U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will deliver the commencement address at the Denver School of Science and Technology, a home-state consolation prize resulting from the President’s High School Commencement Challenge.
DSST was one of three finalists to win a speech by President Barack Obama, but the White House announced last week that Obama had instead chosen Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan as winner of the contest. The White House announced that cabinet secretaries would deliver commencement addresses at the other finalist schools.
Salazar said in a statement that he was proud that “a school in my home state…was chosen by the White House and the Department of Education as a finalist…
“Now more than ever, it is critical that our schools are doing all they can to prepare our students for careers in science and technology,” said Salazar. “I look forward to congratulating the students and faculty in person on behalf of the President for this honor.”
DSST’s students made videos in an attempt to persuade Obama to deliver the commencement address in Denver.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
