‘This is a real privilege. I can’t believe this.’

Austin High School instructor Arik Andersen wasn’t quite sure what was going on Tuesday when people began streaming into his classroom.

But their intent quickly became clear, when Teacher of the Year Committee Chairman Dave Brown, and an entourage of family, media, administrators and educators, circled around the 44-year-old instructor, who teaches English as a Second Language at the school. His students, when they realized the reason for the crowd suddenly filling their classroom, began to laugh and clap.

“Oh, yes! Yes!” one student said. “Mr. Andersen!”

As he received his plaque, Andersen seemed momentarily flustered. But only for a moment.

“This is a real privilege,” said Anderson. “I can’t believe this.”

Others can.

Anderson, who has taught at AHS for 10 years, was roundly applauded for not only caring about his students, but about his fellow educators as well.

Andersen spoke at length about his happiest days, when his students begin to demonstrate the excitement at having learned and understood a concept.

The biggest thrill, he said, is when “you see them as juniors or seniors; and they’re telling you, ‘This is what I want to do in the future.’ That’s really fantastic.”

Principal Andrea Malo said she recalled a conversation she had with a first-year teacher who said how impressed she was when Anderson checked in with her to introduce himself and say hello.

“She told me that really made her day … it made her feel valued,” Malo said. “Arik loves what he does; to see him teach, it’s clear his kids are really learning — and having fun while they’re doing it.”

Superintendent of School Dave Krenz agreed. He said he receives many positive comments about Andersen’s involvement in activities, especially the E3 program, that serves students of Austin, Albert Lea, Hayfield, Lyle, and Southland public school districts  who have demonstrated the potential for high performance with further enrichment and acceleration through an in-depth and complex curriculum and instruction. In the past year, emphasis was on a conservation curriculum. The classes are held on Saturdays through the year.

“E3 is a perfect example of his dedication; it takes a lot of time and effort to do this; and that commitment is noticed and appreciated,” Krenz said.

He added that superintendents of the area schools are always impressed with Andersen’s commitment to the program.

Andersen credits lessons about hard work learned during his youth on the family farm in Truman, Minnesota; the love of the classroom began in college, at Minnesota State University at Mankato, where he earned his elementary education undergraduate degree in 1995. He followed with his master’s degree in English/ESL in 2004. After a stint of teaching English to a refugee population in Mankato, he came to Austin.

In addition to teaching about 120 ESL students each day — he also co-teaches ESL with fellow educators, for some classes — he coaches Knowledge Bowl and robotics teams, as well as films football games, in addition to his E3 work.

The crowd chuckled when it realized that when Andersen was asked about a date when he did something, he gauged the time by remembering how many children he and his wife, Sue, had by that time.

“Did we have two?” he asked? “Was Oliver born then?”

Arik and Sue — Sue works at Hormel Foods Corp. —  are the parents of six children, and all but their oldest, Grace, 20, were in attendance for his award presentation. Grace is a student at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where she is studying engineering.

Emma, 18, is a senior this year, followed by Oliver, 15, Jack, 13, Henry, 10, and Liberty, 8.

Liberty and Henry just learned of the award shortly before their dad’s presentation. Henry said he just couldn’t quite take it all in. Liberty said she was astonished.

“I said, ‘Wait! My dad got an award?’” she said, shaking her head, grinning.

Andersen’s name will now be entered into the 2018 Minnesota Teacher of the Year competition. A committee, after picking the top 30-35 candidates, will announce the first round picks in March; that number will be reduced to 10 with the winner being announced in May.

Andersen was selected from a field of 22. The 2017 Teachers of Excellence, Andersen’s fellow nominees, were:

• Lisa Deyo

• Alisha Galle

• Christy Halsey

• Andrea Hanson

• Laurie Herman

• Sharon Hoefflin

• Michael Hofbauer

• Melissa Kossoris

• Megan Kraemer

• Janet Krinke

• Tricia Knutson

• Jayme Lamers

• Julie Loveland

• Janene Lunning

• Mark Mikesh

• Tammy Nelson

•Tim Owen

•Jackie Porter

•Lisa Rueckert

•Andy Swank

•Angela Thoen