 As president and CEO of Horseman, a company founded by educators for educators, I'm proud to honor the five recipients of the Horseman 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 Horseman, 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, Horseman 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 Horseman Award recipients. The state of South Dakota is famous for many things. Bison, sunflowers, winter and Mount Rushmore. But now South Dakota is famous for one more thing. Pam Wells is the face of education. She faces the challenge of a diverse population. The reason I became a teacher, because I had no intention of becoming a teacher, was to become a doctor. When I was in college, I had a tremendous college professor and she said, hey, I have some basketball players that need some tutoring. And I started tutoring. And when they got it because of how I explained it, it was like an adrenaline rush. And I knew then, right then and there, that I could no longer even think about pre-med anymore. I had to become a teacher by then. One of the best things about this school at Mrs. Wells is when it's your birthday, she sings you a birthday song. Happy, happy birthday, happy, happy birthday. Ever since I've known her, she's been an awesome teacher. But every year, she gets better because she's willing to try new things. For me personally, if I'm having fun in a class, I tend to learn it easier. And in other classes, it just sit down and listen to the teacher talk about what we're doing. Kind of doze off and sometimes not learn it. You'll never get tired in her class. And she really gives every student an opportunity to excel. If I want to do something a little bit different, she makes sure that you're challenged in the class and you're not sitting there bored. And everybody's doing something that's making them think, even if that might not be exactly what the assignment was for the day. This year, she's involved with the junior class. As a junior class advisor, she's been there. She's been planning and selling concessions. But everything that she does as a teacher, she really likes to promote and tries to bring people in and be a part of it. The one thing I think that maybe separates Mrs. Wells from others is that the first thing, the most important thing, is developing the relationship with the kid before she focuses on teaching the content. Pam is a master at building relationships. And she builds those relationships with her students, with the leadership in her school, with our state association, and with the community. And every relationship that she builds and every student that she talks with and works with, everything empowers her to do more.