Minnesota Teacher of the Year

There are still three weeks left to nominate a teacher for the upcoming 2009 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award. Anyone can nominate a candidate, so if you’ve had a teacher that has had an impact on your life or whose teaching you greatly respect, nominating them for Minnesota Teacher of the Year is a wonderful way to send them a special thank you. I was thrilled to have been nominated two years ago.

The Teacher of the Year nomination process is simple. Just go to the 2009 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Nomination page on the Education Minnesota website, fill out the online nomination form, and submit it electronically. Very easy and elegant.

Nominees must teach pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, hold at least a bachelor’s degree and Minnesota teaching license, have completed at least three full years of teaching by the nomination deadline, and intend to teach the 2009-10 school year. A lot of people assume that the award is for public school teachers only, but that is not the case. Any teacher—publicly or privately employed—who meets the above criteria can be nominated.

In addition to a significant financial reward, the Minnesota Teacher of the Year also participates in the National Teacher of the Year program, which five times during the year brings together all the recipients of the state level awards for a series of educational seminars and events. During my year, I got to travel to International Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama, meet the President of the United States, and travel to New York City to make an educational video. The people you meet and the experiences you get as Teacher of the Year will be some of the highlights of your educational career.

The deadline for nominations is November 17, 2008.