Grand Marais educator named 2024 National Rural Teacher of the Year

CATHY WURZER: Say, if you've been listening to this program for a while, you may have heard from at least one Minnesota Teacher of the Year, which is an award bestowed annually. Earlier this month, the National Rural Education Association named a Minnesotan the 2024 National Rural Teacher of the Year. Melissa Oberg teaches special education at Cook County Schools in Grand Marais. She is the first special education teacher to receive the honor and the second from Minnesota in a row. She's on the line right now. Melissa, congratulations.

MELISSA OBERG: Oh, thank you so much.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, my gosh! So what did you think when you heard the news?

MELISSA OBERG: Well, first, shock. [LAUGHS] It was such an honor. Yeah, I'm following in some really great footsteps, from another Minnesotan, Jenny Maras. And I couldn't believe it. And then I was very excited to be able to represent Minnesota again and also special education.

CATHY WURZER: There's always a funny story about how people find out when they win big awards. So what happened to you?

MELISSA OBERG: I was actually getting a pedicure. And I didn't know. He said he had extra questions for me. So I had to stop early and run out to my car and thinking I had more interview questions. So, yeah, I found out in the parking lot of a pedicure appointment that was long overdue.

CATHY WURZER: With your toes half painted, I bet.

MELISSA OBERG: Yep, they weren't even close. Yeah.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: OK. Congratulations. I can only imagine your surprise with that. So I understand you've been a teacher for about a dozen years. And you were a paraprofessional before that. How did you get-- why special education? You could have done anything. But you decided to focus on special ed.

MELISSA OBERG: Yeah. Honestly, I just fell into it. I was in between jobs. I was, first, in marketing and sales and realized that was not for me. And so I found a job at a local public school as a paraprofessional. And I completely fell in love with it. And with some nudging and some guidance, I was able to find a program that worked with my mom lifestyle and my job. And I was able to earn my licensure. And right after that, I found a job as a special education teacher up here in Cook County.

CATHY WURZER: I understand that you've talked openly about how during the pandemic you almost left the profession. I mean, a lot of teachers thought about that too. What were you struggling with at the time?

MELISSA OBERG: Yeah. It was already a hard-- it was a hard position for me to be in. It's a beautiful job. It's unique. There's a lot of aspects that are really difficult. And the burnout rate is really high in special education. I believe it's still between three and five years a special education teacher lasts in the field.

And so I was just reaching that time where I couldn't prioritize things that were important. And then I lost a student that I was really close with. And that shook my world. And then also, we're in the middle of a pandemic. And that caused a lot of shifting too.

But with some really intentional work and, yeah, the help of a lot of colleagues, I was able to come back. And I think it's safe to say every single year is getting better.

CATHY WURZER: It's so hard to see your students suffer, isn't it?

MELISSA OBERG: It really breaks you, yeah. And then there's a lot of expectations and a lot of things that we're carrying. Yeah. Our students need a lot. And we want to be all of those things for them. And then there's a lot of hidden expectations, too, in the special education world that I think really tend to weigh on our hearts more than they need to.

CATHY WURZER: What are the most rewarding parts of the career?

MELISSA OBERG: I personally love being creative and flexible. And so that obviously works really well in this job. I love being able to find a kid's strengths and really meeting them to that.

I also love finding these relationships with other students. So I'm able to create this mentorship program between my students with cognitive delays and then also finding students in the general education setting and finding real, meaningful relationships with them. It's amazing to watch the transformation throughout the years of how my mentor students come into my classroom and thinking, they're going to give back and they're going to help. And they end up telling me every single year, they learn far more than they thought they were willing-- or able to give. It's really a unique and fun perspective to see. And not everybody gets to see those things.

CATHY WURZER: Well, now you are the title-- you have the title of National Rural Teacher of the Year. That's a big title, of course. And you're going to represent and advocate for rural teachers across the nation. So again, I bet you probably could have taught in the Twin Cities. But you're in Grand Marais. What are the joys and some of the challenges of being in a small town?

MELISSA OBERG: Well, the joys are definitely the relationships that are built. I get to see my kids not just at school but at the grocery store and at the park and in church and all of the places you get to see your kids and their families. And so you really get to have these incredible relationships that are really deep and meaningful.

And then I'm getting to the point where I get to start having some of my kids' kids. And so that's really special too. But yeah, I think some of the challenges are definitely the lack of access and the lack of resources.

In rural Minnesota, there's a lack of access to school counselors and school psychologists. Right now, we're sitting at a 400 to 1 ratio in most of our rural schools. And so trying to find access and resources and being flexible and some of those barriers to finding mental health support has been a big challenge and something that I would really like to help shine a light on for rural Minnesotans.

CATHY WURZER: When it comes to funding, how big of a barrier is that in rural areas, especially for special education?

MELISSA OBERG: Sure, yeah. Funding isn't necessarily my strength. But I will say that rural education is more expensive to usually typically fund because transportation costs are so high, along with just even just getting things here. And whenever we're talking about trying to find resources for people, we're also talking about sending someone in my area all the way up from Duluth or Two Harbors. And so even just the logistics alone can be really expensive.

CATHY WURZER: Say, what are the misconceptions about special education that you want to, using your platform, maybe bust some of the misconceptions?

MELISSA OBERG: Yeah. So Temple Grandin has these words-- "different not less." And I think that's really powerful in stating that my students are really, really capable. I used to hear the words. I didn't know they could do that and kind of cringe a little bit. But now I see it as a badge of honor. I am out here being able to show off these kids and their great skills to my community. And yeah, that's something that I love to myth bust is that these kids are so capable, and they're so amazing. And I just-- I want to show them off.

CATHY WURZER: I love that. And say, by the way, when you show your kids off, what does that mean exactly? How does that work in real life? Give me an example.

MELISSA OBERG: Yeah. So one thing that we get to do is we have this coffee cart. And we have been able to take it on the road. And so not only do we serve coffee for teachers, but we've also been able to bring it to our local courthouse and deliver it to some of the people that work at our courthouse. And it's been really fun. We just work in the lobby there. And it's been really a great way for our community to come out to see our kids, see their shining, bright, smiley faces and also get to know them in a real way.

Oftentimes, special education can be this hidden world. And this is a great way to be able to say, like, hey, these are our neighbors. And we can get to know them and in these really powerful ways. Like, hey, yeah, you made my latte. And it was really good. And start to have those conversations in the grocery store, instead of just breezing by each other, just like everyone else in our rural communities, just having those real, meaningful conversations everywhere you go.

CATHY WURZER: And the connection is so important.

MELISSA OBERG: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: My gosh. Melissa, again, congratulations. It was really a pleasure talking to you.

MELISSA OBERG: Well, thank you.

CATHY WURZER: Keep up the good work. Melissa Oberg's been with us, a special education teacher in Grand Marais and the 2024 National Rural Teacher of the Year. She's going to be speaking at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education in Georgia at the end of October. And she's going to be honored at the 2024 Greater Education Summit in Brainerd, which is in November.

And that, friends, will do it for Minnesota Now on this Wednesday. Gosh, it's already Wednesday. I hope you enjoy the rest of the day. The weather looks fantastic. And that warmish weather is going to stick around now for the next few days into the weekend. And we'll have details coming up here in just a minute. Thanks for listening to NPR News.