I TAKE great pleasure in welcoming Mrs. French to the White House: She has been chosen as the Teacher of the Year, and I must say I'm delighted personally to be able to pay tribute to a woman who has done exceptional work in the field of education, who has devoted her life to it, particularly in the field of mathematics--one of our disciplines which we accept with some reluctance. And we are glad to have you come here and in this way not only honor you, Mrs. French, but honor all the thousands of other teachers upon whom the future of our country so much depends. We entrust to our teachers our most valuable resource, our children, for very vital years. And what happens to them, really, depends upon you and your colleagues.
So I think it is very appropriate that the Office of Education, Look magazine, and the different State Councils of Education should all be participating in singling out a very appropriate winner.
Mrs. French, we are glad to see you, and would you say a word about mathematics and education.
Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. in the Rose Garden. Mrs. Marjorie L. French, chosen "Teacher of the Year," is supervisor of the Mathematics Department, grades 7-12, for the Topeka, Kans., public schools. She also teaches three mathematics classes at the Topeka High School.
John F. Kennedy, Remarks at Ceremonies Honoring the Teacher of the Year. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235543
