Teacher of the Year, HS English teacher Sarah Brown Wessling, honored by Pres. Barack Obama (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama, right, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, center, stand with 35-year-old Johnston High School teacher Sarah Brown Wessling of Iowa, the 2010 National Teacher of the Year, during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 
 

Teacher of the Year, HS English teacher Sarah Brown Wessling, honored by Pres. Barack Obama (VIDEO) - Johnston High School English teacher, Sarah Brown Wessling of Johnston, Iowa, was honored by President Barack Obama with the Teacher of the Year Award at the White House on Thursday, April 29, 2010.

In honoring Ms. Wessling, President Obama said, "One of her students reports that in Ms. Wessling's class no discussion was fruitless; no assignment was pointless; and not one day was boring, and I'm not sure I could have said that when I was in school."

Ms. Wessling received a crystal apple from the president in front of family, friends, colleagues, government officials, her own teachers; other teachers, her students, and representatives from her state.

"I couldn't be more overwhelmed and humbled by this honor,"  she said in her brief acceptance speech.  "Each learner is a story.  I see the world in stories.  In the very same way that I believe in the transformative power of language to unite us, I am certain that the stories of our students will sustain us."

See a video of the ceremony below.

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Connie Ann Kirk is a published author of 10 books. She is currently working on a novel and a screenplay.  See all of Connie's Arts & Entertainment columns at these pages: National Books on Film Examiner , National Literature Examiner, and National Young Adult Pop Culture Examiner .  Feel free any time to also check out her website.

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