Sauk Rapids-Rice Kindergarten Teacher Candidate for Teacher of the Year

SAUK RAPIDS - Mississippi Heights kindergarten teacher Carol Mead has been named a candidate for Minnesota teacher of the year.

Sauk Rapids-Rice superintendent Dan Bittman says Mead was hired by the district in August 2008 and that she served in various substitution roles for several years prior. She has 23 students in her classroom.

114 candidates were selected for the 52nd Minnesota teacher of the year. They include pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and adult basic education teachers from public or private schools.

The 2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year will be announced Sunday, May 15th, at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Over the coming weeks, a 25-member panel of community leaders will name a group of semifinalists.

A few other candidates from Central Minnesota schools include: Brittany Wedlund of Big Lake, Melissa Tellinghuisen of Milaca and Jennifer Wirz of Paynesville.