Meet The 4 North Dakota Educators Up For Teacher Of The Year

North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler praises four North Dakota teachers who are finalists for the 2026 Teacher of the Year award.

According to an email obtained from the North Dakota Public Instruction, four teachers are finalists for this award, and one of them is a teacher in the Bismarck Public Schools system.

These four teachers were chosen finalists from a group of 48 teachers chosen from each county in North Dakota.

"These finalists represent the skilled, compassionate educators that we are blessed to have in our North Dakota schools," said Kirsten Baesler. The Teacher of the Year program is designed to lift up the teaching profession to show respect, appreciation, and admiration for our teachers in North Dakota.

Let's meet the 4 teachers in North Dakota who are finalists for the 2026 Teacher of the Year.

Emily Dawes:  Who is a first-grade teacher at J. Nelson Kelly Elementary School in Grand Forks.

Hannah Sagvold: Who is a business education teacher at Lisbon Public School in Lisbon, North Dakota.

Frannie Tunseth: Who teaches grades 4th through 8th at Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg Public School in Mayville, North Dakota.

Leah Wheeling: Who is a sixth-grade teacher of physical education and digital literacy at Simle Middle School in Bismarck.

When will the Teacher of the Year for 2026 be announced?

Superintendent Kirsten Baesler and North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong are tentatively scheduled to announce the winner at 1 pm on Friday, September 26th, in the Capitol's Memorial Hall.

North Dakota's Teacher of the Year will become a candidate for the national Teacher of the Year award.

North Dakota's current Teacher of the Year is Kendall Bergrud, a math teacher at Bismarck's Wachter Middle School. His successor will begin serving as North Dakota's Teacher of the Year on January 1st, 2026.