President Barack Obama will deliver the commencement address at Worcester Technical High School, which was so outdated nearly 16 years ago it almost shut down, according to The Associated Press.
Obama will deliver the school's commencement address Wednesday in the latest string of honors for a school whose demographic and educational profiles make it a model of achievement, the AP reported.
Obama has been putting a spotlight on his education policies this week, drawing attention to efforts to lower student debt, but Obama has also been eager to showcase programs that break from the traditional classroom format or that are designed to improve the nation's science and technology workforce, according to the AP.
The Worcester, Massachusetts, school stands as an example of a triumph against the odds where six out of 10 students at the high school are underprivileged and qualify for free or reduced meals and two out of 10 have special needs, the AP reported.
Two years ago it was one of five schools nationally to win an award for student growth in high poverty areas, according to the AP. Last year, it was one of the Education Department's 286 national blue ribbon schools.
This year, its principal was named the Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the AP reported.
The school's rebirth came after the Worcester community decided, with the help of state and federal grants, to build a new, $90 million school that opened in 2006, according to the AP.
The school has built relationships with businesses and universities, including a partnership with the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, that provide students with real-life experiences through internships and cooperative education jobs, the AP reported.
During an interview Tuesday on Tumblr, the social media site, Obama praised schools that "give young people in high school more hands-on experience, more apprenticeships, more training," according to the AP.
"High school should be a time in which young people have a greater exposure to actual careers, as opposed to just classroom study," Obama said, the AP reported.
