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Bloomington, Minn., May 3, 2015 – Amy Hewett-Olatunde, who teaches writing and English to the all-immigrant student population at LEAP High School in St. Paul, has been chosen the 2015 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. She is the 51st winner of the prestigious award, and the fourth from the St. Paul district.

LEAP High School enrolls students up to age 20 who are new arrivals to the United States and are not native English speakers.

“The profession of teaching is often a thankless job and open to scrutiny, but to spend hours before school, hours after school and all the hours in between devoted to our children is something honorable,” Hewett-Olatunde said in her nomination portfolio. “When the bell rings and the class settles in, that is where the magic happens. True teachers know that our children matter. Each has a story to tell. Each has a truth to be told.”

“During the course of a single school day, (Hewett-Olatunde) makes the transition from teaching literature to – sometimes within minutes – teaching the alphabet or the fundamentals of grammar to a beginning-level group,” wrote Rose Santos, principal at LEAP High School, in a recommendation letter for Hewett-Olatunde. “Many of her current students are recent arrivals to the United States from a refugee camp in Burma, and Amy does a fantastic job working with them.”

Hewett-Olatunde has taught at LEAP High School since 1999. She holds a bachelor’s degree in German secondary education and Scandinavian studies from Concordia University in Moorhead, Minn. She has a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language from Hamline University in St. Paul. She recently received her doctorate in education from Hamline.

Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member statewide educators’ union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program, which receives support from the following organizations: Education Minnesota ESI, Educators Lifetime Solutions, EFS Advisors, Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, Radisson Blu Mall of America, SMART Technologies, TruStone Financial and United Educators Credit Union.