Education exposes young people to a broader world, a world full of opportunity and hope.

We can leave our legacy only if we are willing to change - to go beyond partisan labels, and to solve the problems facing Washingtonians.

We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have now to create a vision and become great.

Truly, the challenges we face are not Democratic challenges or Republican challenges. In fact, they are not political challenges at all; they are fiscal challenges, and educational challenges, and the challenges of figuring out how to take care of each other...

It is up to us to live up to the legacy that was left for us, and to leave a legacy that is worthy of our children and of future generations.

Vernon Reis opened the world to me through books. He taught me that while I was physically firmly planted in blue-collar Auburn, Washington in the 50s and early 60s, intellectually I could go anywhere, explore anything, and sample exciting new ideas simply by opening a book.

We all leave personal legacies for the people we know and love.