BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge teacher has been named the Louisiana Department of Education's 2027 Teacher of the Year.

Alisha Butler, a teacher at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired on Brightside Drive, received the award Saturday night at the 20 Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Awards Gala in New Orleans.

Butler said receiving the award is a tremendous honor, but that she did not get there alone.

"I am the teacher that I am today because of all of the districts that I've taught in and all of the kids that I've taught and students and all of the teachers who have supported me and mentored me and encouraged me along the way," Butler said.

Butler represents the Louisiana Special School District, which includes the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired and the Louisiana School for the Deaf.

"At LSVI, I teach dual-enrollment, which is college credit classes through Southeastern Louisiana University and we teach two levels of English 1010 and 1020 there and I also work with the English 1 and 2 students," Butler told WBRZ.

Susan Covington, the LSVI executive director, called Butler invaluable, saying she brings excellence and passion to everything she does.

"Mrs. Butler is our technology expert. She's very savvy and she makes it accessible for every student," Covington said.

One piece of advice Butler says she always remembers and applies as a teacher is that it's not about what you teach, but how you teach it.

"It's about giving them what they need to access the materials and the curriculum, so braille teaching literacy, numeracy is a whole other code of braille," Butler said.

Butler has taught at LSVI for around three years. Earlier in the year, she found out she was nominated for the Teacher of the Year honor given by the Louisiana Department of Education in collaboration with Dream Teachers.

"I honestly was not even planning on attending the awards day because I had some personal things I had to take care of," Butler said. "Then I showed up and that was the surprise. To be able to say, 'Yes, I represent the state,' and I can wholeheartedly say that and proudly say that, it's just amazing."

LSVI says it could not be happier that its teacher of the year is now the state's teacher of the year.

"She's passionate, she's an advocate. She advocates for the students, the teachers, the school. She brings her excellence and her knowledge," Covington said.

LSVI has around 60 students and serves grades K-12. Butler says this allows the school to really be a family, being with students throughout their journey through school.