Schools
New Edina Elementary Principal Honored With Big River Teacher Award
Highlands Elementary teacher Cara Rieckenberg was recently named as the school's new principal.
EDINA, MN — Edina educator Cara Rieckenberg continued her highly successful spring on Sunday, when she was honored by the Mississippi Park Connection.
Rieckenberg won the inaugural Mississippi National River and Recreation Area's Big River Teacher Award, which celebrates a teacher “who has created innovative curricula that empowers students to become avid learners and build a lifelong relationship with the Mississippi River.”
She was given the award at an event Sunday at Fort Snelling State Park.
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The Mississippi Park Connection praised Rieckenberg for how she "integrated fieldwork and data collection methods into your inclusive curriculum and the additional partnerships you've created with the goal of bringing the best understanding of the river to your students," according to Edina Public Schools.
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Rieckenberg, a continuous progress teacher at Highlands Elementary, was recently named as the school’s new principal. She is due to start July 1.
Rieckenberg has been an educator for 20 years. She previously served in Prior Lake and Robbinsdale schools before joining Edina Public Schools in 2020, according to the district.
She was named Minnesota's Science Teacher of the Year in 2014 while working at Robbinsdale's School of Engineering and Arts.
Rieckenberg holds a doctorate in educational leadership and is an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas, St. Catherine University and Hamline University, according to the district. She earned bachelor's degrees from Minnesota State University-Mankato and Iowa State University.
She was honored in April as the Edina Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, shortly after leading a team of her students to a third-place finish in the Minnesota Zoo's 2021-22 ZOOMS STEM Design Challenge.
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