A
seemingly routine school-wide assembly turned into the surprise of a lifetime for
Champlain Elementary
School fourth-
and fifth-grade teacher Matthew Hajdun yesterday.
This year’s Vermont Teacher of the Year is a
lively 31-year-old named Tong Chen. She teaches Chinese at Townshend’s Leland
& Gray Union Middle and High Schools. Chen says the honor also reflects a small
community’s openness to a wider world.
Tong Chen was
honored today as Vermont’s 2012 teacher of the year. Chen has
taught Chinese language and culture at Leland & Gray for more than six
years and is the only authorized advanced placement Chinese teacher in the state.