Bush brother visits history class

By Emily Richmond

Monday, April 7, 2003 | 8:57 a.m.

President Bush's youngest brother visited Cannon Junior High School Friday to promote his educational software company's early American history program and talk to students about the importance of "loving what you're learning."

Neil Bush, founder of Texas-based Ignite Inc., spent about 45 minutes with a seventh grade history class at Cannon on Russell Road near Eastern Avenue.

Cannon is considering a pilot program using Ignite software for next fall, Principal Kim Grytdahl said.

Bush also fielded students' questions about the war in Iraq, what it's like to have a brother and a father serve as president of the United States and his thoughts on the crisis in education funding in Clark County.

Following the class, Bush said he was impressed by the level of interest and knowledge the students had demonstrated regarding the war with Iraq. Several of them expressed concern that Saddam Hussein might use chemical or biological weapons, and others wondered about the fate of Iraqi civilians, Bush said.

"It's tragic that the students have the weight of those kinds of fears on their shoulders," Bush said.

One of the more memorable questions came from Feven Girmay, 13, who asked Bush if he thought there would be a drop in student academic achievement if extracurricular programs such as athletics, art and music were eliminated. Facing a potential $220 million budget shortfall over the next two years, the Clark County School District is considering doing just that.

"When you take away the extracurricular programs that are more creative and joyful and only leave the stuff that's truly boring, there's going to be a decline in student interest and achievement," Bush said.

Girmay said while she worries that her school will not have a basketball team next year, she's also concerned about American forces in Iraq.

"I just hope they get what needs to be done finished soon and get out of there," Girmay said.

Bush, who travels weekly to school districts across the country, said his company is targeting Clark County because of the region's tremendous growth and the opportunity for technology-based learning programs. Ignite programs are designed to give students a more "hands-on" learning experience and are aligned to each state's academic standards, Bush said.

The company is also focusing on developing software to help schools prepare students for the new standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Bush said.

"I love the idea that at the federal level there's research-based guidelines for promoting early literacy," Bush said.

Brad Reitz, assistant superintendent for student support services for the school district, said Ignite's programs may be a good fit for Clark County's middle school students.

"The software seems to be fairly motivating, particularly with what's sometimes uninspired subject matter," Reitz said. "There's a lot of visuals, graphics and music, all things teenagers like to see. There's some real possibilities here."

The software program costs about $30 per student with a minimum order of $7,500 per school, Reitz said. The district is looking into the possibility of securing federal grants to pay for the installation of the software and servers, Reitz said.

While he speaks occasionally to the president, they never discuss foreign or domestic policy matters, Bush said.

"I encourage him as one brother to another," Bush said. "I'm very proud of him and his leadership."

Prior to the launch of Ignite two years ago, Bush was perhaps best known for the failure of Silverado Savings & Loan in Colorado in 1988, of which he was the director. The bank's collapse cost the federal government $1 billion and triggered a grand jury investigation.