BY MALLORIE MCCOY FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Auburn Junior High School’s Response to Intervention Coordinator and eighth and ninth grade study skills teacher, Kimberly Johnson, was invited by First Lady Jill Biden to help decorate the White House for the Christmas season during the week of Thanksgiving.
Johnson was named Alabama Teacher of the year for the 2021-2022 school year and was titled the 2024 National Education Association, NEA Foundation, Members Benefits Awardee.
“With Dr. Jill Biden being a former teacher, she championed teachers this presidency,” said Johnson.
The First Lady invited all state teachers between 2020 and 2024 to assist in decorating for the Bidens’ last Christmas in the White House. Johnson made the final cut of volunteer selections.
“I felt honored, celebrated and appreciated which felt really good,” Johnson said.
After Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, Nov. 28, Johnson and her husband, Principal Jeffery Johnson of Richland Elementary School, took off to Washington D.C. Upon arrival, Johnson along with 300 other teachers from around the country joined together for a 7 p.m. orientation.
The next morning the volunteers were split into teams based on their assigned room to decorate. They worked at the White House from Friday, Nov. 29, to Sunday Nov. 30 starting their days at 7 a.m. and ending them at 5:30 p.m.
“I was on team frosty which was assigned to the east ballroom, the biggest room in Whitehouse. All rooms have different themes,” said Johnson. “The team leaders were White House interior designers who helped the teams execute the vision.”
The east ballroom theme was “starlight” aiming to embody “peace and remembrance” during the holiday season. Johnson climbed up and down ladders, wired and hung ornaments, secured snowflake cut-outs in the windows, and made crafts of gold and silver mylar and attached them to the ceilings.
“It was nice to be there with people from all over the country, and have a common goal to execute,” said Johnson. “It was really a workshop environment and such a cool experience”
Another room Johnson put her time into decorating was the State Dining Room. This room’s Christmas decorations consisted of two large trees adorned with hand-crafted self-portrait ornaments created by students from across the country.
Johnson even had the opportunity to add her own student’s ornaments to the trees.
“Being able to see students from Auburn, Alabama on those trees was very heartwarming,” she said. “That room was extra special.”
On the afternoon of Monday, Dec. 1, all volunteers were invited back to the White House for a reception to see the final product of the decorations. A room that stood out to Johnson was the library where dozens of twinkling, ceramic Christmas trees were on display.
“I remember being a little girl and my grandmother having a ceramic Christmas tree,” Johnson said. “It was very nostalgic for me. The amount of detail they paid to planning was incredible”
The reception consisted of going from room to room admiring decorations, eating hors d’oeuvres and listening to music played on a piano.
“Being able to get unplugged, talk to people about decorating, and having a place that represents us was definitely a highlight,” said Johnson “It was a bucket list experience that I didn’t even know I needed to have on my bucket list.”
