On Thursday, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden took a short trip from the White House to visit a Northeast D.C. school. President Biden was at the school to make the case for newly announced federal vaccine guidelines, but before and after he spoke, he spent time with some of the students.
鈥淭he most amazing thing was the president and first lady talking to students and hearing firsthand how they felt,鈥� said Brookland Middle School principal Kerry Richardson.
While at the school, the first couple visited a science classroom and offered words of encouragement to the students.
鈥淭he president definitely has a sense of humor. He asked the students how many of them wanted to go to the moon and all their hands went up,鈥� said Richardson.
It was a surprise for the students because they were only told that a 鈥渟pecial guest鈥� was coming to the school 鈥� not the president and first lady.
鈥淚t’s interesting to see them in person, not just on your screen all the time,鈥� said 13-year-old Aidyn Higgins, an eighth-grader at the school. 鈥淣ot everybody can say that they鈥檝e met the president.”
Elijah Poole, 13, also an eighth-grader at Brookland, had the honor of introducing the president 鈥� a job he admits had him a bit nervous beforehand.
鈥淲hat my mind was going through is like, ‘I need to get this speech right so I don鈥檛 embarrass myself in front of a lot of people,’鈥� Poole told 91欧美激情.
Poole said his mother was probably more excited about the special moment than he was, posting to Facebook about it after it happened. Poole said he got to shake both the president and first lady鈥檚 hands, too.
鈥淚 think this is going to stick with me for the rest of my life,鈥� Poole said.
Seventh-grader Raniyah Johnson, 12, joked about her brief encounter with the president. 鈥淲e had eye contact, so I鈥檓 basically his friend now,鈥� Johnson said.
Laronjae Roy, 12, a seventh-grader, said she is looking forward to telling everyone about the presidential visit, which she said gives her 鈥渁 lot of bragging points.鈥�
Eighth-grader Jada Bowie, 13, said she is glad her school is getting recognized nationally because of the visit.
鈥淭o me it means a lot because they could have went to any other school but they chose Brookland to come here and speak,鈥� Bowie said.
In a statement, Mayor Muriel Bowser thanked the president for stopping at the school.
鈥淲e thank President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Secretary Cardona for visiting with our Brookland Middle School community and witnessing first-hand the excitement that only a class of joyful students can deliver,” Bowser said. “We continue to be grateful for the dedication and hard work of those in our school communities for their creativity, flexibility, and resilience over the past two years and, now, their support of a strong reopening of our schools.”
