Photos courtesy of Linda Wallenberg

“Students crave our stability, our energy, our belief in them, and they want to know that we love what we do,” said Linda “Wally” Wallenberg in her finalist video for 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. “There is no better place than our classrooms to help these beautiful young people find hope.” 

In May, the beloved Eden Prairie High School (EPHS) English teacher was named the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. For nearly 50 years, almost all of which have been spent teaching at EPHS, Wallenberg has been inspiring her students to reach their full potential both in and beyond the classroom. “I became a teacher because I fell in love. And that love continues every single day, coupled with curiosity and passion. I continue to teach because I love to learn,” she said. 

“By helping students find their authentic selves — what they were made for — we can get them excited about their future,” she wrote in her nomination materials. “Although we cannot promise students that learning content will guarantee them worldly rewards or that they will always know the answers, I do know that as teachers we can help students gain integrity, confidence, stamina and resiliency.” 

Wallenberg was nominated alongside a dozen of her Eden Prairie Schools colleagues, including fellow finalist Araceli Pastrana from Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion, and was selected from among 142 nominees across the state. “Before meeting Wally, I did not understand what true, unbridled devotion looked like,” wrote former student Sophia Yoerks (‘24) in a recommendation letter to the selection committee. “Not only does she teach impactful and informative material, but she also finds countless ways to connect both herself and her students with it.” Sedona MacFarlane (‘25) wrote in another letter of recommendation that “her energy and compassion shine through all the lives she’s touched, and it is truly an incredible sight to behold.” 

During her nearly half a century in Eden Prairie Schools, Wallenberg has not only been a devoted English teacher but also taught Swedish and coached the EPHS gymnastics team. She was named Eden Prairie Teacher of the Year three times and was previously a finalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2005. 

As part of the Teacher of the Year recognition, Wallenberg will represent the teaching profession and Eden Prairie Schools at events and engagements throughout the state. In describing her message, she said, “I do not think we’d be in this work if we didn’t believe we can change the world. Doing the best we can to build people, not just scholars. As educators, we have an incredible calling to help these beautiful young people to feel safe enough to find the light of hope. And to find that light of hope, I believe there’s no better or safer place than in our loving and magic classrooms, where we can plant those seeds of inspiration.”