Onamia native is Minnesota's first AAPI Teacher of the Year

Sarah Lancaster, a first-grade teacher in the Onamia School District, was named the 2022 Minnesota Teacher of the Year on Sunday. She's the first teacher of Asian-Pacific Islander descent to win the title, now in its 58th year, and has taught in her hometown for the nine years she's been in the field. "I want to give back to the community that once helped to set me up for success. As a teacher, I get to show my students that they can reach beyond whatever barriers they encounter," she said in a video that was submitted to the Teacher of the Year selection panel. "… I can supply and awaken the language, strategies, enthusiasm and joy that very well may have been inside them all along."