Tanya Hoting-Mrazek was selected as the Central Lakes College Board of Trustees Outstanding Educator for 2018-19.
"This honor includes nomination by peers, followed by a recommendation by a committee of CLC faculty," CLC President Hara Charlier said in a news release. "I am happy to support the recommendation due to Tanya's dedication to students, outstanding instruction and commitment to engaging students in the work of our community. She certainly inspires learning."
Hoting-Mrazek joined CLC in 1994 as a sign language interpreter and started teaching American Sign Language soon after. During her tenure at the college, she's also taught college success classes, developmental reading, writing and math.
She heads the ASL Club on campus and, with her students, volunteers with Lifetrack putting on a safe Halloween trunk or treat event for deaf and hard-of-hearing children from across central Minnesota. They also volunteer at Camp Sertoma (a youth deaf and hard-of-hearing camp in Brainerd) cooking and serving meals for kids, help with the ASL Community Concert, volunteer with the Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza, and put on plays in ASL for area elementary schools.
Hoting-Mrazek also leads a cultural immersion experience with her students in Washington, D.C., at Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts university in the world specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
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According to one nomination letter, Hoting-Mrazek "strives to create a very supportive and encouraging learning environment that extends outside the classroom at well."
Hoting-Mrazek lives in Motley with her husband, Joe, and two kids, Samantha and Caden.
She will represent CLC at the Board of Trustees award ceremony in St. Paul in April, and will be under consideration for selection as the Board of Trustees Educator of the Year. Previous CLC educators to receive this honor include Darci Goeden, Betsy Picciano, Adam Marcotte and Kari Frisch.
