Berlin High School biology teacher Christopher Wisniewski is Connecticut's 2027 Teacher of the Year, state officials announced Oct. 23 during a surprise event at the school.
Wisniewski has helped expand courses that let high school students earn college credit and led a student invention project addressing white-nose syndrome in bats, according to the state announcement. The project combined field research and engineering to address the disease, the state said.
Berlin's Carpe Noctem team was one of eight schools selected nationally for the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program. Its work led to a provisional U.S. patent application naming all 10 students as inventors, the state said. An application is a step toward seeking patent protection, rather than an issued patent.
The announcement credits Wisniewski with developing zoology as the district's first Southern Connecticut State University early-college course and co-developing an early-college Business of Science course. More than 95% of students participating in the latter earned college credit, officials said.
Wisniewski attended Stratford public schools and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in biology at Southern Connecticut State University. He is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies and teaches biology there as an adjunct.
The Connecticut Teacher of the Year Council selects the state honoree through applications, interviews and school visits. Wisniewski succeeds Brian Betesh, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Rogers Park Middle School in Danbury, who held the 2026 title.