A ‘Star’ in Education
“Don’t break things.”
These three words are cited countless times daily in Danielle Trial Lucini’s Mount Pleasant High School classroom.
“It’s nothing philosophical but just a catch phrase that I use to engage students,” says Lucini, a music teacher and director of music at the school since 2014. “It could mean don’t ‘break your focus’ or ‘don’t break your practice habits.’ I say it so much that now I hear the students saying it to themselves, too.”
Such a student-centered approach is one of the reasons why Lucini, who graduated from RIC in 2012 with bachelor’s degrees in music education and musical theatre, was named the 2026 Teacher of the Year in the Providence Public School District. A districtwide selection committee chose Lucini for the honor in June after she was nominated by two of her students.
“To know that my students nominated me for this award was one of the best feelings in the world,” she says. “It made me cry.”
For Lucini, a Massachusetts native who started singing soprano in her church choir as a three-year-old, every day in the classroom is like a performance.
“I grew up thinking I was going to be a TV star,” she says. “I’ve never given up that love for performing and the goal in my classes is to give students the love of performing, too.”
At Mount Pleasant High, Lucini teaches concert band, beginning band, world drumming, chorus and a dual enrollment course with CCRI. Under her direction, students have performed at the Rhode Island State House and Providence City Hall, but Lucini singles out a performance at the annual Memorial Day Parade in Washington D.C. as her proudest accomplishment.
“It was by invitation-only to participate in the parade,” she says. “To go on a true band trip is not common among Providence schools, so to do so with our 45 students was an honor.”
After falling in love with musical theater as a 10-year-old performing in a summer production of “The Sound of Music,” Lucini sought to find a college that offered a chance to major in the field. She discovered it at RIC.
“A few days after attending an orientation session at RIC, I went to a production of ‘Damn Yankees,’’’ Lucini says. “Afterwards, I instantly made the decision to enroll. The following year, I was the lead actress in the college’s production of ‘No, No Nanette.’”
The college is also where Lucini met her husband, Alexander, a fellow music education major who formerly worked as a middle school music teacher in Providence but is now the government relations director for the NEA Rhode Island. They reside in Johnston.
Meanwhile at Mount Pleasant, aside from a packed roster of teaching classes, Lucini runs extracurricular activities such as the high school’s Ski Club and the Tri-M Music Honor Society.
She’s also the founder and co-director of the “Meet in the Middle” project, which connects urban and suburban schools through shared musical experiences.
As for the experience of teaching, Lucini says it’s only meant for those who are genuine.
“My advice to anyone who wants to teach is to be true to who you are and honest with the students,” she says. “I am outright goofy, loud and overly energetic. It’s not an act. If you’re putting on a fake persona, the students will pick up on it quickly. It’s OK to not be loud and outgoing like me but always aim to be your natural self.”