NEA Foundation's Salute to Excellence in Education Gala 2012

The Smiths clean up pretty well when we need to.  We headed to the National Building Museum for the Gala and we were blown away with how lovely it all was.  I wish you all could have seen just how elegant the setting was. Fancy dresses, flowers, champagne, and lots of oooh la la made for a very special evening.

It was a celebration of education, teachers and the work we do in our unions.  I was proud to represent Education Minnesota and am grateful for all of the professional opportunities I have had in the organization.  Denise Specht, Tom Dooher, and Paul Mueller make up our Executive Board and are a hard working bunch. As you can see, they clean up pretty well too.

Luke Merchlewitz and his family were there to celebrate too.  Luke is the 2011 National Teacher of Excellence.  Luke's enthusiasm fills any room on any given day, last night was no exception. He was so happy to meet up with his traveling buddies and fellow honorees from 2011.

Karl Aaro is the Executive Director of Education Minnesota and a really cool guy. He is so kind to me and always interested in my stories of life as the MN TOY. We both struggled to finish our spinach last night. I was afraid that it would stick in my teeth and everyone would spot it on the jumbo tron. I am not sure what Karl's excuse was.

I wonder if my loyal blog followers will recognize....guess....take a stab at it....keep trying.....yes!! It is Jeanne Del Colle, the 2012 New Jersey Teacher of the Year! It was so great to see her again.  We had dinner tonight and got all caught up on our lives since we met in Dallas.  She is rocking it in Jersey like I am in Minnesota.  Both of us feel so lucky to have the opportunity to represent all the great work teachers and students do in classrooms everyday. I think Minnesota misses us, she sent a hello today in the form of a crazy, windy, wintery day here in DC!