The field of possible candidates for this year’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year honor has been narrowed to 30, and the list includes Kathryn Oberg, a first grade teacher at Otsego Elementary School.
A selection panel of 24 community leaders chose the semifinalists from an initial field of 123 candidates from across the state. The panel will meet again in late March to select about 10 finalists from among the group of semifinalists.
The current Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Tom Rademacher, will announce his successor at a banquet May 3 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington.
Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member statewide educators union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers from public or private schools.
The Minnesota Teacher of the Year Program also receives support from the following organizations: The SMARTer Kids Foundation, the Radisson Blu Mall of America, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, United Educators Credit Union, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, TruStone Financial and Education Minnesota ESI.