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First Lady Jill Biden Visits Salt Lake City To Thank Teachers And Community Health Workers

A photo of first lady Jill Biden boarding a plane.
Sonja Hutson
/
KUER
First Lady Jill Biden boarded a plane in Salt Lake City after spending about three hours in Utah.

First Lady Jill Biden spent about three hours in Salt Lake City Wednesday meeting with teachers, students, community health workers and a handful of local and state officials.

Her message to teachers and community health workers was simple: Thank you, your president has your back.

“I've been so inspired by the generosity and the creativity and the dedication of educators across this country,” Biden told a group of teachers and administrators seated in a large hall at Glendale Middle School on the west side of Salt Lake City. “How can we thank you? The best gift that we can give to show our appreciation for everything that you do does not come from a store. It's giving you what you need to be your best. It's investing in you, the teachers. And your president knows that.”

Saineha Hiehiapo, a digital literacy teacher at the middle school, said she was honored Biden had taken time to visit and show appreciation for teachers.

“This has been the year where people have felt like they haven't been seen,” Hiehiapo said. “And for her to take time out of her busy schedule to come and see us in the week of teacher appreciation, there's no better way to feel appreciated than to be acknowledged.”

Biden also visited two different classrooms at Glendale, listening to students perform a song and present posters they made about themselves. She told one class she would spend her time as first lady working on issues like education, community college and military families.

“I don’t want to waste a moment of my time as first lady,” she said. “You can do so much.”

During a visit with community health workers and local elected officials at apop-up vaccination site close by, volunteers with Comunidades Unidas urged Biden to support federal immigration reform.

“Your president stands with you,” she told them.

Sonja Hutson is a politics and government reporter at KUER.
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