

Corcoran High School's Emilio Ortiz, during his speech at Henninger High School to introduce President Barack Obama, offers a salute to friends who cheered when he mentioned Corcoran. (The Associated Press |Jacquelyn Martin)
Sean Kirst | By Sean Kirst | The Post-Standard
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on August 25, 2013 at 8:36 AM, updated August 25, 2013 at 7:26 PM

Margarita Ortiz called out to President Obama. She was standing in the crowd Thursday at Henninger High School in Syracuse, near a stage where Obama had just finished addressing a packed house. She waited as the president, on his way toward the door, greeted spectators and shook a few hands.

Obama heard her. He made his way to Margarita and her husband, Edward. He reached out, clasped Margarita's hand and said:

"Great job, Mom."

Even the president didn't realize just how right he was.

Margarita and Edward had watched their 16-year-old son, Corcoran High School senior-to-be Emilio Ortiz, stand onstage alone and introduce Obama. They watched as he took one deep breath and then launched into a 3-minute speech about the importance of higher education.

Soon, Margarita was "crying like a baby," as Emilio -- of Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage -- described how much his parents have mattered in his life.

"They are my motivation and inspiration," said Emilio, an honor student in Corcoran's International Baccalaureate program. His words gained in power as he built upon his theme: "I am the Syracuse city school district." More than 1,000 people roared when the young man embraced the president, sharing what Emilio described afterward as a quick "bro hug."

Obama was at Henninger to explain his strategy for affordable higher education. From the stage, he asked Emilio's parents to raise their hands. While hundreds of Syracuse teens hollered and screamed, Obama said Margarita and Edward must be intensely proud of their son.

"We are proud," Margarita said. "Words can never describe how proud of him we are. But we felt that way even before he met the president."


Emilio Ortiz introduces the President Obama: 'I Am the Syracuse City School District' Emilio Ortiz introduces the President Obama after he delivers his "I Am the Syracuse City School District" speech.

Pride? To Emilio, his parents are the ones who represent true honor. Backstage, just before Emilio went to the microphone, he and Obama shared a few words. They spoke while Obama pulled off a jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Obama wanted to know about Emilio's dreams, about what he planned to do in college.

Emilio offered as much of his own story as he could. Still, he didn't have time to tell the president how Margarita and Edward have lived out something precious, a quality that Obama and every elected official in this nation keep trying to capture and nurture in our cities:

The couple defines hope and commitment, against all odds.

They met as children in middle school, in Newark, N.J. Their parents, as Edward gently put it, "were not very involved in our lives." By the time she was 13, Margarita was pregnant. It seemed, all too certainly, that she and Edward would be part of a grim, familiar story:

They'd go their separate ways. They'd leave school without diplomas. Margarita and Edward, and any children who followed them, would turn into the latest examples of statistical despair.

But Edward was in love. Even at 14, he somehow understood what that meant.

"He said to me, 'Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right,'" Margarita said. Already, they knew what they wanted: "When we were older, we were going to have dinner at a table, as a family," Edward said. "There'd be parents there to sit and talk with our kids."

Sure, Edward was only a boy, but he'd learned a lesson from a grandfather who always stood by him: "Never allow anyone to ever attach anything negative to your name."

The young couple stayed together after the birth of Veronica, their oldest child. They kept attending school. Margarita entered an academic program with other pregnant teens. They lived at home until they were old enough to go out on their own. As teenagers, with a 4-year-old daughter, they were married.

Before long, they moved to Syracuse, where Edward had an uncle. Margarita earned her associate's degree from Onondaga Community College and became an insurance agent with Benefit Specialists of NY, a subsidiary of CenterState CEO.

Edward works for the Downtown Committee. Both parents, through the years, have often held two jobs. Both, right now, are continuing with college. Emilio has witnessed only one example in childhood:

To succeed, you work.

"My father," Emilio said, "never gives up at anything he does."

As you're reading this, the kid from the South Side who introduced the president may well be cleaning up after his dog, in the backyard. His parents, he said, live by simple rules:

"In a family, I contribute, you contribute, we all contribute," Margarita said. "You want money to go out? You want new clothes? That means helping. You do laundry. You do dishes. We got a dog because they wanted a dog, but they had to know the dog would also be their responsibility."

The same expectations carry over in school. Monday, after learning of the president's visit, Superintendent Sharon Contreras called district administrators together for a hurried meeting at Fowler High School. They wanted to involve as many students as they could, and they had to find the right person to introduce Obama.

Corcoran Principal Leo Cosgrove sent a quick text message to Donna Delmonico, a longtime English teacher who is now the school's IB diploma coordinator. The district needed a student speaker for a mysterious but critically important task: Any suggestions?

Delmonico thought it over.

"There's something about Emilio," she said.

While Delmonico had never seen him give a speech in public, he'd been strong and confident while offering a spontaneous 20-minute commentary on the poetry of Walt Whitman. Beyond that, Demonico said, Emilio has a special command, an easy way of leadership.

Heather Masterpole, a math teacher, recalled how one girl was causing major disruptions in the classroom. Emilio quietly took Masterpole aside. He told his teacher about some trauma in the young woman's home life.

Great teachers, once they know these things, can adjust.

"He's an old soul," Masterpole said. From last week's meeting at Fowler, Cosgrove called Emilio, who knew only that his principal needed a speaker for a special event. Emilio immediately went to Fowler with his parents. He walked into this room filled with adults and said:

"I'm your man."

That was it. Emilio had the job.

For three days, he practiced with Cosgrove, Delmonico and Brian Nolan, the district's executive director of high schools. At night, again and again, Emilio smoothed out his wording with his parents.

Then it was Thursday. He was in a suit and tie behind a curtain at Henninger, where the president of the United States said, "Go get 'em, Tiger," and Emilio Ortiz walked onto stage alone.

Except he wasn't. He locked in on two faces in the crowd.

"I saw my parents," Emilio said. "They gave me my comfort."
