By Jason Sethre
Publisher
Fillmore County Journal
jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com
In this week’s Fillmore County Journal, you’ll notice the annual Teacher Appreciation Week section, highlighting all of the great teachers in our coverage area.
Every year since 2017, our newspaper has coordinated this section to recognize our area teachers for their important role in our communities.
This year’s recipient is Shannon Kochie, a third grade elementary school teacher with the Caledonia Area Public Schools who was named our 2024 Teacher of the Year.
She was one of many teachers nominated from all throughout our coverage area, and she is in good company.
Here’s the full list of teachers who were nominated for this year’s award, not in any particular order.
- Shannon Kochie, Caledonia Area Public Schools
- Nancy Mullins, Caledonia Area Public Schools
- Stacey Meyer, Caledonia Area Public Schools
- Ben Pischke, Grand Meadow Public Schools
- Kinzee Hovey, Harmony Kids Learning Center
- Amanda Koren, Homeschool
- Amanda Mayer, Houston Public Schools
- Emma Welch, Kingsland Public Schools
- Courtney Graves, Lanesboro Public Schools
- Tim Opat, Lanesboro Public Schools
- Jordan Nelson, Mabel-Canton Public School District
- Erin Becker, Spring Grove Public Schools
- Wade Grinde, Spring Grove Public Schools
- Mickey Angerman, St. Johns Lutheran School, Wykoff
We are grateful for all of the people who felt compelled to nominate their favorite teacher for this award. It’s important to take a moment to recognize people who have a positive impact on the lives of others.
We need to lift each other up whenever possible. So, this week would be a great week for students and parents to send a note of thanks or drop off some treats for your favorite teacher.
Ever since we initiated the Teacher of the Year award, there have been three outstanding family-owned businesses who have tremendously supported the program.
Drury’s Furniture in Fountain has donated a La-Z-Boy recliner, Harmony/Preston/Rushford Foods has donated a $500 gift card, and Ody’s Country Meats & Catering has donated a $900 Green Mountain pellet grill. In total, each year, our sponsors have provided these gifts to the Teacher of the Year totaling around $2,600 in value. That’s truly amazing to me. And, they have continued to make that commitment year after year for the past eight years.
Thank you, also, to all of the area businesses and organizations who have sponsored this section. Without the support of our business community, this type of recognition would not be possible.
It’s amazing and fantastic to see how much our communities embrace and support our schools. Our business communities support booster clubs, 4-H, FFA, sports, arts, band, choir, speech, homecoming, prom, and anything else that comes up.
Our schools really create a sense of community pride.
