President Obama’s speech to school children Tuesday was greeted mostly with praise.

The students of Melissa Garner’s eighth grade Language Arts class at Hamlet Middle School interpreted it as more of a pep-talk for the upcoming school year than a Marxist discourse to win their hearts and minds.

“I think it’s a good idea,” eighth-grader Rebecca Shelton said just before the broadcast. “I think it will make some students work harder and not drop out of school, because I don’t think they should drop out.”

Garner described the speech as a chance to “persuade you, motivate you and inform you,” to the students, comparing this speech to talks from Hamlet Principal James Butler.

“Do you think it’s important for the President to motivate you?” she asked the class.

The students answered, “Yes.”

Butler said one parent expressed concern, and asked their child be excused from the speech, which was granted.

“I don’t know about (engaging students in) the political process, but I think anytime you have somebody that might be a role model for kids, and encourage them to do well in school — that’s a good thing,” Butler said. “There was a time when we were all kids, we used to stop everything and watch the rockets go off inside the space shuttles, and all that, so I think anytime you bring everybody together for a common goal, I think that’s a great thing.”

As the speech began, Obama shared his own personal experiences of growing up abroad in a one-parent home, recalling his mother teaching him at 4:30 a.m. at the kitchen table.

“Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early,” he said. “A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table, but when I’d complain my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, ‘This is no picnic for me either, Buster.’”

The theme of the speech was personal responsibility, and he said he’d talked in the past about the responsibility of teachers, parents and the government in providing quality education.

“But at the end of the day, you can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents and the best schools in the world, and none of it would matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities,” he said.

He shared several anecdotal stories about individuals who overcame difficulties to excel in the academic arena, and the importance of persevering in a school setting.

“You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job,” he said. “You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.”

He compared the students of today to the students who fought the revolution, the students who overcame the Great Depression and won World War II and the students who developed “Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.”

“So I expect you to get serious this year,” he said in conclusion. “I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down — don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.”

Brianna Hatcher described the lesson she took away from the speech.

“That you have to work for your goals in life,” she said. “If you want something, you have to work for it, and not just sit around and do nothing.”

For Da’Hyde Goodwin, Obama’s recollections of waking up at 4:30 a.m. stuck out in his mind.

“He never gave up when times got bad,” Josh Lockey said. “And that people who were great at things always had failures.”

Trey Chance said the talk inspired him to continue to pursue his passion for baseball, even though he’s been cut from the team in the past.

“I think that (Obama’s) influence can be great, especially since he didn’t come from a privileged background,” Garner explained, saying she agreed with the decision to air the speech in classrooms. “I think that’s really important for kids to realize, that even if you didn’t have every advantage, you can still make your own success.”