Jill Biden puts an end to her teaching career and announces that she will no longer teach at Northern Virginia Community College. The first lady has a 40-year history in the teaching profession.
Jill Biden has closed the chapter on her teaching career at a Virginia community college. The first lady, who has spent the past 40 years teaching in classrooms, announced Monday that she had taught her last class at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria last week.
The surprise announcement came during a virtual appreciation event with teachers tuning in from across the country.
“Being your first lady has been the honor of my life. But being your colleague has been my life's work,” he said. “Last Thursday, I taught my last class of the semester and my final class at Northern Virginia Community College.”
“I will always love this profession, which is why I continued teaching full time while serving as its first lady,” said Jill Biden, who was joined on a couch by teachers union presidents Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers. and Becky Pringle, of the National Education Association.
Biden had taught English and writing at NOVA for 15 years. She is the first woman to continue her professional career outside the White House while serving as first lady.
The announcement comes as she and President Joe Biden prepare to leave the White House in just over five weeks after the Democrat withdrew his re-election bid following a poor performance in a debate against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the summer.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris succeeded Biden but lost the presidential race to Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20.
It was not immediately clear whether Jill Biden, 73, was retiring from teaching entirely. Attendees did not immediately comment. Northern Virginia Community College also had no comment.
Jill Biden began teaching English and writing there in 2009 after Barack Obama and Joe Biden were elected president and vice president and moved to Washington. He continued teaching there after Joe Biden's term ended in 2017, traveling by train from his home in Delaware.
Prior to NOVA, he also taught English and writing at Delaware Technical Community College.
Jill Biden began her career in 1976, teaching English at a high school in Wilmington, Delaware, before becoming a reading specialist at another high school.
He also taught English at a psychiatric hospital while pursuing his second master's degree. He also has a doctorate in educational leadership.
He often said: “Teaching is not what I do, it is who I am.”