 As President and CEO of Horace Mann, a company founded by educators for educators, I'm proud to honor the five recipients of the Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence. With three sisters, three nieces and now potentially my daughter being teachers, I know some of the challenges they face in the classroom and I hear about the rewards that make it all worth it. Teaching is more than a job. It's a higher calling and a critical role in our society. Teachers mold our future and for these five finalists and many other teachers, the job isn't confined to the classroom. Teachers pick their students up when they're down, give gentle guidance in the right direction, help them find their strength and overcome their weaknesses. They build teaching teams and inspire some of their own students to hear the call to the profession. And it is a noble profession that is frequently underappreciated. At Horace Mann, our mission is protecting the short-term risks and securing the long-term financial future of educators. And we make recognizing teachers a part of what we do. For more than a decade, Horace Mann has sponsored the NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence because we know how important and deserving it is to shine a light on outstanding teachers who make a difference in their students' lives and who continue to elevate the role. So please join me in congratulating and honoring five individuals who have been singled out by their peers for going above and beyond and becoming this year's Horace Mann Award recipients. Mohsen was born in Iran. His parents, both of them, have a cumulative education experience of five years, yet they were able to raise six children who ended up becoming professionals. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I will tell you a story about a far-off land, a magical land near the Great Salt Lake with the hero named Mr. Gafari. Why did you want to be a teacher? Because my mom taught me to be the best teacher in the whole world. Mr. Gafari is the fifth-grade teacher at North Star Elementary School. His classroom is full of knowledge. Do you know Mr. Gafari? I do know Mr. Gafari. I've worked with Mr. Gafari for eight years. Do you know what kind of teacher he is? I do. He is probably my favorite kind of teacher because he does what he knows is good for students. He just uses what is brain-researched. He's my favorite kind of teacher. And he makes learning fun. So you never forget what you're learning. What are some things that you did in the classroom that were right? He gets you guys to think. He gets you guys to write about what you think and then he uses what you write to help him understand what else he needs to teach you. The answer is seven. What do you think is a quirk and handle working with all the kids in our class without any help? I think some of that has to do with his understanding and knowing about diversity. And a lot of that is that he pairs up with kids. So he has students in his classroom helping other students and that's one way that he gets some additional help for other kids in the class. He's continuously looking at his practice when he pursued national board certification. That was not at the beginning of his career actually, that was mid-stream. He continues to pursue different opportunities to become a better teacher and that's what good teachers do. And that's what Mosin does. Every opportunity possible he is finding ways to improve instruction to make a difference for his students both inside the classroom and outside the classroom as well. This has been Masterpiece Classroom.