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Imagine if every school played this Kid President 'pep talk' before class.

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Target First Day Of School

This article originally appeared on 08.27.15


Wisdom comes with age, huh? Don't try telling that to Kid President.

The kid's on fire in this insightful and funny pep talk that we can all most definitely take something from.

Kid President doesn't claim to know it all, but he does know a few things.

And I tell you what, if you wake up in the morning with at least one of these five things on your mind, I bet you'll conquer your day. Kid President tested. Kid President approved.

1. You matter. Don't let anyone make you think differently.

We are all unique and weird and amazing in our own ways. Sure you'll have your ups and downs, but keep that head up. YOU matter.

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It's science, man! And also, you are great.

2. Being a bully is dumb. Don't do it.

Be nice instead. It'll take you further in life, and someday you'll look back on the bullies that you've known and think, "They wasted so much time being horrible to others. No wonder they're still living in their mom's basement!"

Ain't nobody got time for bullies.

3. History is made by ordinary people — like you and me and Justin Timberlake!

If you have an idea that you love, go for it. You never know what'll happen. Maybe you'll invent something or write the next hit song. It's up to you!

Ordinary people who aren't afraid to try (and fail sometimes, too!).

4. If you want to change the world, you'll need to know about it first.

Life is one big school. Rule #1? You gotta show up! Listen, read, ask questions, and most importantly: Be present!

Eek. Can you imagine?

5. Is there a teacher or person in your life who inspires you? Let them know.

Don't let those who've helped you in life go about their days not knowing it. Tell them how much they mean to you. Text them. Call them. Tell them in person. Heck, even write on their Facebook wall! It'll make their day. Promise.

You heard the kid!

It's true: No matter who you are, somebody is learning from you. Everybody is a teacher, and everybody is a student.

So what do you want to teach the world? What do you want to learn? Find out and go do it!

And maybe share this to inspire those around you to do the same. Because honestly, we are so much better when we're being our very best together.

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A billionaire math genius uses his own money to give hundreds of teachers a $15,000-a-year raise.

Jim Simons might be the richest man you've never heard of.

Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images.

Dubbed the world's smartest billionaire by the Financial Times, Simons made obscene amounts of money, in large part, by being better at math than pretty much everyone else.

Photo by Gert-Martin Greuel/Oberwolfach Photo Collection.

In the early 1980s, Simons started a hedge fund. But instead of hiring the usual finance experts...

Pictured here: Business. Photo via iStock.

...he decided to work with mathematicians and scientists to build algorithms to model the behavior of markets to determine the best investment strategy.

Pictured here: Science. Photo via iStock.

His plan totally worked.

As of September 2015, Simons was the 76th wealthiest person in the world, and his former company was worth over $22 billion.

Searching stock photo sites for "raining money" yields a surprising amount of results. Photo via iStock.

So yeah, dude knows a thing or two about the importance of math and science.

But even more importantly, dude knows a thing or two about the importance of people who teach math and science.

Since 2003, Simons has been using a portion of his vast fortune to do something unusual: increase the salaries of New York City math and science teachers the tune of $15,000/year. Each.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

His organization, Math for America, currently pays around 1000 standout New York City public school STEM teachers the annual stipend. Just because they're awesome.

"Instead of beating up the bad teachers,which has created morale problems all through the educational community,in particular in math and science,we focus on celebrating the good ones," Simons said in a recent TED interview.

Teachers in New York City are invited to apply annually for the fellowship.

The organization doesn't look at test scores. Instead, it tries to find educators who have strong backgrounds in their content area, excellent teaching skills, and empathy for students. Those admitted receive the $15,000 stipend each year for four years and are invited to re-apply at the end of the fellowship.

Publicly dissing teachers has become kind of fashionable, especially in politics.

Calls to weed out bad-apple teachers, break up teachers unions, and determine pay based on test outcomes have grown loud in recent years. Between 2000 and 2013, the average teacher salary actually declined, when adjusted for inflation.

"It's hard right now to be really excited to be a teacher nationally," Megan Roberts, executive director of Math for America, told Upworthy. "We really think that, especially in STEM, our role is that we really want to value excellence in teaching and we want to do everything we can to keep teachers in the classroom."

Simons and his staff know that teaching is a important, complicated, and difficult profession — and that part of attracting the best people is making them feel valued.

Photo by Martin Bureau/Getty Images.

That means not only paying them more, but giving them opportunities for continued skill development and a strong professional network.

"I hear people say all the time, 'Oh, he's just a teacher.' Or, 'I'm teaching now, until I do something else,'" Roberts said. "So nationally, the conversation across the country has always been that it's either a field where people go to if they can't do something else, or it's something they do as a pathway to something else."

"Teaching is enough. It's more than enough."

Math for America hopes that Simons' generosity can serve as a national example.

Despite having extensive resources, one man can only do so much. In order to improve the state of America's classrooms, Math for America works to make changing the conversation around teaching a priority nationwide.

"A huge number of our teachers say that they only stay in the classroom because of Math for America," Roberts said.

In the meantime, cheers to Jim Simons for demonstrating what respect for teachers, and the hard work they do, looks like.

Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images.

"When someone like Jim Simons puts his energy behind a really important initiative on education, it's just profound," Roberts said.

Somewhere in New York City, a few thousand public school teenagers are rolling their eyes.

But secretly, I'm sure they couldn't agree more.

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9 people who put a human face on the student debt crisis

"I'm chained to something for the rest of my life."

AJ+ recently released a video aimed at showing the face of student debt in America.

It features nine diverse stories from people with degrees ranging from fine arts to law.

$1.2 trillion. That's how much outstanding student loan debt exists in the U.S.

It's an incredible, terrifying number that can sometimes be hard to even conceptualize. I mean, it's larger than the economy of several small countries.

And over the past 10 years, it has more than tripled.


Which is why the video is so important — it helps humanize the problem.

The video — consisting of a short series of interviews — depicts student debt as the burden it can be, not just on short-term finances, but in terms of career goals, personal relationships, and overall outlook on life.

GIF via AJ+.

A college degree is still seen as valuable, but justifying the amount spent these days can be a challenge.

In a recent Gallup poll, 93% of people polled said they believe it's necessary to have a college degree in order to land a good job. Still, in recent years, experts have clashed on the question of whether college is still worth the investment.

Whether it winds up being a good investment or not, more than 40 million Americans currently have outstanding student loans, with the average debt hovering around $30,000 per person.

GIF via AJ+.

People are protesting and pushing back on loans, but that's not exactly a new phenomenon.

The cost of college keeps rising, and borrowers find themselves without much leverage. As long as popular belief tells us that college is necessary to get a decent job, prospective students will more or less be strong-armed into taking out that hefty burden of credit.

So what can they do? They can try to get the government to help out. And so they protest.

These protesters in Los Angeles called for the cancellation of student debt in 2012. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images.

While the government has gotten involved from time to time, the problem hasn't exactly gone away.

In 2010, President Obama pushed for Congress to pass the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, which made a few tweaks to the recently-passed Affordable Care Act and helped make things a little easier for future student borrowers in terms of Pell Grants and setting a cap on repayment requirements.

"Let's tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years," Obama said in a 2010 speech. "And forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college."

Last year, the president signed a memorandum designed to help another 5 million existing borrowers.

President Obama signs a memorandum on June 9, 2014. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

Presidents Bush and Clinton also made efforts to help solve the student loan crisis, but it hasn't exactly had the long-term success anyone hoped for.

There may be a solution. But until we figure it out, telling our stories is one way to make a big difference.

Like Sam, who is $81,000 in debt, at one point lived out of his car, and wasn't even able to complete his degree. Or Derrick, who isn't able to find a job in his field, but finds himself saddled with around $180,000 in loans that he guesses won't be paid off for decades.

GIF via AJ+.

These stories are evidence of the true burden that student loans can have on so many of us. They're also evidence that telling your story might be one of the best ways to create change.

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For some kids in Chicago, life is a war zone. But these military vets offer safe routes to school.

Danger and uncertainty were the norm. Now there's a better way.

Chicago is a world-renowned city. But for too many kids, it's downright dangerous.

Despite the fact that Chicago is home to several museums, a giant lake, and a free zoo, between 2010 and 2014, 114 Chicago schoolchildrenwere murdered.

Some were just walking home from school.

All GIFs via NationSwell.

But as you'll see in this video from NationSwell, hundreds of people are doing their part to create safer neighborhoods.

Hakki Gurkan, military veteran and former Chicago police officer, stepped up with a program called Safe Passage.

Hakki Gurkan serves overseas and at home. Image by NationSwell.

After serving in Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Hakki returned home to a mountain of family medical bills and student debt. He joined Chicago-based Leave No Veteran Behind, a nonprofit that provides retroactive scholarships to veterans in exchange for service to the community.


The goal of Safe Passage, Hakki's service project, is two-fold: protect children and teens from violence and gang activity while also providing transitional jobs for vets re-entering civilian life.

He launched Safe Passage in 2011. The program put military veterans on patrol to help students get to and from school safely.

Unarmed veteran employees and community members stand at key points along the "high risk" routes to over 100 schools in some of Chicago's toughest areas.

Safe Passage does not provide security and instead offers a positive adult presence, employing community engagement strategies to build trust and engage with the students they serve.

Safe Passage schools saw a 20% decline in criminal incidents and a 51% decline in student disciplinary reports.

The schools also improved attendance by 7%. And the program a huge win for returning veterans.

Since launch, over 400 vets have participated in Safe Passage. It allows them to earn a steady income while seeking long-term employment while giving back to their community using skills they honed in the service.

In fall 2014, Illinois announced a $10 million investment in Safe Passage.

That's on top of the $1 million Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledged just months prior.

Together, the funds will expand the program to 133 schools, serving 16% of Chicago Public School students daily.

Now, 69,000 children can focus on their schoolwork instead of their safety.

Veterans, community members, and elected officials coming together to build safer, healthier neighborhoods — that's something we can all salute.

To see Safe Passage in action, check out this mini-documentary from NationSwell:

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