Onamia educator is 2022 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
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DOUG DOOHER
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651-245-6141 (cell)
CHRIS WILLIAMS
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651-247-5539 (cell)
ST. PAUL, Minn., May 1, 2022 – Sarah Lancaster, a first-grade teacher at Onamia Elementary School in the Onamia district, is the 2022 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
Lancaster is the 58th recipient of the prestigious award, the first from the Onamia district and the first teacher of Asian Pacific Islander descent to be named Minnesota Teacher of the Year. An independent selection committee representing Minnesota leaders in education, business and government chooses the Teacher of the Year from individuals who are nominated and who then choose to become a candidate.
Lancaster’s first and only teaching job has been in her hometown, working with third- and first-grade students in Onamia Public Schools over the last nine years. She says it is important to live in the town where she teaches so her students can see and identify her, the only BIPOC teacher in her district, as a community leader. “I want to give back to the community that once helped to set me up for success,” she said.
Lancaster believes in the power of relationships and helping her students establish an identity for themselves. “As a teacher, I get to show my students that they can reach beyond whatever barriers they encounter,” she said in a video submitted to the Teacher of the Year selection panel. “I get to show them that beyond these barriers is an amazing person, a scholar, an athlete, someone looking to connect with their culture and find their true identity. I can supply and awaken the language, strategies, enthusiasm and joy that very well may have been inside them all along.”
“No matter the age of the students she is working with, Sarah displays an unrivaled amount of passion for student education and improvement,” said Cynthia Martin, a fellow first-grade teacher at Onamia Elementary, in a letter of recommendation for Lancaster. “Sarah is forever willing and open to acquiring new knowledge to help students in need of intervention or enrichment. Her breadth of knowledge in teaching methods is vast, and she is able to connect with students in so many effective ways.”
Lancaster has coached more than 20 seasons of both athletics and arts programs in Onamia, directing three of the annual high school musicals and volunteering with local youth groups as well as through her church. She currently serves as President of the Onamia Area Civic Association. Lancaster holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and design from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Education Minnesota, the 86,000-member statewide educators union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers, ECFE and ABE teachers from public or private schools. The Minnesota Teacher of the Year Program also receives support from the following organizations: Expedition Credit Union, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, EFS Advisors, Aviben and Education Minnesota ESI.
