we would have done lemonade stands,
bake sales, and car washes to raise the money.
But this isn't 1980.
So we decided to raise money for our
documentary on Kickstarter.
Soon, we were doing interviews about our
Kickstarter campaign on the radio, TV, and online.
In the final 24 hours of our Kickstarter campaign,
we decided to take a step back from raising money
and instead to take action and make a difference.
We spent the morning with our second-grade buddies.
And then we gave away sweets to students in our
school to thank them for keeping our school
sweet and joyful.
During this day of mentoring and acts of
kindness, we got some disturbing news.
A student had opened fire at Arapahoe High School.
We saw a news footage of students leaving the
school with their hands above
their heads, being frisked.
We had to let the people of Arapahoe know that
we stood with them, that the nation stood with them.
We discussed the events of Arapahoe within our
classroom and our team of 45.
And we decided we wanted to sing to show our
solidarity with the students of Arapahoe.
And then, thanks to one of our classmates, Rachel,
we decided to march.
(singing)
That night, we put the video of our
march on YouTube.
And soon, students from Arapahoe were reaching
out to us.
(singing)
Our videos and news and social media had connected
us to students all over the nation.
Affected by gun violence and those determined to
take action to prevent gun violence.
Now we still have a documentary to make and
(unintelligible) to share, but this documentary
is coming soon and we can't wait to share it with you.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: Technology is a fun way to
learn, can help you be successful in each term.
Gone are the days with the trucky clucky gizmos.
Here comes the tech of the cosmos.
Affordability is what they're looking for.
Come on over and climb aboard the
(unintelligible) with cool devices that will
help the brain.
The laptop and iPad are many device, these techno
things that are known to entice.
It's time for mathematics and what do they learn?
A huge problem that is quite a concern.
Reach into their bag and get their device, but
gadgets like calculators will always be precise.
Technology, technology, technology.
(applause)
>> Jason Perry: Misconceptions of today's
youth and technology revolve around Twitter,
Instagram, and a generation disconnected
from the real world.
Here at Wilson, we put those misconceptions
to rest and become technological ambassadors
to real world issues.
Whether it's launching a media empire, standing up
for social justice, or just bring smiles on
people's faces, Wilson has become the inspirator and
facilitator of all things technology.
>> Alicia Oluhara: Goo morning, Wilson Tigers.
Welcome to today's announcements.
My name is Alicia Olehara.
Here are your morning announcements.
As teenagers, we don't really know what we want
to do in life, but by taking this mass media
class, it opened my eye.
From script writing to filming to directing and
editing, and even entering this White House
competition, I discovered my real
passion in life: film.
>> Kadesha Bonds: We screen and showcase all
our films in the class, and they typically vote
on the best ones.
And I tell my students all the time the cream
is going to rise to the top.
>> Male Speaker: Technology really, when
taught well how to use it, is the reason I'm able to
do what I do.
I'm using Final Cut Pro.
I use it to edit all my projects.
This is what these two computers are where the
magic happens for a TSN.
>> Jason Perry: Whether it's launching
your own TV station.
>> Alicia Oluhara: Or pursuing a career in film.
>> Jason Perry: Technology offered by Woodrow
Wilson's Mass Media Program has allowed us to
all chase our dreams.
We thank you.
I'm Jason Perry.
>> Alicia Oluhara: And I'm Alicia Olehara
And this is Wilson.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Shelly Ortiz: Hello, my name is Shelly Ortiz and
I attend Metropolitan Arts Institute
in Phoenix, Arizona.
Throughout the five years that I have been attending
Metro, I have had the ability to challenge
myself and succeed in my academic coursework.
I have been also able to pursue my deep passion for
film making and enhance my artistic talents
as a film maker.
I have been able to direct, shoot, and edit
six films, along with acting in some
along the way.
I have used computers specified for editing,
professional camera for film making, and other
important, smaller pieces of film technology that
makes films happen.
Without access to this equipment, I could have
never advanced as a film maker.
Today I have three short films in the making for my
senior year here at Metro.
One of the films that I'm making this year is about
my father and the extraordinarily
challenging childhood experiences he endured in
and out of an orphanage.
By making this film, my father has been able to
tell his story and start to let go of some of the
pain he's been holding onto
since early childhood.
By doing this documentary, I'm hoping to be able to
help others who have been through similar
experiences cope by telling their story.
Making this film has helped my father, but has
also revealed to me the effects my father has had
on my life.
