2 Local Teachers Candidates for MN Teacher of the Year ST. PAUL -- Two local teachers are among the list of 75 candidates for this year's Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Katherine Green is a language arts teacher at Tech as well as a yearbook advisor, and a teacher mentor in the St. Cloud Area School District. Louise Ziegler is an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher at Hillside in the Sauk Rapids-Rice School District. This year's program will name the 57th Minnesota Teacher of the Year. The field of 75 will be narrowed to a group of semifinalists in a few weeks, and then down to the list of finalists later in March. The scheduled Teacher of the Year banquet is set for May 2nd at the St. Paul RiverCentre.