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Sep 4, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Jill Biden to return to in-person classes at Northern Virginia Community College

Kierra Frazier
US First Lady Jill Biden speaks with a student in Becky Taylors classroom.

First lady Jill Biden. Photo: Susan Walsh/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

First lady Jill Biden will return to the classroom at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College next week after months of remote learning, The Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Biden is the first U.S. first lady to maintain a full-time job while carrying out her duties at the White House.

The big picture: Biden plans to spend every Tuesday and Thursday for 13 weeks teaching college students starting the week of Labor Day, per The Post.

  • All 18 slots in Biden's morning section of College Composition I are already filled, and her courses will be combined with English Composition Readiness II.
  • The college has implemented a mask policy, which requires all faculty and students to wear a face covering while indoors.

What she's saying: Biden, who has been teaching since 1976, has called teaching "profoundly optimistic."

  • “I am an English teacher at NOVA — not First Lady,” she wrote in an email to fellow faculty, explaining that she didn’t want her students to view her differently, per The Post. “Thanks for honoring my teacher identity. Jill,” she signed off.
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