He has become an inspiration for overcoming
adversity in my own life.
But most importantly, the documentary process has
brought my father, me, and our family together.
I believe that the technology Metro has
provided for me is incredibly important.
Without access to powerful technology, I would have
never been able to discover my passion for
film or develop the technical skills that I
have earned these past five years.
Without the technology given to me, I would have
never been able to develop the relationship with my
father that I have now.
Some people think technology alienates you
from others.
But the truth is, that depends on how you use it.
(applause)
>>Kal Penn: That was awesome, guys.
Now here to introduce us to the second category of
student films is an American science icon whom
I'm pretty sure we all know pretty well.
He's probably been in most of our living rooms at
some point, teaching us about electricity, the
water cycle, space, molecules.
I mean, seriously, there's this thing called the
planetary society, and this guy directs it.
He's a scientist, and engineer, a comedian, an
author, and an inventor, and he's on a mission to
help everyone everywhere better understand and
appreciate the science that makes the world work.
Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
(applause)
Bill Nye: Thank you, Kal.
It is an honor to address you today.
I very much appreciate you including me.
What makes us human is our ability to tell stories.
And what makes technology possible is science.
And science, I claim, is among the best ideas
humans have ever had.
In order to tell the world about it, we use -- we
will use our technology to tell stories about it.
Now in my opinion, what keeps the United States in
the game economically around the world is our
ability to innovate, our ability to have new ideas
and to present them to other
people in inspiring ways.
And so that's why I am honored to introduce the
next category, our future innovators.
So please roll that digital medium.
(laughter)
(applause)
(music playing)
(bell ringing)
>> Female Speaker: Hey guys, remember --
remember, your presentations
are due Monday.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
>> Male Speaker: Okay, what's the largest star
in the galaxy?
>> Male Speaker: VY Canis Majoris
is a hyper giant star.
>> Male Speaker: Dad, I can fly to
the moon someday.
>> Male Speaker: That's pretty far away.
>> Male Speaker: Pip, do you really think I can go
to space someday?
>> Male Speaker: The journey of a thousand
miles begins with a single step.
(guitar music playing)
>> Male Speaker: Bishop to queen four.
>> Male Speaker: Check.
>> Male Speaker: Bishop to rook four.
Check mate.
>> Male Speaker: On its own now, but with Columbia
near at hand, it coasted around to the back side of
the moon, and there, while out of direct
communication with the Earth, it fired its engine
to slow its descent to a touchdown on the near side
of the moon.
>> Male Speaker: It's one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.
>> Male Speaker: Will this work?
>> Male Speaker: (inaudible) and make.
>> Female Speaker: Start the thread (inaudible)
bring it to the surface, move up diagonally to the
right, and pick up (inaudible)
>> Male Speaker: And we have like dry ice cream,
something like that?
>> Male Speaker: Ordering freeze dried ice cream.
>> Male Speaker: What are you doing that for?
>> Male Speaker: For our trip to the moon.
>> Female Speaker: Veterinarians save many
animals each and every day.
There are many animals out there that can
use veterinarians.
I want to be a veterinarian so I could
help those animals.
(applause)
>> Female Speaker: Tha was lovely.
Next up is Noah.
(music playing)
>> Male Speaker: It's one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: This is Past.
And the classroom in the past,
they had chalkboards.
>> Male Speaker: A board with eraser and chalk.
>> Female Speaker: Yeah, all you could use is a
piece of chalk and you would get chalk
on your hands.
>> Male Speaker: That is old school.
>> Female Speaker: And they also had to use
a feather and some ink to write.
>> Male Speaker: This is the feather with the ink.
>> Female Speaker: I would get tired of writing
with a feather.
>> Female Speaker: Now there are computers and
it's more easier.
>> Male Speaker: We have a bunch of different
technology in our classroom, like a
Promethean board.
>> Female Speaker: This, and Promethean board.
>> Male Speaker: You can use your finger to do
anything on it.
>> Male Speaker: Promethean board is used
to see stuff bigger.
>> Female Speaker: You can play games on it, you can
send messages, you can look up stuff.
>> Male Speaker: Like educational stuff.
>> Male Speaker: The future, I think, is going
to be -- the Promethean is going to be bigger and the
swirly things of the Promethean board is swirl
if you have the right answer.
>> Male Speaker: You could download off the math
games and all of that on little tablet.
>> Female Speaker: There's no wires.
>> Male Speaker: A shirt that has a little button
on it, and you could press that and then this
computer thing would come up.
