WATERFORD, Pa. (AP) – Jill Biden sees a moment of learning in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.
The first lady sat in a socially distant circle in the library at Fort LeBoeuf Middle School in Pennsylvania, listening and taking notes while parents expressed relief that the school had reopened and their children were back in the classroom.
A mother talked about the “bumpy patches” of online learning and said that the reopening “has been so difficult” that she does not care about her son and daughter. Another mother said the district included the parents’ opinion and she felt comfortable with her children in a “safe environment”.
A teacher herself, Biden praised the small circle of parents, teachers and administrators for working together to help reopen Fort LeBoeuf. And she repeated a message she delivered earlier that day, while visiting Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut.
“We have been through really difficult times, but I think the only good thing about the educators I love – and that includes cafeteria staff, bus drivers, teachers, everyone involved – is that we all learn from it.” , Biden said about the pandemic and its emotional, social and human tribute.
“We are all going to take everything we have learned and we are going to turn this into an opportunity to make things better for students as we go along,” she said.
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The first lady seems to intend to turn every aspect of her new job into an opportunity, especially anything related to her triple passions for education, fighting cancer and supporting military families.
A few days after becoming first lady, Biden told governors’ spouses during a virtual meeting at the White House that his new platform is “one I would never waste”.
She has long focused on education, having taught at a high school, a psychiatric hospital and community colleges for more than three decades. She is still teaching, virtually at the White House, and looking forward to the day when she can return to the classroom.
Finding a cure for cancer also motivates her and President Joe Biden.
The couple lost their son Beau to brain cancer in 2015 at 46 years old. Her parents died of cancer and one of her sisters had a stem cell transplant. Doctors also gave the dreaded diagnosis of breast cancer to four of their friends over the course of a year in the 1990s.
The Bidens also defend service members and their families, an appreciation that stems from Beau Biden’s service in the Delaware Army National Guard, including a deployment in Iraq. Jill Biden plans to revive a program to support the military family he led with former First Lady Michelle Obama when Biden’s husband was Vice President of President Barack Obama.
Jill Biden quickly set her agenda as first lady, highlighting all three long-standing causes in her early weeks.
She has been busy with virtual meetings, giving English classes to her community college, taking official trips, running errands in the Washington area and accommodating family dogs at the White House. Even the light blue elastic she wore in her hair went viral.
Biden, known for throwing surprises and jokes, also intends to inject some lightness into things while her husband faces frightening crises: she woke him up to show him giant hearts that she displayed on the front lawn of the White House on Valentine’s Day.
“She started out fast, and I think it’s very solid,” said Myra Gutin, author of “The President’s Partner: The First Lady of the 20th Century”.
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The First Lady also maintains a robust travel schedule, despite the pandemic.
His first official tour was to a nonprofit community health center in Washington to highlight services for cancer patients. From there, she made a detour to personally deliver chocolate chip cookies to National Guard troops parked at the US Capitol.
She recently traveled to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond to visit the Massey Cancer Center, where researchers study the socioeconomic and cultural factors that contribute to disparities in cancer outcomes.
The First Lady was making comments on Monday at the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award virtual ceremony before boarding a plane to spend Tuesday and Wednesday visiting US military facilities in Washington state and California.
Biden also met virtually with teachers’ union leaders, spouses of defense officials and governors, military children and their government cancer teachers and researchers, among others. She sent pre-recorded comments to various conferences and recorded a public service commercial with Champ and Major, the German shepherds in the family, encouraging people to wear face masks.
Tammy Vigil, author of “Melania & Michelle: First Ladies in a New Age,” said Biden’s experience as the wife of a former United States senator and vice president was a resource that helped her quickly form a team. She also didn’t need time to discover the problems she wanted to focus on.
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Apparently, there are no unknown races for Jill Biden.
Unlike some recent first ladies who tried to hide their identities on unofficial outings in the Washington area, as Michelle Obama once did in a shopping spree for Target, Jill Biden comes out as herself.
Stephen Bota said he knew a VIP visit was about to take place when undercover US Secret Service agents showed up unannounced at his DuPont Circle newsstand in late January, but left him unsure who it would be. Hours later, Jill Biden came in the door.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re the first lady,” Bota, an immigrant from Kenya who owns The Newsroom, recalled in an interview. He and his employees – only his wife and sister-in-law – appear in a photo with the first lady now on display in the store.
“I told her that we are very grateful that she came to see us,” said Bota.
Biden also bought coffee at Brewer’s Cafe in Richmond and confectionery at The Sweet Lobby on Capitol Hill, both owned by blacks. The president, meanwhile, stopped his entourage after church on a Sunday for son Hunter Biden to take a bagel order.
“She looks more inviting,” said Vigil, noting that everyone identifies with tasks in progress.
With the purchases, the Bidens seem to be encouraging support for small businesses, which generate the majority of jobs in the United States, but are struggling to survive the pandemic.
They also seem to be signaling that they will participate in city life.
Former President Donald Trump just went to his hotel near the White House or his golf club in northern Virginia. To dine in a city with a robust restaurant scene, he opted to dine exclusively at the hotel’s restaurant. His wife, Melania Trump, maintained any unofficial excursions in the Washington area under the radar.
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After Jill Biden posted a photo of you on the counter at The Sweet Lobby, the boutique bakery was not the only thing that became an instant hit.
The light blue rubber band holding the First Lady’s hair went viral.
Biden said he had no idea until daughter Ashley called to tell her.
“I said, ‘What scrunchie?’ I didn’t know what she was talking about, ”the first lady told talk show host Kelly Clarkson during an interview at the White House. “I still do not understand.”