BISMARCK, N.D. – Sheila Peterson, a physical education teacher and athletics coach at Wachter Middle School in Bismarck, has been named as North Dakota’s 2024 Teacher of the Year, state School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler and Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller said in a joint announcement on Thursday.
Peterson will succeed Ivona Todorovic in January as North Dakota’s Teacher of the Year. Todorovic is an English Language teacher at Red River High School in Grand Forks.
“Sheila Peterson follows the philosophy that leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others,” Baesler said. “She wants to help instill confidence and courage in her students and help them to become kind and confident young people. She makes people feel important, acknowledges them, and finds ways to make them feel seen, heard, and validated.”
“Mrs. Peterson is widely respected and renowned for making a lasting, positive impact on her students, instilling a sense of belonging and engaging them in innovative ways to inspire learning and develop skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives,” Miller said. “We are grateful for Mrs. Peterson, her fellow 2024 Teacher of the Year finalists and all North Dakota educators who go above and beyond to prepare our students for a successful future.”
Thursday’s announcement in the state Capitol’s Memorial Hall came at a ceremony held to celebrate Peterson and the three other finalists for the honor: Andee Mattson, a music teacher and choir director at Rugby’s Ely Elementary School; Trisha Schaefer, a sixth-grade math teacher at Ramstad Middle School in Minot; and Megan Wasness, an English teacher at Devils Lake’s Central Middle School.
“Sheila Peterson follows the philosophy that leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others,” Baesler said. “She wants to help instill confidence and courage in her students and help them to become kind and confident young people. She makes people feel important, acknowledges them, and finds ways to make them feel seen, heard, and validated.”
Peterson has been a physical education teacher, athletics coach and reading strategies educator at Wachter since 2010. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Dakota State University in Madison, S.D., and a master’s degree in technology for education and training from the University of South Dakota. Before taking her position at Wachter, she taught physical education at middle schools in Huron, S.D., and Chamberlain, S.D.
Aside from coaching basketball, volleyball and track and teaching physical education, Peterson works with students to improve their reading and academic planning skills.
Peterson “is what teaching is all about,” said Logan Schaubert, a Bismarck High School alumnus who was a student in Peterson’s sixth-grade physical education class at Wachter. He said he considers her the most impactful educator he has known.
“She puts the kids first, leaving positive and life-changing messages whenever you speak with her,” Schaubert said.
Erik Hanson, a Wachter math teacher, said he “cannot overstate (Peterson’s) impact at Wachter Middle School and the greater Bismarck-Mandan community.”
“I have no doubt that Mrs. Peterson educates everyone she encounters, whether intentional or not,” Hanson said. “She draws people in, makes them feel safe, heard, (and) understood, and guides them in whatever way she is able. Education is not solely her career, it is who she is as a person.”
The work of choosing the 2024 Teacher of the Year began last spring, when Baesler invited nominations for County Teachers of the Year. Forty-two North Dakota educators were subsequently honored as Teachers of the Year from their respective counties.
The four finalists for the state Teacher of the Year award were picked from among the group of 42 educators, including Peterson, who was chosen as Burleigh County Teacher of the Year.
The state Teacher of the Year was chosen by an eight-member screening committee of education stakeholders, who reviewed their applications and interviewed the finalists. The process is outlined in North Dakota law, NDCC 15.1-02-21.