I've gotten a lot of sweet messages from my fans
for my 60th birthday.
I want to show you one of them.
We know that we can't really give much to Ellen.
She has everything.
But we also know it's her birthday this week,
she's gonna be 60, and these guys have a surprise for her.
[MUSIC - "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"]
Happy birthday, Ellen!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi!
Hi, April.
Hi!
Hello, how are you?
I'm so good!
Oh, good.
That was really sweet.
That was the greatest.
You're an orchestra teacher, right?
I am, at Lava Ridge Intermediate School.
All right, tell us about that school.
It's in Santa Clara, Utah.
We have about 900 students, and more than half of them
are at or lower than poverty level.
Right, a lot of them are homeless.
Yeah.
And so the students are a huge inspiration to you.
Tell me why.
They really are.
They just go through really hard things,
and I never realized what the students go through
until you're a teacher and you see it.
I had this one sweet little boy come to me and tell me
his family has just been evicted from their apartment.
Had one other cute little boy who had his violin
and he would take it-- thank you.
He would take his violin from class
to class instead of keeping it in his lockers.
And I asked him about it and he said that's all he had,
and so that's what he wanted and it was heartbreaking.
Oh, man.
They sound amazing.
I wish I could meet them.
They-- actually, you know what, Jeannie?
No, no.
[INAUDIBLE] through this?
There they are.
Oh my god, my kids!
Hi, guys!
Oh my gosh, you guys!
How's it going there, Jeannie?
Tell me about those kids.
Oh, Ellen, we are doing so great!
April, you have had such an impact on these kids.
They love you so, so much.
Oh my gosh, I love them!
I'm so glad you get to do this!
You guys, you realize what a great teacher you have, right?
Yes!
Does anybody want to say anything to April right now?
I've got Ashton and Patience who want to say something
to you, April, go ahead.
Miss Nelson, I just wanna say thank you
for everything, and thanks for pushing us toward the stars,
and always have--
pushing fun into everything.
Thank you.
Oh, I love you, Ashton!
Miss Nelson, thank you so much for always being there for you.
You taught me how to be kind and how to be courageous.
You taught me so much more than music.
Thank you!
Oh my gosh, Patience!
All right!
You also submitted something earlier.
We had this contest going on, this Scotch brand contest
about the best wrapped packages.
Yeah.
And this was your submission, I think.
So they wrapped all of their instruments,
which was really clever, whose idea was that?
Well, I heard about the contest, and I thought,
we have to figure out how to wrap music.
Music is a gift, and I kept thinking, how can we do that?
This popped into my head, my whole class
needs to wrap instruments.
Yeah.
So we-- I--
there was a couple of days before Christmas break,
and I just brought in everything,
we just cranked Christmas music and we just went for it.
And it was so fun!
I bet it was fun, and the contest is over, unfortunately.
But so were they just asking every day like, did we win,
did we win?
Every day.
We came back from break and I said,
we should have news after the break,
and so they, for days and days and days,
have we heard anything?
And I said, no news is good news because if no one's won--
Right.
--we still have a chance!
So, yeah, and the contest is over, and it was $15,000.
What would you have done with the $15,000?
As we talked to the class, they talked
about having a cool Disney--
Disney has a recording studio behind stage,
and you can go back, and they get a professional conductor
in there, and you become the soundtrack to a movie.
Wow.
It's really cool.
So they talked about that.
They talked about-- one sweet little boy said
he wants to go play for a children's hospital,
and even though it doesn't cost money, that's
the kind of hearts they have.
They're so sweet.
You guys are amazing.
Y'all are awesome.
Well, so the contest is over, it really is over,
but we do have a gift for you, and it's like a late Christmas
gift, so here you go.
I'll open it for you.
And it is--
No.
--$15,000.
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!
You are the winner!
Yes!
You did win!
Yay!
You guys, we won!
You won!
You're the winners!
That is so crazy, oh my God!
All right.