>> Female Speaker: And with this table, it's a
teeny table, but when you look at it, it looks huge.
>> Female Speaker: You put on a hat and a keyboard
pops right out of it.
You type in any question you have and it just pops
into your brain, like that!
>> Female Speaker: My name is Sidney.
>> Female Speaker: My name is Eleanor.
>> Female Speaker: (unintelligible)
>> Male Speaker: Johann.
>> Female Speaker: Veronica.
>> Female Speaker: Malaika.
>> Male Speaker: My name is Michiah.
>> Female Speaker: My name is Emily
and I am the future.
>> Male Speaker: And I am the future.
>> Female Speaker: Future.
>> Male Speaker: Future.
>> Male Speaker: The future.
>> Male Speaker: I am the future.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: A teacher speaks to
a student (unintelligible) four years.
This is a rigid model of education but a changing
world demands new approaches.
Creative thinking requires new
and complex challenges.
Imagine, teachers should take a list, allowing
students to innovate, to use technology, to create
and share their work, aiming to exceed, rather
than to meet their goals and put stuff
into our classroom.
>> Male Speaker: (inaudible) drew some
cartoonish looking figures.
>> Male Speaker: Mr. Wood, Mr. Wood, come
to the 21st century.
>> Speakers: (unintelligible)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: Tha was awesome.
Can we do that?
>> Male Speaker: The art is about creating,
imaginating, and innovating, not copying.
>> Male Speaker: You're right.
Be creative and push this.
>> Male Speaker: What about
a Keith Haring drawing?
>> Male Speaker: What about a splatter painting?
>> Male Speaker: We could do both.
>> Female Speaker: Yeah.
>>Speakers: It needs more glitter.
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: Let's send this over
to Mill Street.
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: Come on guys, (unintelligible)
(music playing)
>> Male Speaker: Okay, guys, check out what
Mr. Hoff just tweeted over to me.
I'm going to put it up on the Smart Board.
(music playing)
>> Male Speaker: Okay, so now we know what
we need to be.
Let's top that.
Go.
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: Let's give that (inaudible)
it (inaudible) animation project.
How are we going to top that?
(music playing)
>>Male Speaker: Maybe we can make something
like animation performance.
>> Female Speaker: Why don't we do something like
blue man group?
(applause)
>> Kal Penn: These are really awesome, you guys.
(laughter)
Just as you graduate and become professional film
makers, my name is Kal Penn.
I'm an actor.
I'll be looking for jobs -- (laughter) --
in your films.
Here to introduce our third category of films
is an astrophysicist.
That means he's studied the physics
of the universe, seriously.
He's received 19 honorary doctorate degrees and the
NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, which is
the highest award given by NASA
to a non-government citizen.
And he got started at the Bronx High
School of Science.
Ladies and gentlemen, here to introduce our third
block of films is Neil deGrasse Tyson.
(applause)
>>Neil deGrasse Tyson: I was born and raised in
New York City and you can't see the night sky
from there, really.
No one in New York has a relationship with the
universe because you look up, you see a building.
And you look higher up, you still see
that same building.
That's how tall (laughs) they are.
And so for me, way back, many moons ago, my first
encounter with the night sky was in our local
planetarium -- the Hayden Planetarium, where I now
serve as director.
And at the time, there was this technology that
delivered the stars to a curved ceiling, the dome
of the planetarium.
And I was transported.
In fact, I think the universe chose me.
And I knew we had access to the universe because at
the time, we were going to the moon, the moon.
As the President noted, there's a certain sort of
inspiration that science and technology can give
us that makes us think about tomorrow.
Create a tomorrow that you can imagine.
Without access to science and its cousin,
technology, there's no real way to think about
a future that you can then create.
And so I see this talent in the room, these kids
with this energy, energy adults wish they had --
(laughter) -- putting it to the service of enabling
us to think about a tomorrow.
For this next category of films.
Imagine the world of tomorrow.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: School.
A place that doesn't have to be limited to the
classroom yet often is.
A place where information is forced into our minds
and dumped into our memories without
a second thought.
They tell you the more you absorb the endless
details, the better grades you can get, and the
better college, the better job,
and the better whatever.
Even with over seven billion people, my world
is more connected than my parents' world.
I live in a world with millions of kids who at
any given moment can video chat with each other 24/7.
My social world is becoming globally
connected, yet my education
is so painfully localized.
What does my curriculum have to do with
Rwanda or Brazil?
