This afternoon, President Barack Obama delivered his annual back-to-school address inside a gym at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. Various District officials were in attendance, including Mayor Vince Gray and Council Chair Kwame Brown, as Obama offered remarks in front of hundreds of excited people gathered on the gym’s bleachers around him.

Despite the humidity inside the gym, Obama — who was introduced to the crowd by Banneker High School student body president Donae Owens — had high praise for the 30-year-old Euclid Street magnet school, calling Banneker “not only one of the best high schools in D.C., but one of the best in the country.” During his address, Obama, who was flanked by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, heaped praise on teachers and promised to deliver students an “educational system that’s worthy of your potential.”

The President stopped for a brief word with Gray and Brown before exiting the gym and returning to the White House.