Third graders from Middleburg Elementary made a special presentation to the Council on Thursday night, accompanied by bell ringing. In celebration of American Education Week, Bernadette Boland, Jake Singh, Erin Mamula and Nathan Longerbeam presented a mission statement for Loudoun county schools, informing the council that Loudoun is in the top ten of public school test scores and extending a welcome to the whole community to visit during American education week.

Quoting Benjamin Disraeli and Helen Keller, and Dan Rather, the students expressed their firm support of the schools and especially, those who teach in them.

"The dream begins most of the time with a teacher who believes in you," said one third grader, quoting Rather. "... a teacher who tugs and pushes and leads you onto the next plateau, sometimes poking you with the sharp stick called knowledge."