Anthony Mullen’s teaching excellence in Greenwich has earned him high honors -- the nation’s top teacher for 2009. 

The Greenwich Education Association member was honored as the 59th recipient of the National Teacher of the Year Award at a White House ceremony on Tuesday, April 28. Mullen embarked on his teaching career seven years ago after retiring from a 20-year career as a New York City police officer. 

Mullen was named Connecticut’s 2009 Teacher of the Year in November after he was selected as Greenwich Teacher of the Year in spring 2008. In January, he became one of four finalists vying for national teacher of the year. 

Mullen is the second Connecticut teacher to win this prestigious award. The first, LeRoy Hay, won the award in 1983 when he was a Manchester High School English teacher.  

Mullen teaches special education at the ARCH School, an alternative high school for at-risk and special needs teens. He says his second career as a teacher has given him a chance to make a difference in the lives of some of the district’s most challenged students.

“The NYPD provided plenty of opportunities to work with troubled teenagers – young people destined for prison unless they received the benefits of a quality education and positive adult role models. I wanted to be that role model,” said Mullen when he was named the state’s teacher of the year. 

Highly regarded by students, staff, and administrators, Mullen has introduced several new courses to engage his students, including forensics, electronics, carpentry, and horticulture. 

“Tony is the one of the finest examples there is of an exemplary teacher,” says GEA President Cathy Delehanty. “Tony is dedicated to his students’ success. All of us in Greenwich congratulate him on his well-deserved recognition as 2009 National Teacher of the Year.”

His colleagues will have an opportunity to congratulate Mullen when the Greenwich Public Schools honors him with a congratulatory reception at the ARCH School on Monday, May 4, when he returns from Washington, D.C.  

Mullen is credited with having high energy and an enthusiastic spirit in his classroom, where his goal is to help students overcome obstacles in order to earn their high school diploma. His approach is hands-on and practical with a mix of good humor. 

The National Teacher of the Year award is sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers, a nonprofit group of state education department heads. Mullen was selected over the three other public school teachers who were in the running -- one from California, Colorado, and North Carolina.

Mullen traveled to Washington, D.C. in early March for a final round of interviews and for a presentation before the selection committee. During his presentation, Mullen talked about the need to address the dropout crisis affecting the nation’s schools. 

He told the committee it is a topic he is very familiar with – both as a former narcotics detective and gang division officer for the NYPD, and as an educator working with teens who have had difficulties in traditional schools.

“I’ve had a unique opportunity, if you will, to see what a ‘drop-out’ is – to put a face behind these numbers,” he said in his presentation. “Even the word ‘drop-out,’ itself, has a negative connotation because it puts responsibility on the back of the student, when we, the school system, and we, society, need to do more to prevent these drop-outs.”    

Mullen will take his message about the drop-out crisis during on the road during the next year in his role as national teacher of the year. He will travel across the country speaking to state education associations, business conferences, and university lectures.