Watertown High School Watertown, Wisconsin

3:16 P.M. CDT

MRS. OBAMA:  Oh, my God -- you guys look amazing.  (Applause.)  Go Goslings!  (Applause.)  Let me just tell you I feel so good about being here.  You guys have been just amazing.

And I just want to say, first of all, thank you.  Thank you for being such warm, wonderful hosts.  I know it's never easy having the First Lady show up to your school.  And I hear you only heard about this on Monday and you got ready.  The gym looks beautiful.  The signs you guys put together are just amazing.  You guys are truly an awesome school.  This is an awesome town.  Watertown, I'm just grateful that you guys are supporting us in this initiative.  You should be very proud of yourselves.  (Applause.)

Well, I will remind us once again why we're here.  We're here to kick off this amazing campaign called Drink Up.  And the truth is that everything I do is really about you guys, your generation.  I've got kids about your age; I've got a sophomore in high school.  I know what you're going through.  Good luck with that.  You'll be fine.  (Laughter.) 

But I really care about your health like I care about my kids' health.  That's why I've devoted so much of my energy into making sure that your generation is as healthy as you can be.  We've been talking about how you got to move and keep active and eat right.  But as we were thinking about this, we were thinking, what is the one thing that we can have you guys do that ensures good health?  And it's really pretty simple.  It's drink more water.  Just drink up.  Because truly -- as I've said before -- water is the first and best energy drink.

For all you athletes -- I see a lot of jocks.  This looks like a school that keeps moving all the time.  (Applause.)  You guys know firsthand how better you perform when your body is hydrated.  But the truth is that goes for how you perform in the classroom as well.  And I don't want you to ever lose sight that your first job is to be excellent students.  And if you're going to be excellent like I know you are and you will continue to be, we want you to have that hydration to keep you going.

But water is also good for us old folks.  I don't know about you, but I still try to work out.  I'm going to be 50 in January.  (Applause.)  And to the extent that I'm still hanging in there, it's because I exercise, eat right, and I drink a ton of water.  So I wanted to bring that message to the rest of the country.  The reason why we're able to do that is we've got all these amazing partners, communities like yours all around the country.

We've got researchers and marketing folks and foundations who have come together.  All of the water companies have come together to partner on this effort, because they know that this is probably the best thing we can do to make ourselves healthier, our families, our kids, our students.  We need you guys to be at your very best. 

And you can choose anything in the world to drink, but when you choose water, you truly are choosing the best thing you can for yourself.  When you drink water, you drink --

AUDIENCE:  Up!

MRS. OBAMA:  You drink up.  When you drink water, you drink --

AUDIENCE:  Up!

MRS. OBAMA:  Absolutely.  So that's what this campaign is about.  And we're going to need you guys to help us spread the word, especially among your peer group.  Talk to them -- when you've got a choice to make, if you can just drink one more glass of water a day.  It's as simple as that.  And that could change your health outcomes in so many different ways. 

So I am excited to be here.  I know we've got some great games that we're going to be playing.  Eva and I are going to get in there.  We're going to try to stay dry, but it is a water event so we might get a little wet.  But before we do that, I just want us to make a little toast.  I know you guys have been practicing this.  We've got our Drink Up water bottles.  Now, on the count of three, we're going to raise our water bottles.  And just remember let's give a toast to the best drink in town.  Thank you, Watertown.

When you drink water, you drink --

AUDIENCE:  Up!

MRS. OBAMA: Up!  Let's have some fun.  (Applause.)  Thank you, guys.  Thanks so much.  Let's play.  I'm going to come down and say hi real quick.  (Applause.)

END 3:21 P.M. CDT