Given the opportunity to opt out of listening to President Obama’s national speech to school children on Tuesday, few students in the Keys did.</p><p>“It wasn’t even 1 percent of our student population,” Key Largo School Principal Annette Martinson said. “We had under a dozen, but for those parents who did not want their children to watch the speech, we executed what they asked us to do.”</p><p>“We only had a very, very small number who opted out,” said Marian Smith, principal of Horace O’Bryant Middle School in Key West.</p><p>Of the approximately 720 students at Horace O’Bryant, “only six opted out,” she said.</p><p>“I like the idea, personally, of people stepping up and giving good information to our kids, trying to inspire them. Anybody that can inspire our kids to stay in school and do better is wonderful. Especially in middle school, role models are always important.”</p><p>In his noon speech broadcast to schools nationwide, the president reflected on his childhood and education and gave some decidedly apolitical advice to kids, saying, “I hope ya’ll all wash your hands a lot” to avoid catching or spreading the flu.</p><p>Some school districts, including Monroe’s, gave students the option of not watching the speech due to concerns by some that it would be political. If they chose not to watch it, they had to read something instead.</p><p>In Marathon, Principal Barbara Wright at Stanley Switlik Elementary School said “only a few” of her 518 students opted out of watching the speech.</p><p>“Students were very attentive and interested,” she says. “I thought it was very inspiring. His message was not unlike the message we give to students ... to do their best and work hard.”</p><p>Fran Herrin, principal of Gerald Adams Elementary in Key West, said only “a handful” of her 475 students opted out.</p><p>“Everybody seemed to think it was a very positive, motivational speech,” she says. “It’s not going to be a part of curriculum. We really think parents educated our children at home. We presented an opportunity for our kids to hear the president speak.”</p><p>Obama’s primary thrust was tying the importance of education to the importance of our nation’s future, while taking responsibility for yourself and your actions.</p><p>“We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect.... If you don’t do that — if you quit on school — you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.”