Obama Honors Windham Biology Teacher

"Teachers matter," President Obama said yesterday in honoring the national Teachers of the Year in Washington, D.C. "I often tell young people, if you want to guarantee that you're making a difference every single day, become a teacher."

The educators recognized included Bethany Bernasconi, Windham High School biology teacher and Merrimack resident.

Bernasconi said that she was expecting a very professional handshake from Obama when she received a surprise.

"He gave me a hug," she said, adding that she was impressed with how "in the moment" Obama was during the Tuesday morning event.

"We only have a few brief moments with him (and) in those few seconds he inquired about what I teach. He told me 'we love science teachers.'"

Bernasconi described her whirlwind trip to the city so far, which started on Saturday and has since turned into a flurry of behind-the-scenes activities that tourists don't often get to experience.

For instance, she spent her Sunday looking out the windows from the White House Red Room.

"It was completely surreal to experience that," she said. "I tried very hard not to think of it all, but it was emotional. Here is the place in our country where how many presidents have sat? How many heads of state?"

On Monday, she and the other 53 state and territory Teacher of the Year winners were at Vice President Joe Biden's house, speaking with his wife Jill. 

As New Hampshire's representative, Bernasconi said that she wished she could have every other teacher and student there with her.

"It's not just about me, it's about Windham High School," she said.

As it turns out, the one guest policy made it so she could only bring her husband Jay, who she said is incredibly proud.

"My 7-year-old was bummed out because he couldn't shake the president's hand," she joked.

She called the trip "incredibly intense professional development," and while Bernasconi wants to be back in the classroom engaging her students, the trip has been an empowering adventure all over the city.

She has also been behind the scenes at the Smithsonian, where the teachers were shown all of the resources that they have at the museum for educators.

They also got to watch the senate while it was in session. Tomorrow – the Department of Education with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

As for the 2013 finalists for New Hampshire, Bernasconi said that she met with the 17 nominees just last week.

"The message I had for them all was they were recognized because they made the difference in the life of a child," she said. "What you really need to take away is that we need to be heralds of all of the triumphs in our classrooms, and also need to be pushing our colleagues to become even better."

Bernasconi will be flying back to the Granite State on Friday, where she is already planning on a full slide show of photos for her students.

As for what has happened for her so far this week and what is ahead between now and her trip out, Bernasconi said that it will be hard to top.

"This is going to be hard to beat. I say that, but at the same time there's nothing like being in the classroom and seeing the light bulbs come on (for students)," she said.

The president's full remarks at the ceremony are in the attached White House video.

Bernasconi was for national Teacher of the Year back in September.