VIDEO: Parkville Students Launch Obama's Plan to 'Win the Future'

John Vincent didn't need a visit from the president of the United States to confirm the value of the education that Parkville Middle School has given his children.

Vincent, a Dundalk resident, has sent three children to the science and technology magnet school whose eighth-grade students demonstrated their scientific prowess to President Barack Obama on Monday.

"All of my kids went to St. Clement's and then to Parkville Middle," Vincent said.  "Coming here was an amazing change to what you thought public education was."

Vincent's son Collin was one of the 29 students in an eighth-grade gifted-and-talented environmental science class that Obama visited on Monday.

Collin's brother Corey, 17, also went to Parkville Middle and is now a senior at Eastern Tech. Their sister, Caitlyn, was a Parkville Middle student when she died in 2007 of myocarditis, a virus that attacks the heart.

"If I continue to do science, technology, engineering and mathematics, then I will have a successful career," Collin Vincent said. "And I don't know what I will be in the future because it might be a job that hasn't even been invented." 

Obama wants to see more students and teachers pursuing science and technology education. He visited the school with his budget director, Jack Lew, and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, on the same day the president delivered his $3.73 trillion budget  to Congress.

The proposed 2012 budget calls for hiring 10,000 new science, technology, engineering and math teachers over the next two years even as it seeks to freeze annual domestic spending over the next five years.

"Even as we cut out things that we can afford to do without, we have a responsibility to invest in those areas that will have the biggest impact in our future—and that’s especially true when it comes to education," Obama said in a speech at Parvkille. "Right now, this school, Parkville, is preparing our kids for the jobs and careers of the 21st century.... Students in the magnet program here start out by taking courses in each of four subjects—from applied engineering to environmental science—gradually focusing their studies on one subject over the next couple of years."

He added, "These are the kinds of subjects and skills that our kids need to achieve success in the 21st century."

County officials—including County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and schools Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston—gathered for a 3 p.m. press conference to discuss Obama's visit. During the meeting, Kamenetz said he agreed with Obama's focus on science and technology. 

As a councilman, however, Kamenetz frequently spoke out against the county's magnet school program—questioning its necessity and claiming it draws down the number of good students from other schools.

After the press conference, the county executive said he wants to bring more science- and technology-based programs to schools throughout the county.

"My goal is to be sure that every student has the same opportunities," Kamenetz said.

The president's nine-minute presentation on the budget was broadcast from a second-floor classroom. It was also the only portion of Obama's 50-minute visit that all students at the school were able to see.

During a brief classroom visit, students demonstrated to Obama an environmental science project that paired tinfoil models of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and video technology, said Susan Yoder, chairwoman of the school's science program.

Yoder teaches 90 children in three eighth-grade gifted-and-talented science classes.

The project is typically taught later in the year but Yoder said she moved it up when she found out Obama would be visiting her classroom.

"It's very hands-on and provides a good visual to see the kids working," Yoder said. "The president visited each station and asked about what (the students) were doing."

Ugonna Mbaekwe was one of the eighth graders in the classroom during the lesson overseen by the president. At the afternoon press conference following Obama's visit, Mbaekwe told the audience about her experience.

"When the president came into the room my heart just stopped," she said. "After a while you realize he's just a normal person.  

"It was really awesome how he was interested in what we were doing," she added. 

Obama also connected with eighth-grade student Kiera Lane.

"My heart was pounding and I was nervous, then I thought, 'OK, he's just another person,'" Kiera said.  "He's interested in what we're doing—it was like we'd known him forever. He was just another person we could talk to."

School and county officials were at a loss to explain how the middle school came to be selected for the visit.

"We've asked the same question," said Charles Herndon, a spokesman for the school system. "We're just enjoying the day and enjoying the moment."

Buddy Parker, principal at the school for the last four years, learned of the visit in a phone call from the White House on Feb. 2.

"From that time on, it's been an incredible ride," Parker said.

For Vincent, it was no mystery.

"I've been proud of Parkville for years," Vincent said.  "It's more like a family than a school."