There are billions of people on
Earth to learn with.
How can we keep education confined within four walls
when the rest of the world is so accessible?
Why not fill my classroom with the students
of the world?
Meet Rich Lehrer.
He's my eighth-grade science teacher.
He's been tapping into students to try to solve
global issues such as the use of inefficient cook
stoves in developing countries, and not just
his students but students from all over the world.
>> Rich Lehrer: So I've always been a teacher who
wants to make sure that students see the real-life
applications of the concepts
that I'm teaching.
And what I wanted to do was have a project
of which not only students in my school would be doing
some design challenge, but then we could have other
schools around the world do the same design work.
>> Female Speaker: We did that for
our (inaudible) can.
We cut holes right here so that when you put the pot
on top, there's -- air can get in.
>> Rich Lehrer: We weren't just solving problems for
the sake of solving problems, but we were
actually looking to, in an eighth-grade science
class, have students generate solutions
to problems that were real-life problems, and
other people around the world were
also trying solve.
So each of the schools built similar, if not the
same, representative stoves.
We tested them, and once we had a chance to do
that, there was some amazing conversations
between students in each of the countries about the
stoves they produced, about how they performed,
but also topics beyond that.
>> Female Speaker: So this guy has razors on the
bottom of his feet and he's skating on ice, and
then that's the stick.
>> Rich Lehrer: The face-to-face real-time
Skype conversations that we were able to have are
just such an unbelievable educational tool.
Students understanding the world, understanding
themselves, understanding some of the challenges
that we're facing, talking through those, helping to
solve those international collaborative groups is
going to change the way education is done.
(applause)
(music playing)
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Male Speaker: Hi, I'm (inaudible) and I
(inaudible) for years.
>> Female Speaker: Hi, my name is Gabby and
I'm a cytech kid.
>> Male Speaker: How do you use technology
in our classroom?
>> Female Speaker: Our 3D printer helps us think it
and create it.
>> Male Speaker: Eve (inaudible) finger
on an iPad and make ideas come to life.
Need a (inaudible) pencil holder?
We 3D print it.
>> Female Speaker: We color our drawing and make
our picture pop out of the page.
Speakers; It's augmented reality.
>> Female Speaker: After we learn about electric
circuits, we lay out models using conductive
Play Doh.
We also learn to make all kinds of robots.
>> Male Speaker: Technology helps us learn
engineering and build amazing structures.
>> Female Speaker: After this, girls like
me may become engineers.
>>Male Speaker: We use technology in all the
experiments into space.
>> Female Speaker: We 3D printed our satellites
called poncets (spelled phonetically), put our
experiments into sight, and blast it off into the
edge of space.
It was out of this world!
>> Male Speaker: Teachers (inaudible) a tiny
computer that measure the temperature and humidity
in space as a (inaudible) space, and it worked.
In our class, the sky's the limit.
>> Female Speaker: We received our experiments
back and observed the results.
Our marshmallow expanded and our popcorn
popped in (inaudible).
It looked like Rice Crispies.
Some of our classmates had gummy bears, chocolate,
magnet, and even a cactus plant and
got amazing results.
>> Speakers: We love STEAM: science,
technology, engineering, and math plus art.
STEAM rocks.
(applause)
>> Kal Penn: I guarantee you I would have done
better in chemistry if I had all of that stuff --
(laughter)
-- when I was in school.
Here to introduce the next round of films is someone
who knows a thing or two about making movies --
in fact, a lot of things about making movies.
He's the President and CEO of the
American Film Institute.
He's an actual film historian, he's a
television producer who's been nominated for
multiple Emmy Awards, and he's here all the way from
Los Angeles on what I would imagine is a very
busy beginning to your weekend.
So, yeah, he knows a lot about movies.
Ladies and gentlemen, Bob Gazelle.
(applause)
>> Bob Gazelle: High on a hill in Hollywood, the
American Film Institute has a film school
for old people.
(laughter)
Its students, believe it or not, are in their 20s.
And when they see how good your films are and when
they hear that you had the opportunity to premier
them at the White House, you might think
they'd be jealous.
No.
They will be as excited as we are today here in the
East Room to know that the future of the art form is
bright and to know that the future of the art
form is you.
On behalf of all of us at AFI, congratulations to
each and to all of the film makers here today.
(applause)
Our fourth and final category is called
Building Bridges: Technology's Role in
Bringing Us Together and Inspiring Hope.
Let's take a look.
