PROVO — Brigham Young University's graduating class of 2002, its largest ever, had a standing ovation for the nation's top educator Thursday.
U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige told graduates the most influential teachers aren't found in classrooms. They are found at home.
"Strong families are the backbone of our society," he said Thursday at BYU's graduation.
"Home is where we learn values that shape us. It is where we get the encouragement to set high goals and work hard to achieve them," he said.
The graduating class, made up of 6,425 men and women from 50 states and 51 foreign countries, also heard from Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the university.
Elder Ballard urged graduates to help create "a more gentle, more peaceful world to live in."
Paige, a former college football coach who admires LaVell Edwards' gridiron savvy and whose deputy, Bill Hansen, is a member of the LDS Church, said, "Our nation's teachers are making a profound difference in the lives of our nation's children."
"I urge you to follow their lead. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Mentor a child. Visit the elderly. Share your faith," he said.
In 1994, when Paige was picked to lead the 212,000-student Houston Independent School District, there were problems.
Test scores were low, students didn't feel safe at school and communities felt disconnected from the schools.
When he left his superintendent post last year to join Bush's Cabinet — and become the first black man to hold the top spot in the U.S. Department of Education — the Texas district had become a role model for urban school systems.
Exam scores increased while dropout rates decreased. Hallways seemed safer. The state's first charter schools also were established under his guidance.
As education secretary, he played a role in helping pass the No Child Left Behind Act on Jan. 8, 2002.
The legislation — which focuses on raising standards, making school accountable for what children learn and allowing parents more input in the educational process — is considered "by some as the most sweeping reform of federal education policy in a generation," BYU President Merrill Bateman said.
Paige turned down BYU's offer of an honorary doctorate.
Among the graduates Thursday was Vai Sikahema, whom Bateman called "one of the greatest kickoff return men in the history of BYU football."
Sikahema, now a sports broadcaster in Philadelphia, left BYU to play in the NFL before finishing his degree. He wrapped up his last credits this year. "This makes him one of BYU's greatest return specialists," Bateman joked with the crowd.
"As you leave the university and begin anew in new places, may you draw upon the lessons you learned here," Bateman said. "May you become an unusual force for good in your communities and may you humbly stand for right."
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