Michael Lindblad

As the 2016 National Education Association/Oregon Education Association Oregon State Teacher of the Year Global Fellow and 2015 Oregon State Teacher of the Year, I am continuing my work as a teacher and using my public speaking opportunities to promote equity for our state. I am focusing on increasing graduation and attendance rates.

My journey into equity started in 1980, when my parents split up, I moved in with my immigrant grandparents who taught me two languages and the value of equity. My grandfather made me bring back a student from a different ethnicity each week from grade school for root beer floats. The conversations that were created from those interactions made me believe in the dignity of every person.

These interactions lead me to have a desire to learn a foreign language. As I learned Spanish and began teaching, I wanted to immerse myself further into Latin America so I lived in Peru for a year. When I returned, I left the most affluent school district in the state to inspire a Latino population that was 3% in 2000. It is now 35% and we have students from many countries who are taking our International Baccalaureate classes and seeing success.

I am looking forward to what is ahead. Oregon is an amazing state with a lot of potential. My hope is to make Oregon a leader in the Nation on these issues.

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