South St. Paul Teachers Association 2021-22 Awards

Each year, the Teachers Association awards teachers and students for their work the past year and throughout their academic career. Three students receive $1,500 scholarships and two teachers are named Teacher of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year. Congratulations to this year's recipients! 

Scholarship Recipients

• Armand Bashige – Attending Augsburg University for pre-Physical Therapy
• Abby Brundieck – Attending Macalester College and undecided on major
• Natalie Henry – Attending Iowa State University for Fashion Design

Teacher of the year

This year our teacher of the year is Andy Gustafson.  Here is what Andy’s colleagues had to say about him:

• “Andy consistently creates high-quality meaningful relationships with his students allowing him to show students the upper limit of the equation of their lives are asymptotic with infinity.”
• “On WIN Wednesdays, he spends each hour sitting with individual and small groups of students helping them understand and catch up. The students love being in his class and trust him to help them when they need it.”
• “Andy is a teacher that students remember. Past students check in with him and keep in contact. He has been a coach for multiple sports at many different levels. The notes and pictures on the wall behind his desk support this. Students and staff love him and I am lucky to call him my colleague and friend.”

Rookie of the Year

The Rookie Teacher of the Year is Claire Troxel.  Here is what Claire’s colleagues had to say about her:

• “Claire understands the importance of building positive relationships with all students and their families. Her ability to relate with students was apparent from the first day as she not only set the foundation for scientific inquiry, but did so while also providing personal experiences that shaped themselves, allowing students to understand who this teacher is as an educator and a person. Despite the challenges of this and last year, she has been able to get to know their students in ways that are meaningful, which have allowed her to create activities and experiences in the classroom that generate excitement and authenticity.”
• “Claire effectively models lessons that allow students to understand expectations and goals for tasks. She is tremendously organized, which helps students as they build their own organizational skills. She realizes that in order to be an effective educator, a teacher must be willing to understand students' learning styles, and adapt, modify and differentiate those styles to modify lesson plans and assessments. Claire challenges her students to push their preconceived limits, while also providing valuable feedback and support as they continue to learn. She is always looking for ways to make instruction better and ways to provide opportunities for students.”