Century’s Natalia Benjamin is the 2021 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
Natalia Benjamin has made history by becoming the first Rochester educator to be named Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
Benjamin, who teaches multilingual students and ethnic studies at Century High School, was among nine finalists celebrated during an outdoor ceremony on Wednesday evening in St. Paul. Benjamin becomes the 57th recipient of the award, and the first with a Latin-American background.
“Natalia sets her students up for success by fostering a safe, positive and welcoming learning environment for every child,” wrote Molly Murphy, assistant principal at Century High School, in a letter supporting Benjamin’s nomination. “She has an ability to vary instruction and adjust lessons to meet student needs. Natalia creates an open, supportive environment with mutual respect among the students.”
In her speech, Benjamin, who was born and raised in Guatemala, credited her family for instilling in her the value of education early on. She also spoke about the importance of equity in education.
“We need everyone involved in education — from legislators to all educators, teachers and support staff — in order to eliminate opportunity gaps and provide students with the best education experience as we come back from the pandemic,” said Benjamin. “We all have suffered loss in one way or another. Now, more than ever, we need each other and we need to work together for students and families, especially those of marginalized communities who have suffered the most.”
Among the many colleagues and community leaders congratulating Benjamin include interim Superintendent Kent Pekel, who said RPS would be “celebrating [Benjamin’s] achievement all year in many ways, but for now we just say thank you for teaching and leading in our system!”
Ahead of the unveiling of the award, Gov. Tim Walz also spoke about the role teachers have played during a period like no other.
“Our children are watching a chaotic world. They are watching division all around us. They are watching a nation in a world that is a little less kind to each other than when we went into Covid,” said Walz, a former teacher himself. “And they needed a place of sanctuary. They needed someone there to bring them calm, to bring the decency, to bring the sense of hopefulness — and each and every one of these classrooms did that.”
A video stream of Wednesday’s ceremony can be found here.
