Bethpage teacher on 'LIVE! with Kelly'

Voting for the “LIVE! with Kelly” Top Teacher will begin Friday afternoon, but John F. Kennedy Middle School teacher Danielle Greco is already a winner.

Greco, a special education teacher at the Bethpage school, appeared on the show Monday morning and was given 20 HP Notebooks for her classroom and a vacation to St. Lucia.

A video of Greco in her classroom and coaching a basketball game filmed at her school last Monday was also aired.

Greco, 35, of Bethpage, said she was picked up early Monday morning in a party bus, along with her mother, father and two aunts. Bethpage administrators, Denise Ingenito, a parent who nominated Greco for the contest, and her son, Peter, also attended.

Additionally, four other Bethpage teachers got tickets to the show.

“Everybody went out of their way to make sure I was having such a nice time,” Greco said of the show’s producers, adding she also got to meet the show’s other guests: Chris Colfer from “Glee” and Taye Diggs from “Private Practice.”

A different teacher from around the country will appear on the show each day this week, and online voting for this year’s top teacher will begin Friday immediately after the show airs and continue until 3 p.m. Monday.

The top teacher will win $25,000 for her school district and a 2013 Ford Fusion.

Voting will take place at www.livewithkelly.tv. Participants can vote up to once a day.

Photo: Danielle Greco, a special education teacher at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Bethpage, is a finalist in the "Live! With Kelly" Top Teacher contest and appeared on the show with Kelly Ripa and guest co-host Jimmy Kimmel. (May 14, 2012)