by Dennis Dalman
Sartell teacher Joe Schulte was one of 11 finalists for “Minnesota Teacher of the Year” at a May 7 honors banquet at which a St. Paul teacher, Michael Houston, was presented the top award.
The banquet of Education Minnesota took place at St. Paul RiverCentre. Education Minnesota is the statewide teachers’ union.
Raised in Sartell, Schulte teaches technology education, grades 9-12, at Sartell High School.
Houston has taught at St. Paul Harding High School for 19 years and has been a football coach there for 18 years. He also teaches math pedagogy classes at Concordia University in St. Paul.
Houston is the 59th Teacher of the Year in Minnesota and is now a candidate for National Teacher of the Year. In those 59 years, four of the national honorees were Minnesotans.
“In the wake of the pandemic and the ongoing trauma our Harding students have endured, my goal every day is to make sure they have fun in their learning and know they are loved,” Houston said.
Before he was named a finalist, Schulte had been one of 44 semi-finalists for the honor who had been selected from 132 nominated teachers, and among them were nine Sartell teachers, including Schulte.
Raised in Sartell, Schulte teaches technology education, grades 9-12, at Sartell High School.
The selection of the 11 finalists were chosen by a panel of 21 leaders in the areas of education, business, government and nonprofits.
Schulte
Joe Schulte’s skills and his teaching expertise have had positive effects not just on students but on so many other aspects of life in Sartell year after year. A multiple nominee for Sartell Citizen of the Year, he was honored with that award in 2015.
The emcee at the awards ceremony listed just some of Schulte’s volunteer projects: the Sartell Farmers’ Market, Pinecone Central Park, the Verso Mill Project, the Sartell Garden Club, the Sartell Fire Department, the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church’s summer bazaar, youth ministry programs and Casting for a Cure charity event, organizing high-school pep fests and coaching youth baseball and basketball – to name just some of his activities.
He also works with technology-arts students in SabreCON (Sabre Construction). It is a partnership with Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity in which Schulte’s students build homes for families in need of good, affordable housing. Schulte has also developed an internship program for his students at the DeZurik manufacturing plant.
Schulte is a member of the Knights of Columbus, served as its leader and worked on Knights’ projects for the entire St. Cloud Catholic Diocese to help secure education for families in need.
