What do you do when you want somebody famous to speak at your graduation? You launch a viral social media campaign.
Seniors at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School want former first lady Michelle Obama to give their commencement address.
In video after video, they make the ask. Bleachers full of cheering students, sports teams and even a choir singing Obama’s name all plead for her to speak at their graduation.
“This is day two of asking Michelle Obama to speak at our high school graduation! Let’s go!” a student shouts to cheers in one video.
Students were daydreaming at a student government association meeting about who they wanted to speak and Obama came to mind.
“I’d watched her documentary ‘Becoming’ on Netflix and, you know, we grew up with her — her being a great speaker, her really emphasizing youth voices, and I just thought she’d be an amazing speaker and we’d be honored to have her at BCC,” the group’s vice president said.
The students’ videos garnered millions of views within weeks.
Then, Obama commented on one of the videos.
“I’m so moved by your videos — it’s a credit to what you and so many others in your generation can get done through the power of organizing,” a message from her account said. “My team is in touch with your school and we’re working on something special. In the meantime, I want to hear more from you. What gives you hope?”
“I think that what gives me hope is the fact that Mrs. Obama — she heard what we were saying and she reached out to us. And that really shows that if we care about something and we try hard and we persist at something, then our voices can have an impact, and we can make a difference,” the SGA vice president said.
So, will the former first lady speak at BCC’s graduation? The SGA vice president said talks seem to be heading in the right direction.
Sign up for our free deep-dive newsletter, The 4Front, to get standout News4 stories sent right to your inbox. Subscribe here.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
