The field of candidates for this year’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year honor has been narrowed to 25 semifinalists and includes two teachers from the Lakeland viewing area.

Making the list of semifinalists is Erin Karlgaard, a 3rd grade teacher at Brainerd’s Lowell Elementary, and Sarah Lancaster, a 1st grade teacher for Onamia Public Schools. Both made the cut from an initial field of 77 candidates across the state after an independent selection panel of 22 community leaders made their choices for who would move on.

The panel will now review the semifinalists’ portfolios again and review semifinalist video submissions in early March, and they 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 in St. Paul.

By — Lakeland News