A person never knows what the day might bring. That was certainly true for Shannon Kochie, a third grade Humanities teacher at Caledonia Elementary School on April 30, 2024.
Kochie was not feeling quite up to par that morning and contacted Superintendent Craig Ihrke to request a substitute teacher. Knowing that all the plans were in place to surprise Kochie later that morning with the Fillmore County Journal Teacher of the Year award, Ihrke, in what he described as “panic mode” told her he was not able to find a substitute. With her usual dedication for her students Kochie said she would just come in to work.
Once everything and everyone was in place, including Kochie’s family, it was requested that she bring her class into a room where all involved were anxiously awaiting her arrival.
Jason Sethre with the Fillmore County Journal announced that Kochie was nominated and selected by the Fillmore County Journal staff as the 2024 Teacher of the Year.
Sethre thanked Kochie for her hard work and dedication, which was followed by a big round of applause from the students in her class, her family and everyone else in the room.
Celebrating with her were family members including her parents Bob and Mary Beckman, her husband John and their children Harper, age 11, Cooper, age 8 and Conner, age 6.
Kochie has been a teacher for 18 years, starting in 2006, and joined the staff at Caledonia Area Public Schools in 2017.
She was nominated by her colleague Emily Engan, a fifth grade teacher at Caledonia Elementary, who wrote in her nomination that there were “several compelling reasons” why Kochie deserved the award.
Engan explained, “First and foremost, Shannon is incredibly supportive of both her colleagues and her students. She consistently goes above and beyond for her students, whether it’s by putting in extra time out of her day to ensure their needs are met or by creating engaging lessons that the students love,” stated Engan.
“Over the last couple of years, she has taken the concept of learning to new heights by turning lessons into amazing projects with wonderful extension activities.
“For instance, when teaching about the Iditarod, she created a ‘Race for Reading’ activity. She also had students watch the race, pick a racer to follow and report on, and then, after the race, she contacted the winner. Her class was then able to Zoom with the winner, creating an unforgettable learning experience.”
Her students certainly seem to agree. “She does a whole bunch of fun stuff and I have learned a lot. It is very fun with her,” commented third grade student Treyjen Burmester, son of Bob and Tori Burmester.
When it comes to Kochie, “It is all about the kids and she wants what is best for the kids,” states Ihrke.
“She is an awesome teacher,” commented another colleague, Candyce Deck, also a third grade teacher at Caledonia Elementary.
Kochie was presented with a La-Z-Boy recliner by Katelin Redalen Ehler, representing Drury’s Furniture of Fountain, Minn.; a Green Mountain wood pellet grill called The Ledge donated by Cody Koebke of Ody’s Country Meats & Catering of Spring Valley, Minn.; and a $500 gift card from Rushford, Preston and Harmony Foods presented by representative Brad Hoiness.
When asked if she was surprised, Kochie replied “Yes! Completely!” and it was obvious it meant a lot to her as she got emotional when presented with the Teacher of the Year award.
“It was very touching and there are a lot of deserving teachers so I feel very lucky and fortunate that I happened to get chosen,” stated Kochie.
It is heart-warming to see how much the students enjoy having Kochie as a teacher and the feelings are most certainly mutual.
“I love teaching because I love seeing kids get excited when we do the different activities, and I like forming those connections with kids and being able to watch them grow over the course of a year and then follow them and watch them grow through middle school and high school, too,” states Kochie.
Congratulations to Mrs. Kochie the 2024 Teacher of the Year!
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