Each year, the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year program honors a licensed preK–12 Massachusetts public school teacher who exemplifies excellent teaching in the Commonwealth. The Teacher of the Year program recognizes and celebrates educators who make a positive impact on student learning and well-being; use student-centered, innovative approaches to teaching and learning; and demonstrate leadership within and beyond the classroom.
For more information on the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year program, please click on the following links.
The Teacher of the Year is an exemplary educator who will serve as a liaison to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), who will act as an ambassador to other teachers in the state, and who will have the opportunity to connect with the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. The Teacher of the Year program is an opportunity for teachers to be celebrated and share their voice on policies and practices that impact educators and students across the Commonwealth.
The Teacher of the Year is a teacher who:
Opportunities for the Teacher of the Year:
Danielle ("Dani") Charbonneau English Language Arts Teacher Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Martha's Vineyard Public Schools
If you would like to contact Dani, please email her at dcharbonneau@mvrhs.org . You can follow her on Twitter at @CharbonneauDani.
Danielle ("Dani") Charbonneau teaches English language arts in Project Vine, the alternative program within Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in Oak Bluffs. She is also the program coordinator for Project Vine, where she and her colleagues teach students in grades 9–12 and ensure their school experience includes a sense of belonging and tastes of life beyond the island. Project Vine activities include an annual technology-free, electricity-free, and indoor bathroom-free retreat to an uninhabited island; a "Chopped for Charity" fundraiser for the local food bank; Island Lore Night, in which students and community members present historical fiction and spooky stories; and trips to Boston.
Charbonneau holds a Bachelor of Art in English language and literature from Harvard University and a Master of Science in Education in educational leadership from the University of New England. Charbonneau has been co-advisor to the high school's Gender Sexuality Alliance since 2018 and is a member of the school's Race-Equity and Cultural Proficiency Group, which in 2020 helped create lessons in response to the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests. She believes that students have every right to expect that when they come to school, they will encounter and explore new ideas, they will experience joy, and they will be rewarded with real accomplishments that have value to them. She and her wife split their time between Martha's Vineyard and the mainland.
If you have questions about the Teacher of the Year Program, please email the Educator Recognition mailbox at educatorrecognition@doe.mass.edu .
Former Massachusetts Teachers of the Year
Last Updated: January 4, 2023
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
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