 One Brainerd teacher was surprised in the classroom this morning with news that she was being awarded the 2018 Brainerd Teacher of the Year. June Dahlgren has been an early childhood special education teacher in the Brainerd School District for the past 22 years. Very excited, as you can see, this morning her friends and family made the surprise trip to her classroom to share the good news. June has impacted the lives of many students and their families after what she describes as finding her niche in life. I'm second oldest of seven children, so I've always been around children. And I have two daughters and I've always felt that helping my youngest daughter has some special needs and so that's where it kind of started. That's where my passion started. About 50 teachers in the Brainerd School District were nominated for this year's award. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.