Barack Obama makes surprise visit to DC high school 'to welcome back students'

— -- For one group of high school students in Washington, D.C., the first week of classes ended on a high note.

Former President Barack Obama made a surprise visit Friday to McKinley Technology High School, strolling ever-so-casually into a classroom to the disbelief of students.

"Hey, how’s it going everybody?” Obama, 56, said to the stunned students, who were seated in a circle with D.C. public schools chancellor Antwan Wilson. "The chancellor told me you guys were meeting, so I thought I’d stop by. How's everybody doing? Is that my seat? You don’t mind me crashing, right?”

Obama senior adviser Eric Schultz tweeted a photo of the visit, as did Obama.

The 44th president's visit was also documented in a video posted to his Instagram account.

"These young people that I met at McKinley Tech today are the reason I'm hopeful about the future," Obama captioned the video. "To all the young people headed back to school around the country: Make us proud. You're the next generation of leaders, and we need you."

In the video, Obama tells the students, "One of the things that I did throughout my presidency was I’d meet with groups of young people everywhere I went, whether it was here in the United States, or when I was traveling overseas just to kind of hear from them, find out what they’re interested in, because I do believe that most of the problems that we have are going to be solved by you."

As Obama wrapped up his visit, he told one of the students, "Remember what I say: Don’t back down."

Although Obama has largely kept a low profile since leaving the White House, his visit follows a scathing statement released earlier this week slamming President Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, describing the move as "cruel, self-defeating and wrong."