A Minocqua teacher has been awarded the Sanford Teacher Award for Wisconsin.
Mary Wentland, a Physical Education, Adaptive Physical Education and Health teacher at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua, has been named a recipient of the National University System – Sanford Teacher Award for Wisconsin.
The Sanford Teacher Award honors the top teacher in each state and the District of Columbia with $10,000 for supporting student development and achievement. Wentland was told about it during a surprise Zoom announcement Wednesday.
During a video chat after the announcement, Wentland says she wanted to teach students about life...
"Curriculum doesn't live on a shelf or book, it's live. That was the biggest thing where I said, 'hey, I need help with people navigate some skills that were going to get them through these times that we're going through. I might have had a set curriculum where my school said here is the scope and sequence. What I learned is scope and sequence can wait, life happens right now and we're going to teach life..."
The award was established in the name of philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, who is committed to supporting inspiring teaching nationwide through programs focused on developing the social and emotional skills of young people.
Each teacher recipient is now eligible to be named the national winner of the Sanford Teacher Award, which comes with an award of $50,000 and will be announced later.
