WASHINGTON (AP) - A 17-year veteran of a northeast Washington school has been named the District of Columbia Teacher of the Year.

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Perea Brown-Blackmon teaches third and fourth grade at Langdon Education Campus. She was honored Friday with a surprise visit by Mayor Vincent Gray and top school system officials.

In a statement, Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson says Brown Blackmon brings creativity and dedication to the classroom with hands-on projects and interactive tasks to introduce concepts.

The selection breaks a three-year run of public charter school teachers being selected as Teacher of the Year.

Brown-Blackmon is the mother of nine children. All of them are current or former D.C. Public Schools students. Her husband, Jonathan Blackmon, is a teacher at Coolidge High School.