St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 14, 2008 – The field of possible candidates for this year’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year honor has been narrowed to 28. A selection panel of 25 community leaders meeting in St. Paul had the difficult task of choosing the semifinalists from an initial field of 114 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, Michael Smart, will announce his successor at a banquet at The Northland Inn and Conference Center in Brooklyn Park on 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 or awards from the following organizations: The SMARTer Kids Foundation, The Northland Inn and Conference Center, United Educators Credit Union, The Harvard Club of MN Foundation, Education Minnesota ESI, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota and Pearson Education.

Semifinalists for 2008 Minnesota Teacher of the Year are:

District  Albert Lea Big Lake Burnsville Cannon Falls Centennial Centennial Chaska Chaska Hastings Hastings Hopkins Inver Grove Hgts. Minneapolis Minneapolis Morris Northfield Owatonna Proctor Rochester Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Saint Paul Sauk Rapids-Rice St. Cloud Stillwater Stillwater Stillwater Stillwater White Bear Lake

Name Diane Heaney James VanderHeyden Pam Schilling Kathleen Tilderquist Kathy Nickleby Jennifer Wenzel Eric Songer Elizabeth Wilson Joe Beattie Mary Pasch Carleen Gulstad Rose Regan Megan Unger Diane Weiher Natasha Mortenson John Bade Julie Buryska Gordon Westendorf Jr. Steve Brehmer Lynne Meyer Lisa Boehlke Valerie Martin Melanie Jiskra Carolyn Hild Derek Olson Sharon Turner Dee White David Percival

Subject area Vocal Music Earth Science Science, Social Studies Business Physical Education Elementary Music, Band Elementary (Charter) Biology Reading, English Language Arts Elementary Elementary Science Agriculture Visual Art Elementary Instrumental Music Physics Elementary English Language Learners Elementary Elementary Elementary Elementary Elementary Alternative Education Physical Education

Grade level Grades 9-12 Grade 8 Grades 1-6 Grades 7-12 Grades K-5 Grade 1 Grades 6-8 Grades 4-6 Grades 9-12 Grade 6 Grades 8-9 Grade 5 Kindergarten Grades 6-7 Grades 9-12 Grade 8 Grade 3 Grades 9-12 Grades 11-12 Grade 5 Grades 9-12 Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 3 Grade 6 Grades 2-3 Grades 6-12 Grades 6-8

Selection Panel members for this year’s program include:

Mary Beth Blegen, 1996 National Teacher of the Year
Tim Caroline, Minnesota Association of School Administrators
Sylvia Crannell, Science Museum of Minnesota
Beverly Fritz, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce
Thomas Gale, Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education
Rickey Hall, U of M - Office for Equity and Diversity
Jordan Hawkinson, Education Minnesota Student Program
Bob Heyer, 1975 National Teacher of the Year
Joan Higinbotham, League of Women Voters of Minnesota
Jennifer Kasel, WCCO TV
Rosie Loeffler-Kemp, Minnesota Parent-Teacher Association
Jackie Magnuson, Minnesota School Boards Association
Mike Marcotte, Education Minnesota Student Program
Glynn Merriewether, Parents United for Public Schools
Sharon Mitchell, United Educators Credit Union
Jennifer Niemi, University of MN – Duluth - Center for Indigenous Knowledge Revitalization
Dr. Gwen Rudney, University of MN - Morris
Nancy Sabin, Jacob Wetterling Foundation
Ramon Serrano, St. Cloud State University
Mike Smart, 2007 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
Enrique Soto, RR Donnelley
Joe Stanich, Education Minnesota Retired
Lee-Ann Stephens, 2006 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
Ursina Swanson, Minnesota Elementary Schools Principals Association
Dr. Nancy Walters, Minnesota Office of Higher Education