North Dakota 2024 county teachers of the year announced

BISMARCK — North Dakota K-12 Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced the 2024 county teachers of the year Wednesday, May 1.

Forty-nine teachers were chosen from a pool of 356 different nominees for the honor, according to a news release from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. Two teachers were chosen from LaMoure County as they both tied in the award’s scoring system. The ultimate goal of the program is for one teacher to be represented from each of the state’s 53 counties.

The county teachers of the year were:

• Adams: Anna Block, Hettinger Public School
• Barnes: Tresa Cruff, Barnes County North
• Benson: Abel Sacatani, Warwick Public School
• Billings: Jennifer O’Brien, Prairie Elementary School
• Bottineau: Casey Mills, Westhope Public School
• Bowman: Amy Burke, Bowman County
• Burke: Whitney Rick, Burke Central
• Burleigh: Kendall Bergrud, Wachter Middle School
• Cass: Deb Pieper, West Fargo High School
• Cavalier: Lane Lindseth, Langdon Area Schools
• Dickey: Anna Kemmer, Southeast Region Career and Technology Center, Oakes
• Divide: Rayme Haggin, Divide County Elementary
• Dunn: Vicki Carney, Killdeer Public School
• Emmons: Kadie Walls, Linton Public School
• Foster: Kristen Hewitt, Carrington High School
• Golden Valley: Chelsey Erdmann, Lincoln Elementary
• Grand Forks: John Stempinski, Valley Middle School
• Grant: Kayla Tatro, Roosevelt Public School, Carson
• Griggs: Kayla Danielson, Griggs County Central
• Hettinger: Eamon Alido, Mott Regent Public School
• Kidder: Danielle Wachter, Kidder County Public School
• LaMoure: Cameron Young, Edgeley Public School; Heidi Mathern, Edgeley Public School
• Logan: Christina Gross, Napoleon Public School
• McHenry: Emma Cook, TGU Towner
• McIntosh: Alli Mogen, Wishek Public School
• McKenzie: Tiffany Olson, Fox Hills Elementary
• McLean: Seleena Briones, White Shield School
• Mercer: Katie Isaak, Beulah Elementary School
• Morton: Mary McHugh, Sweet Briar School
• Mountrail: Erica McRae, Parshall High School
• Nelson: Jill Wall, Lakota Elementary School
• Oliver: Lynn Schwalk, Center-Stanton High School
• Pembina: Heather Lafferty, North Border
• Pierce: Ashleigh Blikre, Ely Elementary
• Ramsey: Kelly Anderson, Sweetwater Elementary
• Ransom: Ashley Nudell, Lisbon Public Schools
• Renville: Chaleigh Clark, MLS Mohall
• Richland: Kristi Nordick, Zimmerman Elementary
• Rolette: Brooke Zupan, St. John’s Public School
• Sheridan: Lucas Senske, McClusky-Goodrich High School
• Sioux: Tessa Jahner, Solen High School
• Steele: Denise Carlson, Finley-Sharon Public School
• Stutsman: Charity Dosch, Montpelier Public School
• Traill: Wendy Dafforn, Hatton Eielson School
• Walsh: Trisha Cole, Park River Area School
• Ward: Macie Harris-Nelson, Kenmare Public Schools
• Wells: Angel Opdahl, Central Regional Special Education Unit
• Williams: Kari Hall, Williston High School

The county winners are eligible to apply for the state teacher of the year award. The 2025 teacher of the year will be announced in a Sept. 27 ceremony at the Capitol, the release said.

The current teacher of the year is Sheila Peterson, a physical education teacher at Wachter Middle School in Bismarck.

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