Brainerd Teacher Semifinalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award

ST. PAUL (KDLM) – The field of possible candidates for this year’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year honor has been narrowed to 25 and a Brainerd teacher is among the semifinalists.

Erin Karlgaard, a 3rd grade elementary education teacher at Brainerd Public Schools has been selected by an independent selection panel of 22 community leaders from an initial field of 77 candidates from across the state.

The panel will now review the semifinalists’ portfolios again and review semifinalist video submissions and will select about 10 finalists from among the group. The current Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Natalia Benjamin, will announce her successor at the Minnesota Teacher of the Year banquet, tentatively scheduled for May 1 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.