(music playing)
(music playing)
(music playing)
>> Female Speaker: Hello, how are you?
>> Female Speaker: Hi, how are you?
>>Male Speaker: You must be Iman.
>> Female Speaker: Hi.
>> Male Speaker: Ah, come on in.
>> Male Speaker: Folks, this is Iman.
She comes to us all the way from Malaysia, and
she'll be joining our class this term.
We are currently looking at cultures and
how they form.
Could you tell us a thing or two about your culture?
I don't want to put you on the spot.
Maybe think about it.
You could tell us something tomorrow?
(music playing)
>>Male Speaker: So, Iman, were you able to think
of a thing or two you could tell us about your
culture, Malaysia, your home?
>> Female Speaker: I'l show you.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Kyle Winetraub: Hi, my name's Kyle Winetraub.
I'm a seventh grader at David Posnick
Jewish Day School.
I really like going to school here.
Everyone is so nice and school's
a great learning environment.
At Posnick, one of the reasons I like it so much
is that the school and my teachers use technology in
every class I have.
My Posnick experience is unique because I go to
school through a robot.
I am being treated for lymphoma in Philadelphia.
>> Female Speaker: Hello visitor.
Kyle is about to arrive.
>> Male Speaker: Without the robot, I would be in
school without any interaction.
I wouldn't see my friends.
I wouldn't be doing much at all.
>>Male Speaker: This robot's amazing.
>> Richard Cuenca: At our school, technology is an
integral part of the learning experience.
Our school is a one-to-one laptop school, where all
of our students in our upper school
have a laptop.
On that laptop, we have amazing technology that's
called Dyno, which allows our teachers to send
slides and interact with our students on an
individual basis and really differentiate
instruction, which is the key to the emphasis of
technology at our school.
All of our classrooms are interactive and have
Brightlink Epson software, which turns all of our
white boards into interactive boards, which
allows our teachers to really make learning come
alive and make it a interactive experience for
all of our students.
>> Marni Rosenblatt: Whe I discovered that there
was a student at our school that was diagnosed
with cancer, I wanted to do something to help him
stay a part of our class activity.
I helped raise the money to get a robot that would
let him interact with his friends and still learn at
the other school.
>> Kyle Winetraub: I've been through a lot.
This robot has really impacted me tremendously.
Without it, I would probably not be in school.
Without the robot, I would not have access to my old
life, my friends, or my studies.
Life would be awful without the robot.
I have infinite gratitude for it.
>> Robin Weintraub: I can honestly say that I truly
think that it's the Vigo saving Kyle's life because
if it wasn't for the Vigo, we probably wouldn't have
stayed here for treatment of Kyle.
I don't know what would have happened.
It really gave him the security and the sense of
belonging and continuity that he needed.
>> Female Speaker: Kyle has left the building.
(applause)
(music playing)
>> Male Speaker: Hi, my name is Alex and I
am 13 years old.
I have dyslexia and dysgraphia, which affects
my reading and writing skills.
In second grade, I felt really left behind because
all my other friends have started reading.
And I didn't really start reading for a while.
In sixth grade, I switched schools because my last
school was really hard and in my new school, they
gave every single student a tablet to use to
research important information and to type
instead of write out everything.
It's easier for me to learn and focus because
I have technology.
My reading went from a third-grade level to
a sixth-grade level in the first year.
Not feeling left behind feels really nice.
There's a lot less stress.
(music playing)
When I get older, I want to be a
entomologist or a biologist because I really
like science.
I like biology because I get to learn
about the environment.
I really like bugs because they're interesting and
they look alien-like.
I really like nature and I like to camp.
I also like to do any sport outside.
I like to be outside because it makes me happy.
My school is a good example of how everybody
can benefit from technology because
everybody learns differently.
(applause)
>> Kal Penn: All right.
Well, it has been a pretty solid hour-and-a-half.
We learned how technology can teach new concepts,
break down barriers, and
anticipate future realities.
You guys brought us into your classrooms,
introduced us to your friends, your backyards,
your teachers, and your robots.
And you brought incredible art and creativity to all
of your projects.
You know, we heard from the President and the
First Lady, met some world-class scientists and
film experts, too, which is all fun.
Now I'd like our introducers
to come up, please.
And on behalf of all of us, we wanted all of the
film makers to please stand up and give
yourselves a round of applause.
(applause)
Thank you all for joining us.
That is a wrap on the first
White House Film Festival.
Thank you so much.
(applause)