Ed Note: Today, President Obama delivered the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  View an interactive map of commencement addresses delivered by the President, Vice President, First Lady, Second Lady and senior administration officials here.

Do you remember your high school commencement speaker?  The class of 2010 at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan will probably never forget theirs.  Today, President Obama delivered the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central - the winner of the 2010 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. 

The Commencement Challenge asked high schools around the country to submit an application telling the President how their school is making significant strides on personal responsibility, academic excellence and college readiness, and how they are working toward the President’s national goal of having the most college graduates by 2020. After three rounds of competition, Kalamazoo Central High School was named the winner.  

The President began his remarks by congratulating the students and the Kalamazoo community on their innovative approach to education:

Together as a community, you’ve embraced the motto of this school district: “Every child, every opportunity, every time,” because you believe, like I do, that every child – regardless of what they look like, where they come from, or how much money their parents have – every child who walks through your schoolhouse doors deserves a quality education.  

President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address to the graduates of Kalamazoo Central High School at the University Arena at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 7, 2010. June 7, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The President also took this opportunity to give the graduates some advice on navigating the waters after high school.  He told students that success is determined not by one’s circumstances but by “by how hard you try; how far you push yourself; how high you’re willing to reach.”

But meaningful achievement, lasting success – that doesn’t happen in an instant.  It’s not just about the twist of fate, or the lucky break, or the sudden stroke of genius.  Rather, it’s about the daily efforts, the choices large and small that add up over time.  It’s about the skills you build, the knowledge you accumulate, the energy you invest in every task, no matter how trivial or menial it may seem at the time. 

One of the most interesting moments during the debate on health reform last year was the President's tele-town hall with the AARP.  It was a moment when disinformation was flying fast and furious from opponents of reform, and it was a unique opportunity to sit down and go through the concerns that seniors had one by one.

Well it's been almost a year, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, and many of the benefits that we're once theoretical arguments for reform are now becoming reality -- like the $250 rebate checks that will begin arriving next Thursday for seniors who have fallen into the Medicare prescription drug donut hole – the first step to closing the donut hole completely.

But there's still plenty of misinformation out there -- in fact there are whole new sources of it in the form of scams meant to prey on confusion about the law.

That's why at 11:30AM EDT President Obama will join senior citizens across the country, gathered at a series of local meetings, to participate via phone in a national tele-town hall meeting.  Additionally, more than a dozen senior Obama Administration officials will join seniors at selected meetings to discuss the new health care law and answer questions -- view a lengthy list of meetings in the White House release. The President’s tele-town hall meeting will be broadcast live on C-Span, as well as here online at WhiteHouse.gov/live.

So if you're a senior and you've got questions about your health care, tune in.  If you're not a senior but have a parent or grandparent who might be interested, give them a heads up.  It will be great opportunity to hear answers from the President who believed so passionately in the need for these reforms.

The Vice President and Dr. Biden were in Sharm el-Sheikh today on the first leg of their week-long trip to Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. Watch this video to hear directly from the Vice President and Second Lady on their meetings today with President and Mrs. Mubarak. Check back this week for more "On Board" updates from the Vice President's trip.

Vice President Joe Biden meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, June 7, 2010. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden meet with U.S. Army soldiers at the airport in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, June 7, 2010. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Elizabeth Alexander is Press Secretary to the Vice President

Ed. Note: For more information on federal response resources, volunteer opportunities, and assistance for those in affected areas visit WhiteHouse.gov/Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill.

Below is the latest in the ongoing Administration-wide response provided by the Joint Information Center.  

Heidi Avery is White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor

This morning the President announced James R. Clapper Jr. as the new Director of National Intelligence (DNI).  Applauding outgoing DNI not only for his exceptional tenure, but his distinguished career, the President focused on continued work towards the seamless intergration and communication between all elements of our intelligence community, including Congress.

He introduced Clapper with an overview of his decades in service to his country:

Today, I am proud to announce my choice for the next Director of National Intelligence —- James Clapper.  With four decades of service to America, Jim is one of our nation’s most experienced and most respected intelligence professionals.

As Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, he has successfully overseen the military and civilian intelligence personnel and budgets that make up the bulk of our 16-agency intelligence community.  He’s improved information sharing, increased intelligence support to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, upheld civil liberties, and he played a key role in our effort to update and reorient our intelligence community to meet the threats of our time.

