Watch Obama surprise kids during a visit to their Washington after-school program

(Image credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

published 24 May 2019

To the delight of everyone at the Washington Nationals' Youth Baseball Academy's after-school program, former President Barack Obama came out to play on Wednesday afternoon.

During his surprise visit, Obama tossed a football around with the children and participated in a baseball game, getting in a solid hit. He also shared some words of encouragement, telling the kids to "work hard in school, listen to your coaches. You guys are going to do great things. I'm going to be on the lookout for you, because I think you're going to do something important. You guys are going to make a real difference."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.