On National Teacher Appreciation Day, Obama Says 'I Could Not Be Prouder' If His Daughters Become Teachers

Celebrating National Teacher Appreciation Day at a White House ceremony, President Obama on Tuesday said that he would love if his two daughters become teachers.

Obama's answer was in response to a letter he received from Danny Abel, a teacher in Virginia, who worried that his students and other young people do not want to become teachers.

"Danny asked the students if any of them wanted to become teachers when they grew up, and no one raised their hands. And that worried him, so he wrote me to ask what I'd say if one of my daughters told me she wanted to become a teacher," Obama recalled. "And I mean this, this is the God's honest truth: if Sasha or Malia wanted to be teachers, I would tell them 'I could not be prouder.'"

The White House announced this week that Obama's elder daughter, Malia, who will graduate from high school this year, plans to attend Harvard University after taking a gap year. Though it's unclear what she will pursue at Harvard, Malia has shown an interest in film and television production.

Obama made his remarks at a ceremony honoring Jahana Hayes , the 2016 National Teacher of the Year. To commemorate National Teacher Appreciation Day, he also tweeted about his fifth grade teacher , Mabel Hefty, whom he said "taught me that I had something to say."