Five-year-old Alanah Poullard has about the best school excuse note possible — hers is signed by President Barack Obama.
The kindergartner scored the president’s handwritten seal of approval on Thursday when she visited the White House. But this wasn’t an ordinary tour; Poullard was attending an event for wounded service members with her father.
Wearing a sleeveless blue dress and black Mary Janes, the little girl met the president in the East Room and asked for a note to show her teacher. White House photographer Pete Souza caught the president jotting down a few words on Poullard’s behalf and Tweeted the image.
This isn’t the first time the president has honored such a request. Minnesota fifth-grader Tyler Sullivan got a special note from the president when he attended a campaign speech last June.
In 2009, he also wrote a note for 10-year-old Kennedy Corpus, who missed the last day of school to attend a town hall event featuring the president in Green Bay, Wis.
On a piece of paper, he said: "To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama."
No doubt seeing the president’s signature is a quite a surprise for those elementary school teachers.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.