District 241 will name its 2011 Teacher of the Year Wednesday in the commons area at Albert Lea High School. The ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m.

The event acknowledges all district Teacher of the Year finalists and will conclude with the Teacher of the Year award from the Albert Lea Education Association.

This year’s finalists are Peggy Bennett, Kiki Chistensen, Ann Hareid, Linda Johnson, Kathie Lein and Jacque Sorensen.

Following is a little bit about each of the finalists.

Peggy Bennett

Peggy Bennett teaches first grade at Sibley Elementary School and received her master’s degree from St. Cloud State University. She’s worked in the district for 30 years and is currently the chairwoman for the Sibley Building Technology Team, the Sibley Building Technology Coordinator and a member of the district’s technology committee.

Bennett has been a nominee for this award 11 times and a finalist seven times. Bennett said she’s enjoyed being involved in the community while living in Albert Lea. She’s been a volunteer mentor and Bible study leader with Youth for Christ for more than 20 years and has led more than 10 adult mission trips from Albert Lea to a remote Ojibwa village in Canada.

Bennett’s hobbies include photography, graphic design, music, dog training, reading and writing. She’s in the process of writing a historical fiction novel based on the lives of two family ancestors who lived during the Revolutionary War. She enjoys travel and has been to many countries including Israel, Greece, Mexico and Trinidad, among others.

Her two passions in teaching are technology and reading. She believes technology is a kind of language for young people and “to reach students we need to ‘speak their language’ fluently,” she wrote. She also loves to inspire reading in her students and hopes her students become lifelong readers.

Kiki Christensen

Kiki Christensen has worked with the district for more than five years and teaches second grade at Sibley. She has a master’s degree from Southwest Minnesota State University. She’s a member of the Sibley Building Leadership Team and the Sibley Problem Solving Team.

Christensen is a Sunday school teacher at St. Theodore Catholic Church and on the board of directors for the Albert Lea Figure Skating Club.

Christensen said she likes working with individuals and small groups, because she gets to know students best that way. She likes seeing former students succeed after leaving her classroom. She likes planning events for students outside the classroom including celebrating holidays and Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Events like spring field day “are what make school memorable and make coming to school fun,” she wrote.

She’s lived in Albert Lea since 1981 and is the daughter of Denny and Judy Raiche. She’s married to Tab and her children include Jaimi (and her soon to be son-in-law Jered Smiley), Torey, Kailey and Evy.

Ann Hareid

Ann Hareid has worked in the district for 15 years and teaches third grade at Lakeview Elementary School. She received her master’s degree from Southwest Minnesota State University. She’s a member of Teachers Nurturing Teachers and on the Language Arts Standards Committee as well as a science fair volunteer.

Hareid has been named a Top Walker with the March for Babies. She’s also active at First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, including being on the education commission, being a reader and a Sunday school teacher.

Her goal in the classroom is to make learning fun. She tries to “engage the learners, and make my lessons interactive and exciting,” she wrote. She likes to try new things and researches better ways to teach her lessons.

Hareid grew up in Forest City, Iowa, and attended college at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she met her husband, Jeff. Together they have three children: Evan, Erik and Sophia. Hareid said she enjoys spending her free time with her kids biking, playing and reading. They like to go boating and visit her parents in Arizona as a family.

Linda Johnson

Linda Johnson teaches first grade at Lakeview and has been with the district for 40 years. She has a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. She also obtained her plus-30 credits from colleges in the area.

Johnson has been on the math committee for many years and helped select to Everyday Mathematics series. She’s served on leadership committees at Lakeview and Sibley and has worked several summers writing curriculum for reading and math. She’s served as a mentor to new teachers in the district and has had student teachers.

In the community Johnson is involved in the Rosary Council at her church and has been a co-chairwoman for the parade committee for Cedar River Days for two years. She’s helped solicit merchandise for St. Theodore Catholic School’s annual auction and has volunteered with various youth activities including the Elks Hoop Shoot.

Johnson said she’s always working to become a better teacher by reading and attending workshops to learn new strategies to use in her classroom. She wants all students to achieve first grade goals to the best of their ability and feel successful as students.

Johnson gave a kidney to her husband, Bob, in 2004. She said it was “an honor to be able to give him the gift of life for the many years we have lived as a married couple. The have one son, Ben, who lives in Milwaukee, Wis.

Kathie Lein

Kathie Lein teaches special education at Halverson Elementary School and is in her 18th year with the district. She received her master’s degree from Saint Mary’s University.

Lein has been involved in different committees in the district over the years and is currently a part of the citizenship committee and Halverson child study team. She’s also a teacher representative with the Halverson parent-teacher organization.

She’s been a Girl Scout leader and volunteered with many activities that her children are involved in. She’s a board member for the Story Lady Doll and Toy Museum.

Lein is a graduate from Albert Lea Area Schools and said it is a wonderful feeling to be back in the district and nominated for Teacher of the Year.

“I feel very fortunate to live in this community and have the opportunity to teach in the school district where I was taught and where my love for learning first began,” she wrote.

Lein first taught special education for the Alden-Conger school district and has been at Halverson for 18 years. She said she loves the staff and students she works with and likes the unique opportunity of working with and watching students grow throughout their seven years in the elementary school.

She said she’s continually surprised by her students and that it’s “amazing what some of my students have to deal with and overcome on a daily basis just to do things that many of us take for granted like sitting down and reading a book.”

Lein and her husband, Ross, live in Albert Lea with three children: Mina, Carol and Herbie.

Jacque Sorensen

Jacque Sorensen teaches fourth grade at Lakeview and has been with the district for 17 years. She has a master’s degree from Hamline University, and has earned plus 30 in reading and administrative courses.

Sorensen has been on various district committees including the reading committee, intervention committee and Lakeview’s sunshine committee. This is her fourth time being nominated for Teacher of the Year. She enjoys bringing her class to the Good Samaritan Society once a month where students have made friendships with residents.

Sorensen has been a Sunday school leader and teacher for 10 years as well as a vacation Bible school leader for 10 years. She’s on the altar guild at Redeemer Lutheran Church and has been a 4-H club leader for 5 years.

She said she is always looking for balance in her life because she has so many passions. Sorensen values many things about teaching including helping children academically and socially. She likes having the chance to connect with students and their families. She wrote “being with the students to hear their stories, excitement, creativity and adventures is powerful. As a teacher, I could not ask for anything more.”

Sorensen has been married to her husband, James, for 20 years. They have four children: Jacob, Isaac, Levi and Caleb. The live near Freeborn and are involved in 4-H, boating and camping, among other family activities.