As director of two critical organizations —- the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency —- and during a distinguished career in the Air Force, Jim developed an intimate understanding of our human and technical collection programs.  He possesses a quality that I value in all my advisors:  a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know, even if it’s not what we want to hear.  And Jim is a forceful champion of his fellow intelligence professionals —- never forgetting what it was like to risk his own life during two combat tours during the Vietnam War.

As DNI, Jim will be my principal intelligence advisor and the leader of our intelligence community.  Our intelligence community has made great strides since the 9/11 attacks.  Guided by good intelligence, we’ve struck major blows against the leadership of al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates, and we’ve disrupted many plots in our country and saved many American lives.  But as we saw in the failed attack over Detroit, we need to do even better.  We need to constantly evolve and adapt and improve. 

That’s why I ordered a series of reforms to strengthen intelligence earlier this year, and that’s why I’ll be looking to Jim to ensure that we have the most capable and efficient intelligence community possible.  Intelligence must be collected and analyzed quickly.  It must be shared and integrated effectively.  And it must be acted upon decisively.  That’s what I expect as President, and that’s what our national security demands. 

Clapper himself spoke briefly:

MR. CLAPPER:  Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. President.  I am humbled, honored, and daunted by the magnitude of the responsibilities of the position of DNI.  It’s a job that cannot be done without your support and that of the Congress, and I intend to earn that support from both, as well as the public, if I'm confirmed for this position.

We have the largest, most capable intelligence enterprise on the planet, and it is the solemn, sacred trust of the DNI to make that enterprise work. 

With that, nominees are like my two oldest grandkids, who are here today having a life experience -- better seen than heard.

Thank you very much.  (Laughter.) 

President Barack Obama makes a statement to the press announcing James Clapper as nominee for Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 5, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Ed. Note: For more information on federal response resources, volunteer opportunities, and assistance for those in affected areas visit WhiteHouse.gov/Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill.

Below is the latest in the ongoing Administration-wide response provided by the Joint Information Center.  

Heidi Avery is White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor

On June 4, 2009, in President Obama gave a speech in Cairo, Egypt, proposing a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, based upon mutual interest and mutual respect. The President said that the U.S. would work in partnership to address shared challenges such as violent extremism, Iraq, achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and nonproliferation. He also said that the United States would seek a more comprehensive engagement with Muslim-majority countries, countries with significant Muslim populations, and their people. He called for expanding partnerships in a range of areas including education, economic development, science and technology, and health, among others, and strengthening our commitment to shared values including democracy and human rights.

The Administration has approached the Cairo speech as an overarching vision and set of principles that guide U.S. Government policies across a broad range of issues. The President identified specific commitments in the speech, which were examples of the types of engagement we seek. Over the last year, we have worked hard to make progress on the difficult political and security challenges that the President addressed, and have delivered on many of the specific commitments the President cited – from science envoys and a technology fund to expanding exchanges, hosting an entrepreneurship summit, and partnering with the Organization of the Islamic Conference on polio eradication. However, these commitments were always just a beginning.

Our embassies around the world, and departments and agencies across the government, are engaged every day in ways that reflect the principles and spirit of the vision the President put forth in Cairo. From partnerships to improve air quality in Jakarta and memorandums of understanding to expand cooperation on clean, renewable, and alternative energy, to programs that support female teacher training in Nigeria and connecting schools in Qatar with schools in America, bringing bloggers together in Indonesia, and agreements to promote small business development, the comprehensive engagement the President called for in Cairo is being vigorously pursued.

These are just a sample of the U.S. government programs focused on these key areas of partnership identified by the President. In coming days, we will be unveiling a website that will highlight how the U.S. is pursuing the vision the President articulated in Cairo. It will include more examples of the work the U.S. Government is doing around the world and include key remarks, fact-sheets, blog postings, and other material related to this important effort. One year since the President’s speech, the Administration has pursued the engagement the President called for, and we remain committed to working together to confront common challenges and seize mutually beneficial opportunities.

