Right now I want to take time to celebrate
this incredible high school graduate.
Take a look.
Dean Jordan, I graduated!
I love you, Dean Jordan.
Bye, Ms. Bell.
Thank you.
I'm proud of you, Dontrail.
I'm always see you, Ms. Smith.
Love you, man.
Love you, too.
Ms. Gleason, I graduated!
Ms. Gleason!
Ms. Gleason, I got it!
Boy, I love you so much.
Hold that diploma up.
I love that so much.
I can't wait to meet him.
From Nashville, Tennessee, please
welcome 18-year-old Dontrail.
Hi.
Hi, Ellen!
Oh, my gosh, Ellen, we love you.
This is so exciting
Thank you so much.
Dontrail, you got friends with you.
Tell me who you're with.
I'm with Ms. Rasheedat my mentor,
and Ms. Gleason, my teacher.
Congratulations so much.
That was such an emotional--
you could just feel it watching it.
No wonder it went viral.
It was really cool.
Why was it so emotional for you?
Still emotional for you.
Dontrail has just been through so much.
To have an opportunity like this to go viral, and have
millions and millions of people to see his video, to be sitting
here talking to you right now, Ellen,
it's just so overwhelming.
It's not anything that we ever expected.
He's just a good kid with a good heart.
And he went viral.
I'm so happy that my video touched you, too, Ellen.
Yeah, it did.
It was so beautiful.
And, Dontrail, in the video, you shout out
to your teacher, Ms. Gleason.
You were very excited.
Why was it so important?
She must have a huge, huge role in your life.
Ms. Gleason has been my teacher since my freshman year.
She loves kids.
And she loves her job as a teacher.
She cares so much.
It was so many times I gave up on her in school where
she had never gave up on me.
And I just think the support--
I love the support she gives me and my seniors.
Beginning of the school year, she told me
I was going to graduate.
So when I hop out the car, I had to give her the most biggest
hug because she inspired me so much to graduate.
Ms. Gleason, that has to feel real good.
It's overwhelming.
These are the moments that teachers live for.
There are so many nights when you go home
and you question whether or not it matters, whether or not
you're making a difference.
So to see Dontrail on the hood of that car holding
his diploma, screaming my name, tears flowing,
he's just consumed with joy.
I could not be prouder of this young man.
I tell my babies all the time, they're part of my family.
So for me, that's what this moment is about.
It's about family.
Well, that's got to be a strong validation that you're
doing-- like you said, it's a moment
that teachers are hoping for.
But that means that you accomplished
exactly what you were setting out to do as a teacher.
Dontrail, is your mom there?
Is she close by?
I'd like to just say hi to her.
Yes, my mom is here.
Oh, my God.
Hi.
You must be so proud of your son.
I am more than proud.
He worked so hard.
And we went through a lot.
Living where we live, kind of where we come from,
it's a lot of ups and downs.
But he made it.
And I couldn't be prouder.
And he's my second son to graduate, so kudos to him.
And I'm just so happy that he inspired so many.
I still can't believe it.
I can't even believe I'm on this phone--
this computer with you.
Oh, my God.
I watch your show every day.
Oh, my God.
Well, listen, I can't believe I'm
on the computer with you all, too.
That's really cool.
Dontrail, really have a graduation gift for you.
I know that you have a bright future ahead of you.
I want to help you get there.
So we're going to give you a check for $20,000
to help you on your way.
All right?
When we're back in the studio, I want to invite you
all to the studio.
When we're back, we want to invite you.
We'll see you there.
I want to meet you in person, OK?
All of you.
Thank you, Ellen.
Thank you.
And thank you, Ms. Gleason for doing
an awesome job as a teacher.
As you know, everyone appreciates you now more
than they ever have.
So thank you so much, everybody.
We'll be right back.
Thank you, Ellen.
Thank you.
We love you, Ellen!