ST PAUL, Minn. — Long before taking the stage as Minnesota's 2022 Teacher of the Year, Sarah Lancaster's passion for teaching and representation went far beyond the walls of her small first grade classroom in Onamia, Minnesota.
"If you find me on any given day I'm coaching, directing a musical, I'm at a meeting at city hall, I'm at the school teaching," Lancaster said. "So my students see me in all different capacities and that's how I want them to see themselves."
Lancaster says she is proud to be the first educator of Asian/Pacific Islander heritage to ever win the award, and she's even more proud to be recognized for her work in her own small hometown.
"If I can change one person the way my community changed me, I will have done my job," Lancaster said.
Lancaster, who is of Filipino descent, says she never had a teacher or coach of color while growing up in Onamia, so she jumped at the chance to bring diversity back to her hometown nine years ago.
"Diversity is growing all over Minnesota and right now we are in the most diverse student population we have ever seen. In my personal district, we are 58% Native American," she said. "I have had so many students come up to me and say, 'Hey, we kind of look the same.' I recently wrote two grants in which I brought books that reflect the diverse population. I think that's the most meaningful thing for a student, to see themselves in literature, see themselves in leadership, see themselves in the world and where they can go, so it does not limit them."
And she's showing everyone that you don't need to leave small towns to accomplish big things. Onamia is the smallest Minnesota town to claim a Teacher of the Year in nearly 40 years.
"We have 859 people in the community of Onamia and now I have a bigger platform to speak for them," she said.
And her platform comes at a critical time for teachers in rural Minnesota.
"Especially in the pandemic, communities have been divided, and it's tough because this is a partnership and it won't survive without the collaboration of teachers and parents and students," Lancaster said. "So coming back together, I know how important it is to establish those relationships and to continue those partnerships for the success of all of us."
Lancaster's list of achievements goes well beyond the school. She's also a member of a local civic association, a church leader and a girl scout troop leader.
To read more about her accomplishments and the 10 other finalists, click here.
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