More MN Teacher of the Year Candidates from Shakopee Than Any Other District in State

More candidates for the 2013 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award come from Shakopee Public Schools than any other district in the state, the teachers union Education Minnesota announced Thursday.

In total, 23 Shakokopee educators were nominated by 21 individual parents and school staff members for the award. Ten teachers followed through and completed the portfolio and application to become official candidates for the award.

Doug Dooher, the staff coordinator of the Teacher of the Year program, said he wasn't sure why Shakopee had so many nominations this year; before this year, Shakopee hadn't had any candidates since 2006.

"Sometimes you get kind of a bump in nominations if some parents get involved," Dooher said. "I know there was a parent who nominated a few people in Shakopee. It is quite a number to have ten candidates from a district the size of Shakopee—that's pretty good."

• Denise Bade, Kindergarten, Jackson Elementary
• Carmen Barbone, English, Shakopee High School
• Amy Brotten, German, Shakopee High School
• Brenda Kostelac, English, Shakopee High School
• Stanley Kusunoki, Gifted and Talented program, Red Oak Elementary
• Edward Loiselle, Social Studies, Shakopee High School
• Amanda Marek, English, Shakopee West Junior High
• Bethany Olsen, Fourth Grade, Red Oak Elementary
• Alyssa Rutherford, Spanish, Shakopee West Junior High
• Jo Shelton, Connections program, Shakopee High School and Shakopee Area Learning Center

Education Minnesota nominated 135 teachers from across the state for 2013 Teacher of the year, the organization said in a press release. A 25-member panel of community leaders will name semifinalists and finalists in coming weeks, with the Teacher of the Year announced at a ceremony May 5 in Brooklyn Park.