Nikos Giannopoulos

Nikos Giannopoulos (born 1988) is a Greek-American special education teacher from Rhode Island. He was named Rhode Island's 2017 Teacher of the Year and visited the White House alongside other teachers of the award, to meet the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. Giannopoulos is best known for his photo taken (by Shealah Craighead) with Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump in the Oval Office.

Personal life

Giannopoulos is openly gay. He describes himself as "more feminine than a lot of boys" and socially anxious. He has taught special education at the Beacon Charter High School for the Arts.

Event

Upon entering the Oval Office, Giannopoulos took out his fan and expanded it. Trump complimented it, saying he "loved the fan." Giannopoulos was told to put the fan away but he folded it up and held it by his side. Trump agreed when Giannopoulos asked him if it was alright to use the fan for the photo. He was described as a "sassy teacher" for his pose in the photo, as he held a black lace fan and wore an LGBTQ pin on his blue print jacket, a silver and gold statement necklace and a nose ring.

He posted AbOUT the event on Facebook, captioning it "Rhode Island Teacher of the Year 2017 meets the 45th President of the United States. That’s all." The post went viral, gaining over 1,300 Likes and 519 shares.