President Joe Biden welcomes Oberlin's Kurt Russell to the White House (VIDEO)

OBERLIN — Growing up with a stuttering disability, President Joe Biden remembers who was there with a kind word — his teachers. "I look back on my life. I think beyond my family — my sister, my brother, my mom, my dad — the people who made a difference in my life in a fundamental way were teachers," he said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon to honor the nation's top educators. Sitting just a few feet away in the White House was Oberlin High School's own Kurt Russell, the 2022 National Teacher of the Year. The East Room was filled with runners-up for the honor, teachers of the year from each of the other 49 states. Teaching is one of the hardest jobs in the U.S., Biden said, and there are too many politicians trying to score points to further their own agendas. America's teachers spend their lives trying to lift up children, he said, and they should not be targets in a culture war. "We ought to give you a raise," Biden told the teachers of the year. In the Oberlin High School library, a small group of students and teachers gathered to watch the National Teacher of the Year ceremony on a live feed from the White House. They received a behind-closed-doors message from Biden. Being on a live video call with the president was a strange experience, said freshman Matthew Dewitt. "It's a small town here. Stuff like this doesn't happen too often," he said. Classmate Winston Melzer was there to cheer loudly for Russell as his teacher was recognized on the national stage. "I think it's a revolutionary feat because you don't really see a lot of people of color up there killing it the way Mr. Russell is right now," he said. "I just think it's a great position in general for anyone to have, but this is a long time coming for him." Standing behind a lectern emblazoned with the seal of the president of the United States, Russell thanked Oberlin Schools and his wife, children and mother for supporting him. He also marveled at what his co-workers have been able to do through the trials of the past two years. Russell said he's witnessed teachers pour unwavering kindness, love and hope into their students. He named Denita Tolbert-Brown, his fellow teacher of 24 years, for acts of kindness such as offering hugs and granola bars to struggling students. At hearing Russell praise her in the White House, Tolbert-Brown's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "Very emotional," she said later, a huge smile on her face. "My mother, I'm sure, is overjoyed." While watching Russell sitting within arm's reach of the leader of the free world, she had to keep pinching herself: "I'm just numb every time I hear the president say his name. It's Kurt, my friend Kurt." Russell also name-checked his former eighth grade math teacher, Larry Thomas, who was the first Black male teacher he'd ever seen. He remembered Thomas sporting an afro and dressing impeccably in a suit and tie every day — an image of professionalism that Russell has modeled himself after. Now the focus has shifted to the next generation. Russell said he tries to persuade students to see themselves as he sees them, with unlimited potential. "I am truly blessed to be a part of a profession that transforms and legitimizes student voices and plants the groundwork for a more culturally responsive education," he said. Russell, who grew up in Oberlin and has taught at the high school for a quarter-century, teaches courses in U.S. history, African American history and race and gender oppression. He coaches the Phoenix varsity boys basketball team and serves as adviser to the Black Student Union. After being selected as Ohio's Teacher of the Year, he emerged as one of four finalists for the national title, which is awarded annually by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Other finalists included Autumn Rivera of Colorado, Whitney Aragaki of Hawaii and Joseph Welch of Pennsylvania. First lady Jill Biden said the lives such teachers change go on to transform the world. They instill not only knowledge but confidence in young minds, said the first lady, who is a community college educator. "What makes your work so special is you: the love and the joy that you bring to it," she told the assembled teachers. "The empathy and the understanding. The sheer power of your presence. You do this work because it's part of who you are. You have a calling." During the depths of the pandemic, Americans got a taste for just how hard teachers work, Biden said. Mothers and fathers got to try out the job themselves when schools closed their doors and living rooms temporarily became classrooms. "They understand what you've been saying for years — that you're professionals, all of you," Biden said. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.