Indiana Teacher of the Year honored at White House
Tara Cocanower, Indiana Teacher of the Year from Bluffton High School, was among the honorees during a ceremony at the White House on Monday.
President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona welcomed the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2023 Teachers of the Year to the White House. The event was livestreamed and all Bluffton-Harrison MSD teachers were invited to watch the event with their students.
The ceremony was a celebration of public education. It included remarks from President Biden, Jill Biden, and 2023 National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson, a math teacher from Oklahoma.
“We’re here to take a moment, on one of the biggest stages in the world — the White House — to say that teachers change lives,” Jill Biden said.
Like her fellow Teachers of the Year, Peterson said she wants to bring hope to her students.
“As educators, we stand with one foot firmly grounded in the reality of what is, while the other stands in the promise of what can be,” she said during her address. “We are fueled by the equalizing power of public education to dismantle marginalization, eliminate systemic inequities and end generational poverty.”
Cocanower said she was grateful for the invitation and to represent Hoosier educators.
“If you’d have asked me if this would be a part of my teaching story, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she said. “It was a humbling, emotional, and awesome day carrying BHMSD, my family, my friends, my teachers, our larger community, but most importantly my students in my heart every step of the way.”
As part of Cocanower’s trip to Washington, D.C., BHMSD was asked to send thank you cards from students and provide a video message from a parent to be included in the White House reception.
Several students from Bluffton High School wrote cards and two classes from Bluffton-Harrison Elementary School signed cards as well, thanking Cocanower for inspiring them to be world changers. They are expected to be displayed in the White House as part of Teacher Appreciation Week in early May.
Cocanower is spending the week in Washington with the 2023 cohort, participating in professional development and other activities with the CCSSO, such as a visit to the Smithsonian.
