First lady Jill Biden speaks during a “Cancer Moonshot” event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Washington. Biden has turned Valentine’s Day into a lesson for second graders. The first lady and longtime teacher had Washington elementary school students design Valentine’s Day hearts that are hanging in the East Wing of the White House. Twenty second graders from Aiton Elementary School and their teacher, Alejandro Diasgranados, will tour the White House on Monday, Feb. 14 and see their “heart work” on display, her office said. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has turned Valentine’s Day into a lesson for second graders.
The first lady and longtime teacher had Washington elementary school students design Valentine’s Day hearts that are hanging in the East Wing of the White House.
Twenty second graders from Aiton Elementary School and their teacher, Alejandro Diasgranados, will tour the White House on Monday and see their “heart work” on display, Biden’s office said. It will be the first time many of these students have been to the White House.
The first lady will also take the group to the North Lawn to see her Valentine’s Day installation: hand-painted, wooden artwork in the shapes of the Bidens’ puppy, Commander, and cat, Willow. There’s also a separate heart-shaped cut-out inscribed with 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Three things will last forever — faith, hope and love — and the greatest of these is love.”
Students in both of Diasgranados’ second grade classes designed two Valentine’s Day hearts using a template and instructions provided by the first lady’s office.
Each student was asked to use words that reflect her values in their designs: compassion, courage, family, gratitude, healing, hope, kindness, love, peace, strength and unity.
The hearts have been strung together and are hanging in a window just inside the entrance to the East Wing, along with three large red hearts placed on the floor that say “hope,” “healing” and “love,” according to a photograph provided by the first lady’s office.
She signed the “healing” heart with “Love, Jill.”
Diasgranados is Washington’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. Biden, a veteran community college professor, met Diasgranados last October when she and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona hosted the 2020 and 2021 Teachers of the Year at the White House.
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