Christopher Wisniewski, a biology teacher at Berlin High School, has been named Connecticut's 2027 Teacher of the Year, the state's highest honor for educators, Governor Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Charlene M. Russell-Tucker announced.
Wisniewski revitalized early-college programs at Berlin High School, developing a zoology course through Southern Connecticut State University as the district's first such offering. Over 95 percent of students in the program earned college credit. He also led Berlin High School's team to one of eight schools nationwide selected for the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program, whose team earned the Golden Beaver Award from MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Beaver Works Center.
The InvenTeam project, called Carpe Noctem, combined field research and engineering to develop a bioenvironmental system addressing white-nose syndrome in bats. All 10 student members received credit as inventors on a U.S. provisional patent application. The students presented the work at MIT and at the North American Symposium on Bat Research in Colorado this fall.
Wisniewski earned bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from Southern Connecticut State University, where he is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies while teaching biology as an adjunct instructor. He was the first in his family to graduate from college.
The state said Wisniewski is developing an Innovation and Applied Science Pathway to connect invention, science, technology, and business, aiming to help Berlin students move their ideas into practice.
Wisniewski will represent Connecticut as a finalist for the 2027 National Teacher of the Year. He succeeds Brian Betesh, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Rogers Park Middle School in Danbury, who held the 2026 state title.