11 are finalists for Minnesota Teacher of the Year award

Eleven teachers have been named finalists for the Minnesota Teacher of the Year award, which is presented annually by Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member statewide teachers' union.

There were 101 Teacher of the Year candidates this year.

The finalists are:

• Cynthia Oppold, a math teacher at Hastings High School

• Amber Damm, an English/language arts teacher at Clara Barton Open School in Minneapolis

• Marcia Anderson, a math teacher at Owatonna High School

• Mary Ellen Wade, a special education teacher at A.I. Jedlicka Middle School in Proctor

• Michael Olson, a third-grade teacher at Folwell Elementary School in Rochester

• Aaron Nelson, an 11th- and 12th-grade social studies teacher at Roseau Public School

• Tien Le, a kindergarten teacher at Adams Spanish Immersion School in St. Paul

• Thomas Bedard, an early childhood education teacher at Highland Early Childhood Family Education in St. Paul

• Jennifer Parker, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at Pilot Knob Elementary School in Eagan

The Teacher of the Year will be announced at a banquet on May 3. The 2008 Minnesota Teacher of the Year was Derek Olson of the Stillwater School District.