Thank you, Mr. President. But I'm going to. I accept this award in the name of all you dedicated teachers and all the teachers across the country. I will do by best to represent each of you with diligence and with enthusiasm. For, remember, teaching is a noble profession and we must shout out that for everyone to hear.
Education is the great equalizer in our society.
It is the one gift we have to give to every child to help him or her succeed in the world. Therefore, we must set as one of our goals this year to work to recruit, train and retain intelligent, well-educated and excited people into our profession. We need them. We must help them find the answers to the whys and the whats and the hows of the world, to the possibilities of life and to the worlds of the unknown. Knowledge is that great umbrella under which all of the attributes of the educated man or woman fit.