ABOVE: Wendi Tonder has been named Fairmont Area School District’s Teacher of the Year.

FAIRMONT – Fairmont High School Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher Wendi Tonder has won the Fairmont School District’s Teacher of the Year award.

Tonder has been with Fairmont for 19 years and taught for 33 years in total. She teaches two entry exploratory classes for 7th and 8th grade, which cover topics like sewing and cooking in 7th and child development, housing and money management in 8th.

“Then you get to the high school level and I teach a child development one and two,” Tonder said. “I teach a textiles class and Cadet teaching, and also a college version of the Cadet teaching where you get college credit from Mankato State.”

The Cadet teaching gives students a chance to explore potential teaching pathways, by working with teachers at Fairmont Elementary for three days a week and doing learning activities at school for the other two. With child development as an example, Tonder said she seeks to teach important life skills in her classes.

“Tonight, I have 11 babies going home out of my 12 of my fleet,” she said. “[My 8th graders get] to experience what it’s like to have to be in charge of a baby. Take care of it, feed it, rock it, burp it, and wake up in the middle of the night for it.”

Tonder said she had not been nominated before this year. To not only be nominated for but win Fairmont Teacher of the Year was an honor she said was touching.

“A fellow staff member, in this case, it was two staff members, nominated me and had such kind words,” Tonder said. “It was crazy awesome.”

Through her different programs, Tonder works with students of all ages across Fairmont schools. She said she always tries to evolve and make things better from preschool to 12th grade. This means evolving for a changing educational landscape. Tonder said the biggest thing that has changed in her career is technology.

“I remember the day my husband proposed to me, I was doing mid-quarter grades by hand,” she said. “You had the old grade book and the numbers all penciled in. I had my calculator, and he’s like, ‘Wendy.’ and I’m like, ‘I am doing my mid-quarter grades.’ Now with COVID, I didn’t enjoy it but it stepped up my game on the computer for assignments and things going there.”

With so much experience in teaching and winning teacher of the year, Tonder said staying up-to-date with fresh material is her current goal.

“I try to make it relevant to the kids,” she said. “Update it and not get stale. I don’t want to stay in a rut. I’m always trying to improve and get better at what I’m doing,”

Tonder will be recognized by Education Minnesota Fairmont at a celebration on Monday, Dec. 2. Then Tonder will submit a portfolio, complete with references, to compete for Teacher of the Year at the state level.