Dena'ina Elementary and Iditarod Elementary Groundbreaking

Education is so very powerful in our young people's lives. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be here and to actually be a part of building a school.

Today we are doing the groundbreaking for this school and for the school at Iditarod, the final two schools on our bond, $214 million that our local people have voted for.

We expect reimbursement for these bonds, so the investment by the citizens is matched, is backed up by 70% from the state, which is really important.

If it wasn't for the power of education, my future would have been much different.

I would have been a lost kid. 1, 2, 3!

Today's kind of a special day for me as well, as I think of all my friends that attended the original school that are my age and maybe just a little bit older. Both my children went all since kindergarten to Iditarod Elementary School, and while I'm saddened to see us move away from that school, I'm excited about the future and the opportunities. We have our Huskies over there. Can you give me a good howl, Huskies, on the count of 3? 1, 2, 3.

Howl! Alright, that's a good howl for a good school. We build a lot for the citizens, and that's my job. But when you got somebody you really care about and you can help out too, it makes it really, really special.

Reload! Reload! 1, 2, 3! Okay, George, count us off. 1, 2, 3!

Woo! Alright! I'm kind of excited to see this happening.

It's a great day in Wasilla, so thank you very much.