The Hero Teacher Project

Teachers are amazing people! I want to bring 51 (one from each state) remarkable teachers' stories to you through painted portraits. Let's celebrate teachers and hear what they have to say about K-12 education.

Detail: Painted Portrait of 2020 MA Teacher of the Year Takeru Nagayoshi

My aim with The Hero Teacher Project is to paint 51 teachers' portraits from around the United States of America. I will paint one portrait of a Teacher of the Year from each state and DC! Painting the portraits of these heroes will require that I travel with my family of five to visit them in their states, classrooms, and schools. I need to experience their learning environment and communities to tell their teacher story. I know that teaching in Texas is not like teaching in California. A teacher in Alaska will yield a vastly different story than a teacher in CT. Travel for this project is as integral as the actual portrait painting.

A Hero's Welcome

We will start in the Northeast of the United States where I live in CT. I will visit NH, ME, RI (and possibly NY) while I teach for my 21st year! For the past four years I have taught Art at McDonough Middle School in Hartford. The Hero Teacher Project combines my two greatest passions, Teaching and Art!

Susan Rosato 2 HR Painted Sketch in Colchester, VT

The Visits

During the 2022-2023 school year I will visit each state from ME to DC. While in each state we will visit the teachers' schools, observe their classrooms, paint, and interview them while sketching. These visits will be shared with you as they happen.

My Adventurous Family

My family and I will be blogging daily during these trips. You will get to know the teacher, the school, and the state through our posts. My wife, Lindsay and I want our children to meet these outstanding teachers. We also want them to experience life in each state. You will share what it's like to teach in the teacher's town and state through my social media channels and blog. I want you to know the challenges and the significant parts of each state's culture that our teachers deal with daily. You, our supporters, will be along for the ride.

2019 Hartford Teacher of The Year Narciso Moquette

These few Northeast visits are just the beginning. This school year, we will continue building the Hero Teacher Project into a full-fledged educational activist ART SHOW. Once we've got a few more trips under our belts, I'll add live teacher/ parent panel discussions with LIVE portrait painting, HTP merchandise, HTP comic strips, blog posts, and even a podcast!

It's time to build an audience for teachers to tell parents what heroic lengths ALL teachers must go through to help our young learners grow and flourish in school today.

We must work to keep teachers teaching in our schools!!

Climb on board! and Donate today!

Through Art, we will celebrate the backbone of the

American Public School system, Teachers!