WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, joined D.C. middle school students and families Friday, welcoming them back to classrooms and honoring the educators who made it all possible.
The first lady spoke at Brookland Middle School and delivered words of encouragement while acknowledging the challenges of the last year and highlighting goals to come.
"We are going to partner with you because we don't always know what the future holds, but we do know what we owe our children," Dr. Biden said while affirming that the administration will ensure schools like Brookland have the resources and support to continue in-person learning. "We owe them a promise to keep their schools open as safe as possible. We owe them a commitment to follow the science. We owe them unity so that we can fight the virus, not each other."
The first lady then went on to introduce an eighth grader and editor of the school's paper, the Brookland Buzz. The young man shared his experience as a scholar who has thrived academically but was nonetheless affected by the immense challenge of virtual school.
"It was announced we were going on an early spring break due to the pandemic. What kid wouldn't be excited to go on an early spring break?" he recalled of the emotions and commotion surrounding spring, 2020 at the middle school. "What was supposed to be one week turned into 18 months of virtual learning. I'm not gonna lie, that was really hard."
President, first lady visit DC school
President Biden also revisited the administration's goals of vaccinating the public, increasing testing and masking, keeping the economy going and ensuring student safety in schools, among others.
"Now for any parent, it doesn't matter how low the risk of any illness is when it could happen to your child," the president said. "But we all know if schools follow the science and implement safety measures . . . like vaccinations, testing, masking, children can be safe in schools from COVID-19."
The president went on to emphasize the necessity of vaccinations.
"Parents, get your teens vaccinated - you've gotten them vaccinated for all types of other things," he said. "The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, easy and convenient."
The president also went on to celebrate D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's vaccination efforts and her success in setting up 20 vaccination sites at local schools
In response, Mayor Bowser released a statement thanking the Bidens for visiting.
"We know that our students thrive and do their best when they are in school – surrounded by their classmates, teachers, mentors, and all that makes being a student a life-changing experience."
The mayor went on to shout out the funding that the American Rescue Plan provided the District, which made more than $386 million available to safely reopen schools and support student and staff well-being.