Cass Lake-Bena teacher is semifinalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year

By Dispatch staff report

March 03, 2023 at 9:30 AM

BRAINERD — A Cass Lake-Bena middle school teacher is among 33 semifinalists for 2023 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.

Linsey Strand is a seventh grade science teacher at Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools and is in her 12th year of teaching.

Strand joins 32 other educators from around the state to be named a semifinalist after the pool of nominees was narrowed down from 132 candidates.

An independent selection panel of 21 community leaders will review the semifinalists’ portfolios again and review semifinalist video submissions in mid-March and will select about 10-12 finalists from among the group. The current Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Sarah Lancaster, will announce her successor at the annual Minnesota Teacher of the Year banquet, scheduled for May 7 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.

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, Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, SMART Technologies and Expedition Credit Union.

For a full list of semifinalists, visit bit.ly/3INkc3o .

By Dispatch staff report

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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Cass Lake-Bena teacher is semifinalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year

Linsey Strand is a seventh grade science teacher at Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools and is one of 33 semifinalists for the 2023 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award.