Eden Prairie teacher wins 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
The Brief
Eden Prairie High School English teacher, Linda Wallenberg, won the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
Wallenberg is in her 49th year of teaching, and was the first certified Swedish teacher in Minnesota.
Wallenberg is the 61st recipient and the first from the Eden Prairie district to be named Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - An Eden Prairie High School teacher won the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year award.
What we know
Eden Prairie High School English teacher, Linda Wallenberg or "Wally", took home the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Sunday.
Wallenberg is currently in her 49th year of teaching, and she is the 61st recipient of the award. She is also the first educator from the Eden Prairie district to win the award.
A selection committee with education, business and government leaders chooses the Teacher of the Year from educators who are nominated and then chooses to become a candidate.
What they're saying
"Teaching is about the journey – the opportunity every fall and every single day to begin anew, to guide students along their own journeys, to build people, not just scholars," Wallenberg said. "I believe teaching is a calling of love, an awakening of sorts – creating a sacred space where students can feel seen, believe in themselves, and trust their own authentic voices to take them out to the world."
"Before meeting 'Wally,' I did not understand what true, unbridled devotion looked like," said Sophia Yoerks, an Eden Prairie High School 2024 graduate, in a recommendation letter for Wallenberg. "Not only does she teach impactful and informative material, but she also finds countless ways to connect both herself and her students with it. Even though I have known her for almost five years, she still continues to amaze me."
Dig deeper
Wallenberg started teaching after she graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1975. She also studied at Uppsala University in Sweden.
She earned a degree in English and Scandinavian studies, and was the first certified Swedish teacher in Minnesota.
Before teaching at Eden Prairie High School, she was an 8th grade English teacher at Faribault Junior High.
Wallenberg started teaching at Eden Prairie High School in 1977, where she taught English and Swedish and is the head gymnastics coach.
She has a Master's degree in English education from the University of Minnesota, and has been the director and Swedish teacher at Concordia College's Swedish Language Village for the past 42 years.
Wallenberg has also been named the Eden Prairie Teacher of the Year three times, was named the National Gymnastics Coach of the Year twice and was awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star by King Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden.
She has also authored two books on gymnastics.
The Source
This article was written from a press release from Education Minnesota.
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