3 area teachers named semifinalists in 2022 Teacher of the Year award
(And because if it bleeds it leads, three hits before that one were about some man using a hammer to kill another man in a Wisconsin mobile home. We cannot fix evil, but when good news is there too, it is worth noting.)
While that HowmtownSource item is available via the link, a quote is deserved.
Education Minnesota, the statewide educators union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program.
Candidates include prekindergarten through 12th-grade, early childhood family education and adult basic education teachers from public or private schools.
From the Anoka-Hennepin School District, Mary Betland and Megan Rafferty are semifinalists.
Betland is an English teacher at Jackson Middle School in Champlin, and Rafferty is an English as a second language teacher at Mississippi Elementary School in Coon Rapids.
Ariane Kokes, of Columbia Heights Public Schools, was also named a semifinalist. She is an art teacher for pre-K through fifth grade at North Park School for Innovation in Fridley.
[emphasis added] When it is good news, naming names is a pleasure. These were three teachers from a group of 25 statewide nominees, so if nothing more favorable develops we should each and every one of us give these three women the respect gained via the honor each already received, an honor which merits recognition from members of the public. Teaching is anything but an easy job. When done well enough to be specially honored it is noteworthy news.