PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON April 30, 2015   Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District   685 East Jack London Boulevard, Livermore, CA 94551   CONTACT: Kelly Bowers, kbowers@lvjusd.k12.ca.us

Smith Elementary School Fifth Grader Receives

Letter from President Obama

Palak Guleria, a fifth grader at Smith Elementary in Livermore California, wrote a letter to President Obama in 2014 following the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown Connecticut. Palak was upset by violence in schools. She wrote to the President to encourage intervention in order to prevent that kind of tragedy from ever happening again. “Your dedication to helping others, along with your commitment to your studies, will lead our Nation to a brighter tomorrow,” President Obama wrote in a reply letter that Palak received last month.

At Left: Palak Guleria with the letter she received from President Obama. At Right; Kiran and Palak Guleria with the letter and photographs Palak received from President Obama.

Palak also sent the President a $1 donation to support intervention programs designed to prevent violence before it happens; to intervene in the lives of young people who are struggling. “Bullying is a base problem” Palak says. “or your family is all apart, or you’re not doing well in school.”

The tragic shooting gripped the nation last year, students, parents and educators around the country were shaken. Palak was saddened and frustrated.“You should know how to raise your voice,” says Kiran Guleria, Palak’s mother, who suggested she write the letter as a way to express herself, and to draw attention to the issue. “As a parent, I don’t hesitate to share difficult or troubling news with my children.”

Palak shared this story with her class, Ms. Coffeen’s fifth grade class at Smith Elementary, and other students have taken to writing letters to the President as a way to raise their voices. When not pursuing political letter writing, Palak likes to play with her brother and their dog Nike. Next year she will attend Mendenhall Middle School where she is looking forward to running track.

Additional Contacts:

School Board President Kate Runyon,krunyon@comcast.net (925) 454-1139

Communications and Community Engagement Consultant Sam Tobis, stobis@lvjusd.k12.ca.us, (917) 567-6974