Update at Tue Dec 17 02:51:56 UTC 2024

rss.xml

@@ -8,11 +8,28 @@
    The White House Briefing Room
   </description>
   <pubDate>
-   Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:03:56 -0500
+   Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:53:04 -0500
   </pubDate>
   <link>
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/
   </link>
+  <item>
+   <title>
+    Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at a Virtual Thank You Event for Educators
+   </title>
+   <guid>
+    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/12/16/remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-first-lady-jill-biden-at-a-virtual-thank-you-event-for-educators/
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+    Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:53:04 -0500
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+   </category>
+  </item>
   <item>
    <title>
     Statement by Vice President Kamala Harris on the School Shooting in Madison, WI
@@ -506,22 +523,5 @@
     presidential-actions
    </category>
   </item>
-  <item>
-   <title>
-    Notice to the Congress on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Serious Human Rights Abuse and Corruption
-   </title>
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 </rss>

speeches-remarks/2024-12/2024-12-16-remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-first-lady-jill-biden-at-a-virtual-thank-you-event-for-educators.md

@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+---
+date: '2024-12-16'
+modified_time: 2024-12-16 20:53:10-05:00
+published_time: 2024-12-16 20:53:04-05:00
+source_url: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/12/16/remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-first-lady-jill-biden-at-a-virtual-thank-you-event-for-educators/
+tags: speeches-remarks
+title: "Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill\_Biden at a Virtual Thank\
+  \ You Event for\_Educators"
+---
+
+South Court Auditorium  
+Eisenhower Executive Office Building
+
+Good evening.
+
+We owe our schools and our communities better. We cannot accept this as
+normal. We must protect our children and educators from gun violence.
+
+Thank you for being here.
+
+It’s hard to believe that this is one of our last gatherings of
+educators at the White House.
+
+The day after Joe was inaugurated, nearly four years ago, I began my
+time as First Lady by thanking our nation’s educators, alongside Randi
+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 we’ve accomplished together. 
+
+We began this journey together.
+
+I asked Randi 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. For coming together during the
+last election. For using your “teacher voice” to organize and get out
+the vote.
+
+And I know that you will continue to push our nation forward in the way
+that only teachers can, making sure that our students are front and
+center.
+
+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 tough ones, through setbacks and
+breakthroughs, through careful lesson plans and all the surprises 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 continued 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’ve 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 change-makers too. You help us set our
+sights on a brighter future, and show us how to fight for every inch of
+progress.
+
+Randi, 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 Randi.
+
+\*\*\*
+
+Thank you, Becky.
+
+Just a couple of weeks ago, on one of my final overseas trips, the U.S.
+Ambassador in Qatar told me about how, all of these years later, he
+still remembers the English teacher who changed his life.
+
+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 mentor to their own students,
+because all of us are 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.
+
+\###