VanLandingham Award acceptance speech. Sunny K. Park

VanLandingham Award acceptance speech. Sunny K. Park

Thank you, Chuck Lewis, for your kind introduction. A little exaggerated version, but I liked it.

Thank you to the Georgia Council on Economic Education and to David Martin for your leadership

and for the great job you have done in recent years.

I also want to thanks to the William J. VanLandingham Award selection committee for the mistake

they made in choosing the wrong man for this distinguished award. When you see a turtle on a

fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. I am delighted to acknowledge the efforts of

my teammates at General Building Maintenance and One Georgia Bank, and , the MVPs are my

wife Kay and my children.

My congratulations to Ms ________, the Teacher of the Year Award recipient. I admire and

respect all those good teachers who lose sleep at night, concerned about their students. Thank

you for your excellent work.

My job title is CEJ. The “J” stands for Janitor. I am a janitor on my job and a janitor at home as

well. Because I am proud of what I do, I pick up the trash in public places whether or not I’m

getting paid to do so. It’s important that when you acknowledge that something is not right or

could be better, you assume the responsibility for fixing the problem you just encountered.

Americans' views on the economy and the general state of the country have hit an all-time low,

according to a CBS News/New York Times poll published on April 3, 2008. Never in the history of

this poll have people been so pessimistic about where the county is headed. Eighty-one percent

(81%) of those polled say the country is on the wrong track, while only 14 percent believe it is

moving in the right direction. Going with what I said before about responsibility, this means that

81 percent of the people — at least — should be helping to fix the problem they’ve recognized.

We all have work to do here in fixing the problems our nation faces today. Realistically, I am not

sure how much we CAN do, but what we CANNOT do is just sit on the sideline and watch the

fallout.

The first thing we can do is to help our future generations be better equipped to fix our problems. I

am talking, of course, about education — specifically education about the economy, because the

economy relates to every part of our life and our society.

You are the ones who are making the nation and our community better today for tomorrow. You

are the ones with the willingness to help our future generations work toward helping this country

prosper.

One thing is for sure: I will make the most of this award, using it to attract young audiences to pay

more attention to my message — to let them know the importance of responsibility and education.

For that reason, I am accepting this award.

Thank you all very much, and may God bless all of you and your efforts.

Short Version: VanLandingham Award acceptance speech. Sunny K. Park

Thank you, Chuck Lewis, for your kind introduction, a little exaggerated, but I liked it.

I want to thank to the Georgia Council on Economic Education and to David Martin for your

services and dedication for our future leaders.

I appreciate the William J. VanLandingham Commitment to Education Award selection

committee for the mistake they made in choosing the wrong man for this distinguished award.

Thank you though

When you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. I am delighted to

acknowledge the efforts of my teammates at my businesses, General Building Maintenance

and One Georgia Bank, and, the MVPs are my wife Kay and my children, thank you Kay!

I want to thank many of my friends in other organizations I am a part of, joining this luncheon with

us. Jay Eun, president of the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta, Stephen Briggs,

President of Berry College, Rogers Wade, President of Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Mr.

Hakkeun Chang, a director of US Dept of HUD,

My congratulations to ____, the Georgia Economics Teacher of the Year Award and _____,

Economic Program Excellent Award recipients.

I admire and respect good teachers who lose sleep at night, concerned about the future of their

students. Thank you both for your excellent work.

Georgia Council on Economic Education helps Georgia teachers to teach our students prepared

for their economic roles as workers, consumers, citizens, and lifelong decision makers in a globally

interdependent world.

You are the ones who are making the nation and our community better today for tomorrow.

You are the ones with the willingness to help our future generations work toward helping this

country continue to be prosperous. I am honored to be a part of your efforts

One thing is for sure: I will make the most of this award, using it to attract young audiences to

pay more attention to my messages — to help them to understand the importance of

responsibility and education.

For that reason, I am accepting this award.



Thank you all very much, and may God bless all of you and your efforts.