Christie: I'll Meet with Tulsa Trail Teacher, County Teachers of Year

The state's county teachers of the year will meet with Gov. Chris Christie.

For that, they can thank Danielle Kovach, a third-grade teacher and

Christie picked Kovach to speak during the question-and-answer portion of Wednesday's town hall-style meeting at Kovach didn't waste the opportunity.

"I got what I wanted," said Kovach, who received the biggest cheers out of all the people who asked questions. "I waived my hand and he called on me."

Kovach said she was nervous holding the microphone.

"Of course. Of course," she said. "There's always nerves. You're talking to the governor of the state. And regardless of the things that are said or the things that are done, he still is a figurehead in our state and he still deserves respect.

"I've never met him before," Kovach said later. "I don't know if he knew who I was. So the opportunity for me to introduce myself was very important to me as well. I'm thrilled."

Kovach introduced herself as the state's top teacher and said she and the rest of the state's county teacher of the year "started an initiative called positive communication for quality education and, in essence, what it does is it puts together parents and teachers, communities, students and our government so that all our voices are heard."

Then she asked to meet with Christie. He immediately agreed, and said Kovach should e-mail him an invitation with several dates.

"I just wanted the assurance," Kovach said. "My gold [Wednesday] was accomplished."