Special ed teacher honored as National Teacher of the Year
April 29th, 2009
From the New York Daily News, the Boston Globe, the Connecticut Post, and the Greenwich Time:
President Obama honored special education teacher Tony Mullen as the National Teacher of the Year for his work at the ARCH School, an alternative education branch for at-risk students at Greenwich High School in Connecticut. The school serves teens with emotional and behavioral issues
After Mullen retired from his position as a New York City Police Department captain in 2001, he began a second career as an educator in hopes of using the classroom to redirect struggling teenagers.
From Mullen’s remarks at the Rose Garden ceremony:
“I teach and mentor at-risk teenagers, because too many of the pages of their stories are filled with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, academic failure, and despair. They feel disconnected from school, community, and often their own families. I teach these young adults because they are among the most complex population to educate, and therefore challenge my ability as an educator. And I teach them because they provide me plenty of opportunity to help rewrite their stories, to help them compose a happy ending.”
(Photo from New York Daily News)
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