Seven score and 10 years ago, a great American spoke of giving this country a new
birth of freedom. He went on to make the words in the Declaration of
Independence, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
creator with certain unalienable rights” closer to being a reality.
Now, we are living in the 21st Century, learning about American history in our 5th
grade classroom. We are here to learn about America from its very beginning to
the present. It is altogether fitting and proper that we know about our collective
past.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot forget our connection to the past and how the
past has created the country we live in today. The world will little note, nor long
remember the names and the stories of all those who shaped our country, but it
should never forget the importance of the past. It is for us the living, rather, to be
here dedicated to the unfinished work that Abraham Lincoln so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task of making the words in the
Declaration of Independence a true reality for all-that from our honored past we
take an increased commitment to recognize the equality of all people-that we
here highly resolve to know and to stand up for our rights and the rights of others
so all Americans will live with liberty-that this class, under KIPP, will have a new
birth of patriotism-and that a 5th Grade of the people, by the people, and for the
people shall not perish from the earth.