Newtown High School football coach Steven George and teacher Bobby Pattison left President Barack Obama a message on George's whiteboard Sunday, in advance of the president's appearance to address mourners at an interfaith vigil in the school's auditorium.

About an hour after Obama finished his speech, George tweeted that he had received a message back:

Myself an pattison left a note to president Obama on my board and he responded!!Here is his response. twitter.com/newtownfootbal… — Steven George (@newtownfootball) December 17, 2012

If you can't make out their correspondence, here's what George and Pattison wrote:

Dear President Obama,

The Newtown community is so thankful that you are coming to help us heal. In times of adversity it is reassuring to know that we have a strong leader to help us recover.

And Obama's response:

You're in our thoughts and prayers.