LIVE: First Lady Jill Biden Hosts Virtual Thank You Event for Educators

not accept this as normal. We must protect our children and educators from gun violence. Thank you for being here. Well, it's hard to believe that this is one of our last gatherings of educators here at the White House. The day after Joe was inaugurated nearly four years ago, I started my time as First Lady by thanking our nation's educators alongside Randy and Becky. The pandemic was still raging, so we sat six feet apart. And on that day, I promised you that as long as Joe was in the White House, educators would always have a seat at the table. That promise has been my guiding light over the last four years. And I hope you have felt your impact in all that we've accomplished together. We began this journey together. So I asked Randy and Becky to help gather us again as this chapter comes to a close. And my message to you is simple. Thank you. Over the last four years, we've built an even stronger education system in this country. And it took all of us because policies don't work unless we implement them in our classrooms. And our schools don't transform lives without educators who are dedicated to this calling. So thank you. Thank you for opening your hearts and your classrooms to me all across the country, for joining me for the first ever Teachers of the Year State Dinner here at the White House, which I loved, for coming together during the last election using your teacher voice to organize and get out the vote. And I know that you will continue to push our nation forward in a way that only teachers can, making sure that our students are front and center. And Joe and I will be there with you every step of the way. Most of all, I want to thank you for devoting your lives to our nation's students through the good days and the tough ones, through setbacks and breakthroughs, through careful lesson plans and all the surprises that we could never plan for. Being your First Lady has been the honor of my life. But being your colleague has been the work of my life. Last Thursday, I taught my last class of the semester and my final class ever at Northern Virginia Community College. I will always love this profession, which is why I continue to teach full time while serving as your First Lady. And I couldn't have done it without the love and support of fellow educators. At every turn, you have stood by my side, lifted my spirits, and helped me remember that we're in this together. And I will always be grateful to those who lead us forward. Becky, thank you for being a bold champion of students and educators, and for encouraging them to become changemakers, too. You helped us set our sights on a brighter future and show us how to fight for every inch of progress. Randy, you are a force and you use your power to lift up educators so that we can lift up our students. You remind us that we are not alone and that we are unstoppable when we act together. Joe and I are so grateful to both of you and all of the educators that you represent. And now, I'll turn it over to Randy. Randy? So, first and foremost, and this is on a day that tragedy happened in Madison, the people whose lives lost their memories are blessings. And it makes us recommit ourselves to what educators do every single day, which is to try to create a safe environment. And frankly, Dr. Biden, you and your husband did that for the country. From the beginning of your tenure here, the sense of we can get out of COVID, we can start anew, we can recreate America. And I remember that first day that you had, Becky, and you had us at the White House, and sent a message to teachers about how important their role was in the nurturing of young people. And from that day, well, before that day, you've done this. But from that day forward, as First Lady, you set a standard of compassion and nurturing and prodding in a very direct, yet friendly way and determined way that we had to lift all souls. And we had to lift our kids. And we had to do that all together. So, there's a lot of other things I can say, but it's going to be well more than two minutes. So, I just really wanted to say, on behalf of our 1.8 million members, thank you for everything you have done and for everything your husband has done. Thank you. That's number one. Number two, to the educators that are here, I just want to say thank you to you. Because for everything that happens in classrooms, you are the difference makers. You make that difference in so many different ways and in so many different times. And I want to say thank you. The American people know how important you are. They say this to you over and over and over again about the importance of public education. And I just hope you feel it and you hear it. And more than the American people are American children. They need you. Think about the kids today. Think about what's happening in Wisconsin today. They need you. They need you to inspire them, to see them, to feel them, to lift them, to be and to engage in the promise of America. And so, the last thing I want to say to all of you, all of us, is that we are in the season of light. Whether we believe in Kwanzaa or Hanukkah or Christmas, this is a season of light. It's a season of hope. It's a season of thinking about good things and making a difference and being good. And so, I want to say to all of us, there are going to be a lot of ups and downs over the next few weeks, months and years. Let us all remember that that hope and that light and that goodness starts with the work that you do. Be the light. Be the hope. And have a wonderful holiday and new year. And now, my partner in all of this, Becky Pringle. Oh, my goodness. What an honor of my life to be sitting on this couch with three of us powerful women, right? And as I was listening to you, Dr. Jill, I thought about these words. Of all the civil rights for which this world has fought and died for 5,000 years, the right to learn is the most fundamental. The freedom to learn has been bought by bitter sacrifice. So, whatever we might think about the curtailment of other civil rights, we must fight to the last ditch to keep open the right to learn. You embody those words by W.E.B. Du Bois every day. There are not words that could capture the level of gratitude that the three million members of the National Education Association and the millions of members of the American Federation of Teachers feel in this moment. You, from the start, you started out by saying you invited us the day after President Biden took the oath of office. We were there with you. And you promised us that we would partner throughout your tenure. And that's exactly what you did. Every step of the way, whether we work together on the Bipartisan Safer Schools Communities Act, which we knew at the time we had more work to do. And the tragedy in Wisconsin today is evidence of that. But whether we're talking about healthy meals for every student, whether we're talking about student loan debt relief or making higher education more affordable, whether we're talking about addressing the mental health of our students, that's what you did in partnership with us. And so I hope, I trust that you know you have left a legacy that won't end as you leave the people's house. But it will, and I was glad to hear you say that too. You'll continue to do work because let me tell you, I know, I for one, I'll be reaching out. I'll be calling you. Dr. Jill, what do you think? So we can continue to collaborate together. That is when we collaborate, it's a quality of collective thinking, right? That leads to the quality of collective action. Like Randy, I ended an interview today, like I end every interview when the reporter asks you, is there something else you want to say? Then I could just go on and on. No, not me. I always end by saying, well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to say to educators all over this country, thank you. You are incredible. You get up every day and you teach and drive and feed and nurture, counsel our students every day, no matter what's happening going on, you do that every day. And so I want to say to our educators, thank you for all you do, not just for our students, but our families and our communities and for this country, because you know that public education is the foundation of this or any democracy. Thank you for continuing that righteous fight for every student. Thank you, Becky. Just a couple of weeks ago on one of my final overseas trips, the US ambassador in Qatar told me about how all these years later, he still remembers the English teacher who changed his life. And all of us have someone we credit for creating an inflection point in our lives. And you are that someone. Every day, you see something in your students, a spark of passion, a glimmer of talent. And you say, don't let the world miss out on your light. Thanks to you, light shines out of your classrooms. Every student, a sun ray of your legacy. We don't always see how far that light travels, but right now, someone out there is standing a little taller because you helped them find the confidence they needed. Someone is working a little harder because you pushed them to try. Someone is braver because you helped them find their courage. And someone has become a teacher and a mentor to their own students because all of us are in links in an endless chain of educators. And while the world shifts under our feet, we will always have each other. So right now, more than anything else, my message to you is this. Lean on each other. Be each other's strength. And never forget the power of education to transform lives. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, and happy holidays.