• Read More About the President’s Cairo Speech

Pradeep Ramamurthy is Senior Director for Global Engagement at the National Security Council

As America’s seniors learn about the new benefits (pdf) for them in the Affordable Care Act, they want to hear more.  On Tuesday, we’ve received 30,000 calls at our 1-800-MEDICARE call center about reform compared to an average of 150 a day last month.

In response to this growing interest, President Obama will host a tele-town hall next Tuesday to talk to seniors about the Affordable Care Act.  They’ll have a direct conversation about how the law will strengthen Medicare by improving benefits, lowering costs, and giving seniors and their doctors more control over their health care.

Seniors from across the country will be able to participate via phone or watch the event here at WhiteHouse.gov/live and call in to ask their questions.  A number of groups are also organizing events where seniors can join their neighbors to listen to the town hall and discuss the new law.

As we continue to implement the Affordable Care Act, it’s more important than ever that seniors have accurate information about their health care.

That’s why we’ve been reaching out aggressively to tell seniors about new benefits like the $250 rebate checks that will begin arriving next Thursday for seniors who have fallen into the Medicare prescription drug donut hole – the first step to closing the donut hole completely.

Disappointingly, we’ve also begun hearing reports of criminals using the passage of the new law as an opportunity to launch new scams targeted at older Americans.

We’re moving quickly to go after these crooks, and the Affordable Care Act gives us new tools that will make it easier to identify, prosecute, and ultimately prevent fraud.

In the months to come, we’re going to continue to use every power we have to keep Medicare strong, including our ability to review unreasonable premium increases.  On Monday when Medicare Advantage bids are due, we’ll be watching closely to make sure seniors aren’t subjected to unfair rate hikes.

Medicare is a sacred promise to America’s seniors.  By filling in gaps in coverage, attacking waste and fraud, and making benefits smarter – without eliminating a single guaranteed benefit – the Affordable Care Act will help us preserve that promise for the next generation.

To learn more about what’s changing and what’s not, seniors should tune in on Tuesday or visit Medicare.gov, the best source for trustworthy information about their healthcare.

Kathleen Sebelius is Secretary of Health and Human Services

The President was touring K Neal International Trucks, Inc. in Hyattsville, Maryland this morning.  The company is just a few miles out of DC, but it’s the kind of company in the kind of town you see all over America.  After the tour he said a few words to the employees about the latest jobs numbers, which CEA Chair Christina Romer wrote about this morning:

I was talking to Stephen and he told me that rental and lease sales have improved, that there’s a pent-up demand out there for new equipment and you’ve added workers over the last few months.  And Stephen said if things keep on going well, he’ll add more in the months ahead.

We’re hearing more and more stories like that all across America.  A lot of businesses were hit hard during this downturn, but they’re starting to hire again.  Workers who were laid off, they’re starting to get their jobs back.  Companies that were almost forced to close their doors are making plans to expand and invest in new equipment. 

And this progress is reflected in the monthly jobs reports that we get each month.  We received one today.  In May, the economy added 431,000 jobs.  (Applause.)  Now, this is the fifth month in a row that we’ve seen job gains.  And while we recognize that our recovery is still in its early stages and that there are going to be ups and downs in the months ahead -- things never go completely in a smooth line -- this report is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day.

Now, I want to emphasize that most of these jobs this month that we’re seeing in the statistics represent workers who’ve been hired to complete the 2010 census.  So these are temporary jobs that are only going to last until the fall, and that may be reflected in future jobs reports.  But even if you put those temporary jobs aside, there’s no doubt that we saw another month of private sector job growth.  And that is obviously critical because when businesses are hiring again, people start spending again.  That, in turn, gives businesses more and more incentive to grow.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the recession is over for the millions of Americans who are still out of work, or the millions more who are still struggling to make ends meet.  No words, no statistics, can take away the pain and the anxiety that a family feels because of this downturn.  That can only be relieved with a steady paycheck and the security that a steady job brings.

What these numbers do mean, though, is that we’re moving in the right direction.  The economic policies that we put in place are working.  An economy that was shrinking at a scary rate when I was sworn in as President has now been growing for three consecutive quarters.  We were losing 750,000 jobs a month during the winter of last year.  We’ve now added jobs for six out of the last seven months. 

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President Barack Obama talks with employees at K. Neal International, a commercial truck dealership and truck parts supplier, in Hyattsville, Maryland, June 4, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)