Cooper teacher named a candidate for Minnesota Teacher of the Year

Markus Hahn, band teacher at Cooper High School (CHS), has been named a candidate for Minnesota’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award.

“I work hard to do my best by the students every day, and it's a great honor for that to be recognized,” said Hahn

He joins 127 other teachers from across the state as candidates for the honor, which is organized by Education Minnesota, the 84,000-member statewide educators union. This past May, Hahn was also named the 2025 Teacher of the Year by the Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers.

Rdale teachers have been up for the Minnesota Teacher of the Year award consistently in recent years. Last year, CHS math teacher Garrett Bruce was a semifinalist, continuing the trend of an Rdale teacher being named a semifinalist for the fourth year in a row.

This year’s program will name the 62nd Minnesota Teacher of the Year, celebrating the tradition of excellence in teaching in Minnesota. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade, Early Childhood Family Education and Adult Basic Education teachers, from public or private schools.

In the coming weeks, an independent selection panel will narrow the 128 total candidates down to a much smaller group of semifinalists. In March, the panel will convene again to choose a group of finalists. A banquet to announce the 2026 Minnesota Teacher of the Year is scheduled for May 3 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.