Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) Project Vine teacher Danielle Charbonneau, the 2023 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, visited the White House April 24, joining other state teachers of the year from across the country for the National Teacher of the Year Program Washington Week, with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Watch a YouTube video of the event.
Charbonneau is the director of Project Vine, the alternative education program at MVRHS and was announced as the 2023 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year in September 2022. She is the first ever Martha’s Vineyard teacher to receive the Commonwealth’s highest honor for educators in the program’s 61 years of existence.
Charbonneau and the other 2023 State Teachers of the Year were honored Monday, April 24, at the White House. The group of teachers also toured the Smithsonian and attended a reception at the White House during their week in Washington, D.C. Click here to read a complete transcript of the remarks by Biden and others at the ceremony.
While focal points were visiting the White House and getting to know the other teachers, a major highlight for Charbonneau was speaking at a town-hall style meeting with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona (pictured below), giving voice to some of the concerns of Project Vine students, as well as talking about the success of our alternative model at MVRHS.
“I was honored to represent the Island and the Commonwealth in DC,” said Danielle Charbonneau. “To be perfectly honest, though I don’t usually have a fear of public speaking, I was pretty much shaking before I spoke! But I had messages from our students I needed to deliver. I hope I made everyone back home proud, and continue to do so in the rest of my “service” year, and beyond.”