BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Governor Doug Burgum and State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler will present the 2019 North Dakota Teacher of the Year award during a ceremony at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday, September 25th, in the gymnasium at Mapleton Elementary School, 506 1st St., Mapleton, ND.

Burgum and Baesler will be joined by Mapleton School Administrator Tim Jacobson, Teacher of the Year finalists, educators and students.

The North Dakota Teacher of the Year program is administered by the Department of Public Instruction to recognize the state’s teachers for their commitment to education excellence.

The initial group of Teacher of the Year applications were divided into eight geographic regions. A selection committee reviewed the top applications from each region and selected four finalists, whom the panel members interviewed in person in Bismarck on September 7th. After completing the interviews, the selection committee chose the Teacher of the Year on September 14th.

The four finalists were Kayla Delzer, a third-grade teacher at Mapleton Elementary; Annette Hovey, music director at New Rockford-Sheyenne High School; Sara Medalen, a Title 1 reading and math interventionist at Sunnyside Elementary School in Minot; and Leslye Thiery, a fifth-grade teacher at Discovery Elementary School in Grand Forks.