National Teacher of the Year, 2009: Why I Became a Teacher. Why I'm Still Teaching.
I'm pleased to share a guest column by Anthony Mullen, National Teacher of the Year 2009, whom I'm honored to call a friend.
In the spring of 2009 I was invited to the White House by the president of the United States to receive my nation's highest teaching honor. President Obama would greet me in the Oval Office and later hold a
formal press conference in the Rose Garden, officially naming me the National Teacher of the Year in front of an assembly of fellow state teachers of the year, family and friends, and a busy group of national and international journalists holding pens, cameras and microphones. This professional accolade is designed to be the pinnacle of all teacher awards, and it provided me more than my fair share of fame for over one year.
formal press conference in the Rose Garden, officially naming me the National Teacher of the Year in front of an assembly of fellow state teachers of the year, family and friends, and a busy group of national and international journalists holding pens, cameras and microphones. This professional accolade is designed to be the pinnacle of all teacher awards, and it provided me more than my fair share of fame for over one year.
The National Teacher of the Year is an ambassadorial role in which the recipient advocates for students and the teaching profession by speaking at over 150 engagements in every state and a few foreign nations. The task can be