Two Maple Grove Junior High teachers have made it to the semifinalist round as candidates for this year’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year. They are eight grade earth science teacher Mike Endres and ninth grade American history teacher Charles Nelson. The award is organized and underwritten by Education Minnesota.
A selection panel of 25 community leaders chose the 33 semifinalists from an initial field of 128 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, Megan Olivia Hall, will announce her successor at a banquet May 4.
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 DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington – Minneapolis South, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, United Educators Credit Union, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, Teacher Federal Credit Union, Pearson Education and Education Minnesota ESI.