WASHINGTON — After celebrating the teacher of the year in a Rose Garden ceremony, President Obama joined the 55 educators who had formed the backdrop to pose for a group picture.

He stationed himself next to Mark Mautone, a Hoboken educator who was named New Jersey's outstanding teacher and got to participate in the White House ceremony.

"How are you? Where are you from?" Mautone recalled the president asking him.

Mautone said he taught in Hoboken. "I said I teach children with autism." He said Obama responded, "That's a really tough job."

A resident of Verona, Mautone has taught children with special needs at Wallace Elementary School for four years. He's the lead teacher on a staff of five who teach 35 children with autism in preschool through third grade, up from 13 kids when he first came to the district in 2011, excited about the opportunity to help build the program.

"I like challenges and I like to offer children the opportunity to be successful," he said.

Mautone, 41, was one of 55 educators who came to Washington this week to meet with Obama and the Education Department. They visited the president in the Oval Office and posed for pictures with him. They toured the Smithsonian Museums and had dinner with White House officials.

"It was surreal," Mautone said. "It's nice when you get the appreciation on such a high level. It kind of rejuvenates you to come back to your classroom and know that he has your back."

All of them had been named teachers of the year in their states or territories, and one of them, Shanna Peeples of Amarillo, Texas, was named 2015 national teacher of the year.

"Every day, the teachers behind me, they give their students their all — their knowledge, their creativity, their focused attention, their love," Obama said, flanked by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "They empty the tanks for their kids. Then they get up the next morning and they do it all over again. And today is our chance to say thank you."

A year ago, Mautone was named Hudson County teacher of the year and won statewide acclaim in October.

"At first, you don't think it's happened," Mautone said. "You're so focused on your classroom. You're not expected to be recognized for that. Now you become a voice for educators and students."

It's a voice he is using to advocate for equal resources throughout school districts. Parents shouldn't have to shop for a particular district to get the education they want for their child, he said.

In Hoboken, he has been focused on developing relationships with the parents of the children, so that parents and teachers both can reinforce the lessons learned.

"We need to spend as much energy on children with special needs as in all areas of education," he said.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.