Dear Friends,
Today is Statehood Day, when Arizonans mark the anniversary of the day our state was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912.
If you try to imagine Arizona in the year 1912, it’s amazing how far we have come. Just think of all the change that has occurred since 1912, when Arizona was regarded by many elsewhere as a sparse expanse that was the last place in the contiguous United States worthy of statehood. Today we’re one of the fastest-growing, most dynamic places in the entire country – a sign of great progress, and of even greater things to come.
Our transformation over the past 96 years has been dramatic, and should excite us about what we can achieve in the decades from now. In four years, Arizona will celebrate its centennial, and we will engage in a special commemoration of our state’s 100th birthday – a celebration where we don’t just look back, but look forward as well.
We are building the future Arizona in what we do now. The most critical building block is education. What we teach our children today will define the kind of opportunities they have in the future Arizona.
Education has always been my priority as governor, and I’m proposing we take the next steps to ensure that our children have the tools to build an even brighter future. Higher education is a pathway to prosperity and, looking ahead to our centennial four years from now, I propose that we take a bold step in charting the course of Arizona’s future. We should make a deal with the students of our Centennial Class – today’s eighth graders, the high school class of 2012 – that if they meet good academic standards, avoid alcohol and drugs and stay out of trouble, they have earned the ability to receive an Arizona higher education for free.
This program – “Centennial Scholars” – is the kind of initiative that we can agree to now while looking ahead, so that future generations are committed to building prosperous futures for themselves and for our state. This Statehood Day, we should have a particular sense of excitement and challenge as we think of Arizona as it was, and as it will be.
