Some students in northwest Washington got the surprise of a lifetime Friday.

Nine-time Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys dropped in on a class of eighth-grade students at Terrell Junior High School. Keys spent the morning there teaching students about long- and short-term goal setting.

“When someone says ‘can’t’ to you, they don’t know you and they will never know you,” Keys told the students. “So prove them wrong.”

FromTheGroundUp.org organized the visit. That organization was created by Keys’ road manger, D.J. Walton.