Greenvale Park Elementary’s first grade teacher, Deborah Bakke, is now among the 39 semifinalist candidates for this year’s Minnesota Teacher of the Year honor.

A selection panel of 25 community leaders chose the semifinalists from an initial field of 135 candidates from across the state.

The panel will meet again in late March to select about 10 finalists from the group of semifinalists. The current Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Jackie Roehl of Edina, will announce her successor at a banquet at the Marriott Minneapolis Northwest in Brooklyn Park on May 5.

Education Minnesota, the 70,000-member statewide educators’ union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers from public or private schools. The Minnesota Teacher of the Year Program also receives support from the following organizations: The SMARTer Kids Foundation, the Marriott Minneapolis Northwest, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, United Educators Credit Union, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, Teacher Federal Credit Union, Pearson Education and Education Minnesota ESI.

Visit http://www.educationminnesota.org and click on Events & Programs to find more information about the award.