 So every year when I walk into the Scala, even when we position it, I'm lifted up because I know we're going to be celebrating everything that's great about public education, students and their educators. On a night when we're celebrating excellence in real time, I want to take the liberty of sharing a personal story about one of the many other ways educators are celebrated when they're not at a glorious Scala. So a few days before Thanksgiving, I received a text message from a student I taught, here you go, 40 years ago. How he remembered me and tracked me down shouldn't really surprise any of us, including me, social media, right? Seeing his name in that completely unexpected text message, totally out of the blue, I instantly recalled his expansive smile, his generous heart, and his early-seeming disinterest in school. Or maybe, or maybe, it was my inability at first to find the right teaching strategy to which he would respond. So those of you who know me, I'm kind of a persistent girl, so I kept plugging away until I found the key to unlock his love of learning. His text to me read, Harriet Sanford, exclamation point. This is Elander Lewis. When you were my teacher, you brought in this man to help shape me up. Not sure what that meant. Because you were worried about me. It made me feel special and important. You were amazing and memorable. You helped lay the foundation for me to dare to believe in my dreams. And over the years, I've referenced Ms. Sanford and her belief in me. You just always seemed to know what was needed, a word of encouragement, a gentle-loving touch, or someone you thought I could relate to. So when I finished reading his text I raised to my photo album, I know. You don't believe me, but I did. I still have photos of my students from 40 years ago. And you can see from this photo, it's a little bit trained, but Elander is the tall young man standing in the back row on your left with a mountain of hair and a sweater. So after a few moments of looking at Elander's photo, I wept. I wept because, as every teacher knows, there's nothing more important than knowing that you have impacted the life of your students, even if it takes 40 years to find out. So tonight, our awardees do not need to wait 40 years. This evening is their chance to be celebrated because they are excellent. So thank you all for joining us as we celebrate all that is right about public education. Thank you very much.