President Obama Surprises Moravia Park Elementary School

While Friday’s speech came with plenty of advance notice, the president’s first stop in Baltimore was planned as a surprise. As Alex DeMetrick explains, students and parents at Moravia Park Primary School did not see it coming. President Obama landed in a field in Northeast Baltimore at about 11:30 a.m. The White House asked his destination be kept a secret to a Pre-K class at Moravia Park Primary School. The point was to make this a surprise visit for the children. Students were excited when they caught a glimpse of the president. “It was surprising to see the president in my school,” said one student. “It was a nice experience to see Barack Obama,” said Cameron. The same student also said he forgot what the president had talked about. But what the Obama administration doesn’t want forgotten is early childhood education.It’s on the president’s agenda and a specialty of this school. “Extremely large elementary population, along with an early childhood population. So I think they wanted to take a look at a program that’s been in existence. We have the first Judy program in Baltimore City Schools,” said Assistant Principal William Allen. It wasn’t until school was over that parents learned of the president’s visit. “It was really shocking. Happy at the same time,” said parent Tiny Allen. But word quickly spread along the motorcade route. “We watched the cars come in and Barack waved to us, so I got some good pictures,” said Brenda. “I have camera footage of him coming in in the line and pictures. Yep, definitely a memory for me,” said parent Andreia Green. Certainly not your usual day at school. The president also left a souvenir: his drawing of a tiger for the class.