Obama Honors Hopatcong Teacher at White House

Hopatcong has reached the White House.

President Barack Obama honored borough teacher Danielle Kovach, , and the rest of the nation's top educators on Tuesday. Kovach stood with 50 teachers as Obama thanked them for their commitment to education.

"I am honored to welcome this group of outstanding teachers behind me to the White Hosue," the president said. "They are the best of the best, and even though we can never really thank teachers enough, today's a chance to offer them a small token of our appreciation for the difference they make in the lives of our children and in the future of our country."

Kovach, a Tulsa Trail third-grade special education teacher, was named the state's top teacher in October.

"I still remember the special teachers that touched my life," Obama said. "We all do. We remember the way they challenged us, the way they made us feel, how they pushed us, the encouragement that they gave us, the values that they taught us the way they helped us to understand the world and to analyze it and to ask questions. They helped us become the people we are today."

Maryland's Michelle M. Shearer, a chemistry teacher at Urbana High School, was given National Teacher of the Year honors.

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of vice president Joe, also honored the teachers on Monday at the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Kovach has earned more than $35,000 in technology grants, making Tulsa Trail one New Jersey's two SMART Showcase Schools. Her "Superheroes of Safety" program, aimed at keeping children safe from childhood predators, netted her a $10,000 grant from Honeywell last year.

Kovach, a Roxbury resident, holds two masters degrees and was also named an Outstanding Educator by the Women's Connection of Northern NJ.

"She excels as an educator and will be the first to tell you that she works in a very supportive and collaborative educational atmosphere," Maranzano said in a statement. "Danielle is very humble and credits everyone around her for the successes and accomplishments in her life."