 I'm Mohsen Ghaffari, a fifth grade teacher from Utah. I'm extremely excited to receive the NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence. This experience has given me an opportunity to stand in front of a broader audience to share my opinion, concerns, and share what I have learned all these years and advocate with much louder voice. This nomination, more than anything else, has helped me reflect on my past 20 years of teaching and how's and why's of my teaching and my successes and failures. My advice to my peers who have the opportunity for the NEA Foundation Teaching Excellence would be to think about where you are and what you're about to go through. This award is not about winning or losing. It is more about knowing that a very knowledgeable organization has recognized you as an excellent teacher and you will have the opportunity of a lifetime to be around even better educators. Become a sponge and soak it all up. Learn and learn and learn some more. You and your students will benefit greatly. Awardees are nominated by their state affiliate for demonstrating excellence and instruction, professional advocacy and leadership, attention to diversity, and community engagement. These educators deserve our recognition and our thanks. Please join me in showing your appreciation by nominating an outstanding educator from your state. The deadline for nomination is May 1st. Visit NEAFoundation.org for details.