President Biden . Brenlee Chavez , a fifth grader at the time at Balderas Elementary School , struggled to express her thoughts , rewriting her letter four times .

It was all worth it .

President Biden made Brenlee somewhat of a celebrity at her school by responding to her letter through an Instagram post in early August . The post included Brenlee ’ s handwritten letter and a comment : “ Brenlee , my job is to build a better future for you and your classmates .”

Sarahi Hernandez , Brenlee ’ s teacher last year , said the letter-writing was part of a current events and writing unit . Throughout the year , students discussed information in the news , the government and how they could get involved . Hernandez and Miller maintained a chart of news topics , topics students were concerned about and a list of elected officials to potentially write to about the topics .

Brenlee was in a group who wanted to write to President Biden . She and two students from her group have received letters back from the White House .

“ I was immensely proud of my students and thankful that they could see their efforts and opinions acknowledged ,” Hernandez said .

Brenlee ’ s school is blurred out in the post , so most people were kept guessing who the Fresno fifth grader was . However , Brenlee is an unusual name so once school resumed in August , word spread at Balderas that it was her letter that President Biden singled out on social media . A little shy , Brenlee said she sometimes denies it ’ s her when students come up and ask .

Brenlee is named for her mother , Brenda Lee Chavez , who passed away in 2021 of congestive heart failure . Brenlee ’ s father , Michael Chavez , said the recognition has been especially nice because of all that Brenlee has been through .

“ She ’ s been pretty quiet about everything , pretty bottled up . For her to get this acknowledgment , it really helped her out . She was really excited about the whole thing . It brought tears to my eyes ,” Michael Chavez said .

Zoe Miller , a teacher resident in Brenlee ’ s class last year , said she cried a little too when she saw that the president had posted Brenlee ’ s letter .

“ These kids don ’ t get nearly the amount of credit and respect that they deserve out there in the world , and especially for the kids who were really struggling , I was hoping this assignment would show them that we all have a right to be heard ,” said Miller , who helped with the letter-writing project last school year and is now a teacher at Hidalgo Elementary School .

Brenlee ’ s letter includes complimenting the president on “ doing a good job ” and thanks him for the Respect for Marriage Act and the Child Tax Credit .

She also points out that , “ nobody is perfect and that there are some still things I wish you would do differently . For example , my class and I think it should be easier to get trampolines .”

That part of the letter has elicited some online humor , like : “ It ’ s high time we passed the Trampoline Access Act and the Trampoline Safety Standards Act through Congress . We ’ re counting on you Joe .”

For Brenlee , however , her concern about trampolines was heartfelt . Her trampoline at home has been ruined by their dogs biting it . Brenlee lives with her dad and younger sister , Emily . She likes to draw , play Minecraft and Roblox and chat online with friends . Her favorite subjects in school are math and science .

Having her letter shared by the president of the United States has been fun , Brenlee said ; much more fun than writing the letter .

“ It was a little bit frustrating because I kept messing up my work . I wanted it to be perfect ,” Brenlee said .

She was happy to make her teacher proud .

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