12 educators selected as 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year finalists
For more information, contact:
DOUG DOOHER
651-245-6141 (cell)
CHRIS WILLIAMS
651-292-4816 (work)
651-247-5539 (cell)
ST. PAUL, Minnesota. April 10, 2025 – The 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year will be chosen from a group of 12 teachers who have been named finalists in the program.
An independent selection panel of 21 leaders in the areas of education, business, government and nonprofits selected the finalists from a group of 31 semifinalists. There were 142 candidates for this program year.
The selection panel meets again May 3 to conduct individual interviews with each of the 12 finalists and to cast votes for the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. For a look at how the selection process works, visit our website.
The 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Tracy Byrd of Washburn High School in Minneapolis, will announce this year’s honoree at a banquet at the Saint Paul RiverCentre May 4. Banquet tickets can be purchased online here.
Education Minnesota, the statewide educators union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade, Early Childhood Family Education and Adult Basic Education teachers, from public or private schools. The Minnesota Teacher of the Year program also receives support from the following organizations: Education Minnesota ESI, Educators Lifetime Solutions, EFS Advisors, Expedition Credit Union, Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation and SMART Technologies.
The 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year finalists (listed alphabetically, with school, district, subject and grade[s] taught) are:
- Stacy Bartlett, Stillwater Area High School, Stillwater Area Schools, biology, 10-12
- Katelyn Bruce, Lake Harriet Lower Campus, Minneapolis Public Schools, second grade
- Ben Cuevas-Rengstorf, Roosevelt High School, Minneapolis Public Schools, culinary arts, 9-12
- Christoph Dundas, Austin High School, Austin Public Schools, band, 9-12
- John Horton, J.J. Hill Montessori School, Saint Paul Public Schools, grades 1-3
- Amanda Jagdeo, Hamline Elementary School, Saint Paul Public Schools, pre-K
- Zoe Kourajian, Edgewood Middle School, Mounds View Public Schools, U.S. history and girls’ leadership, 7-8
- Soren Olesen, Roseau High School, Roseau Community School District, welding, machine shop and work-based learning, 11-12
- Sean Padden, Roseville Area Middle School, Roseville Area Schools, health, 7-8
- Araceli Pastrana, Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion, Eden Prairie Schools, third grade
- Kong Vang, Washington Technology Magnet School, Saint Paul Public Schools, ethnic studies, 9-12
- Linda Wallenberg, Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie Schools, English, 9 & 12
About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
