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Newtown Teacher Among First Lady's State Of The Union Guests

Gun violence. Immigration. Education. The economy. Veterans. Afghanistan. Women in combat. Innovation. Science. Equality. Heroism.

It's safe to say those will themes in Tuesday night's State of the Union address, based on the list the White House has released of the guests who will be sitting with first lady Michelle Obama in the House gallery. Such guests, and the reasons they're there, usually make their way into a president's address.

Among those who will be in the seats:

-- Kaitlin Roig, a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., site of the December mass shooting that left 20 children and six educators dead.

-- Oak Creek, Wis., police Lt. Brian Murphy, who as the first officer on the scene at last August's gun attack on a Sikh temple.

-- Sgt. Sheena Adams of Vista, Calif., who was part of a Female Engagement Team in Afghanistan and received a Combat Action Ribbon and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

-- Desiline Victor of Miami, who is 102 years old. She waited for hours to vote in last November's election.

As we reported earlier, the parents of a Chicago teen who was recently shot and killed in a part less than a mile from the president's home in that city are also due to join the first lady.

The address should begin just after 9 p.m. ET. Eyder will be live blogging. And NPR will be on the air and streaming its coverage. The White House announcement about the first lady's guests follows:

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.