District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Kaya Henderson issued the following statement today honoring Kathy Hollowell-Makle, DCPS’ 2013 Teacher of the Year and a 16-year teaching veteran. Hollowell-Makle is a teacher at Simon Elementary School in Southeast DC.

“Tonight at the State of the Union address, one of our very best teachers will have the honor of sitting near First Lady Michelle Obama as one of her invited guests. Through her unyielding commitment to her students, Kathy Hollowell-Makle makes us proud every single day in her classroom and represents the best of DCPS as she helps her students to learn and soar.

“The First Lady will be seated among so many heroes tonight, and Ms. Hollowell-Makle is no exception – her devotion, her creativity and her passion are the qualities that help transform students’ lives and set the foundation for their future success. For 16 years, she’s given her all to DCPS and tonight as the entire nation looks to her as a stellar example of the power of great teachers, we stand proud, reminded once again, that we, with great people like Ms. Hollowell-Makle, are DCPS and we can do this.”