OK, so I just found a letter that Ellen left for me.
All right.
Dear Wanda, it's Ellen Degeneres.
[LAUGHTER]
Hope everything is going well.
I'm sure you're doing great.
I wanted to tell you about someone in the audience today.
She's a first year teacher from Birmingham, Alabama
who goes above and beyond for her students.
I love surprising people on my show
and I think you should surprise her today.
Just say her name and she'll freak out, I promise.
It'll be fun.
PS, don't drink my tequila.
[LAUGHTER]
OK, where is Jasmine Merlette?
Come on down here.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CRYING]
This is not happening.
Here you go.
Oh, my god.
It's all right.
Hi.
Calm down.
You're OK.
You're excited, huh?
Now, I recognize you because you have a viral video.
You're a teacher, and you have a viral video with your students.
Yes, ma'am.
Right?
I don't know if you guys have seen it.
Let's take a look at it.
Oh, wow.
[APPLAUSE]
That's amazing.
That's incredible.
Over 12 million views.
So why did you make the video?
So can y'all hear me?
So when one of my students, she came to me,
she was really nervous about her state test.
So the thing is, everything we do in the classroom
is preparing for our state test at the end of the year.
So I was like, hold up, like, you have no reason
to be worried, nothing to fear, like, we've been practicing
all year, you got this.
So my class and I, we came up with the lyrics and the video
y'all see is literally them before they took the state
test.
Oh, wow.
That was our energy going in there.
So how did they do?
They did amazing.
That's great.
They did amazing.
[APPLAUSE]
Yeah.
That's great.
And tell us about some of your students?
Like they come from some pretty rough backgrounds, right?
Yeah, so Sun Valley Elementary School
is a Title I elementary school.
So we serve communities that are low income.
So there are a lot of different home life situations
that come into my classroom.
But that's why I make sure that my classroom knows
when we come in here, it doesn't matter
what's going on out there.
We came here to learn, we're going to do this.
We got this and we are not our circumstance.
We can do this.
We can learn, we can do this.
That's great.
And this is your first year teaching?
Yes, ma'am.
They haven't stamped you yet.
Literally, it's my first year.
[APPLAUSE]
That's great.
Your first year of teaching.
And can you tell us about the program?
Yes, so I'm a part of Teach for America.
And basically, the mission for Teach for America
is that one day, all children will
be able to attain an excellent education.
No matter what.
So I love their mission and I just
wanted to be a part of the work that's already
being done from all the educators,
from all the community members, everyone in the classroom,
out of the classroom.
If you're supporting a classroom or a school,
I just wanted to help be a part of that.
That's great.
[APPLAUSE]
That's awesome.
Yeah, I love teachers.
Thank you.
I do, I love teachers.
And I have a lot of friends who are teachers.
And I know the plight of teachers, a lot of you,
you come out of your pocket to pay
for supplies and everything.
Yes, ma'am.
Yeah, I know that.
And so I have a gift for you.
I wanted to give you something.
[LAUGHTER]
Oh, my god.
I got this scratch-off here.
Oh, time out.
[LAUGHTER]
Let's do it.
Yeah, and let's see how that works for you.
Hopefully, you know, you win something big there.
Just go ahead and get to scratching.
Oh, see you like to go--
I go willy nilly.
I just--
Am I doing it right?
Yeah, it's just scratch.
That's about all you do.
Just scratch and see if anything matches up.
Anything matches up?
Well, wait a minute, I think--
how many you need?
You just need two, right?
OK.
OK, look you won $3.00.
Hey!
Turn up!
[APPLAUSE]
Turn up?
Yes, turn up.
Look at that.
You got $3 right there.
But you know, that's all I have to give you.
[LAUGHTER]
And I will take it.
But you know what, but we're lucky,
because Ellen has some friends at Shutterfly
and they love how you're making a difference in your students.
And they want to give you a check for $10,000.
[APPLAUSE]
Well-deserved.
We'll be right back.