Laurence Fieber: [0:00] Children are children everywhere, and every child is saintly, no matter what his or her background is. And every child has a right to receive a quality education.

Dr. Elizabeth Paul: [0:10] What do I see in this room? I see the power of the future. I see the group of people that will change our future.

Lucille Davy: [0:21] There is nothing, I will tell you, in my experience, there is nothing that compares to the reward and satisfaction that you get when you can touch the lives of students in your classrooms and see how you are making a difference in their futures.

Dr. Robert Goodman: [0:35] The reason you become a teacher is to change the lives of your students. If you can care more about your kids and their families and making everything right, you'll be a great teacher.

Tonya Breland: [0:45] At some point in my life, I realized that whatever I do, I have to make someone else feel as special as Mrs. Clark made me.

Dr. Paul: [0:53] You are the people who are stepping forward, with that passion and with that leadership. Just by being here today, you have distinguished yourselves as leaders. You have distinguished yourselves as people who are committed and passionate about changing this country.

Elaine Mendelow: [1:12] One of the things that gifted kids--and really, all kids--like is to be given choice. The teacher really becomes the facilitator of learning, by being the guide on the side instead of the sage on stage. You bring these kids up from where they are as far as you can, and you let these kids go as far as they can go. That truly is the essence of what should be happening in the regular classroom.

[1:36] [musical interlude]

Raymond Broach: [1:54] History is an ongoing story. So we don't wait for a certain subject to dignify culture. Multiculturalism, for being an effective teacher, is really about relationships.

Man 1: [2:07] I wanted to take the things I saw in their teaching that were great, and I wanted to take the things that I saw in my teachers who were not so great and do it better than them, and I wanted to give that gift to the next generation of kids.

Man 2: [2:18] I wasn't sure I wanted to be a teacher. Went to Princeton--wasn't sure I wanted to be a teacher. Graduated from Princeton--wasn't totally sure I wanted to be a teacher. And this was two years ago. What I did know was that there were things about the world that I wanted to fix, and what I did know was that I was in a position to be able to fix them.

Man 3: [2:39] He cared for each and every child. He would pull me aside and say, "Devon, I know you can do something with your life. I know you want to be someone." And I told him I wanted to be a teacher.

Tonya: [2:48] I let them know, in every way that I can, that I believe that they can and will be whatever it is they set out to be.

John Kline: [2:57] Unlike famous athletes, the faces of hero teachers do not appear on trading cards or Wheaties boxes. However, the images and actions of hero teachers perpetually remain embedded in the memories of those students whose lives they shaped.

[3:11] [musical interlude]

Man 4: [3:27] As much as you love what you do--and I've been blessed my whole life to know that this is what I love doing--you give a lot, you give the very best of yourself, but don't for a minute think that you don't get a lot. You do. I've gotten something from all of you.

Woman 1: [3:40] In two weeks, I've learned more about myself than I ever have before in my entire life. And I realized, not just, OK, I want to be a teacher--but I want to be a good teacher. And I can!

Woman 2: [3:53] At first, I thought that I wanted to be a teacher. I wasn't quite sure because my dad had been a teacher. But now, there's like no doubt in my mind that I want to be a teacher.

Woman 3: [4:04] I really, really believe in my heart that there should be more things like this, so other people who want to go into teaching can realize you can make a difference. It only takes one person.

Woman 4: [4:14] Every future teacher needs to have this.

Dr. Sharon Sherman: [4:19] Teachers touch the future. It's a profession with meaning, importance, and passion.

Wayne Dennis: [4:26] The work you're about to embark on gives meaning to a lot of things, gives meaning to kids.

[4:33] Make contact. Keep your passion. Keep your focus on the kids. Always do what is in the best interest of the kids. It's not just about educating kids. It's really about saving lives.

Man 5: [4:45] And I want to thank Larry Fieber for his efforts in putting this together, because this is something special. This is something powerful.

[4:54] [applause]

Tonya: [4:55] I hope that you do go into teaching and that you really do make a difference in the lives of the children.

Man 6: Teachers should remember that somewhere in the world waits the cure for cancer, the solution for a practical hydrogen cell, the next Elizabeth Blackwell, Stephen Hawking, or Samuel Clemens.

[5:12] She may be sitting in the classroom right now with Melissa or with Devon, waiting to be inspired, waiting for a teacher like a hero teacher--and hopefully I'm looking at some of them--who can unlock their desire to learn, set fire to their will, or uncover their secret genius. And so, my message is: go be that teacher.