KARE-11 in St. Francis, Minnesota Interview Local Mathematics Teacher

Lee Erickson Receives KARE-11 Take Care of Your Community Award

(5 a.m. start time proves popular for St. Francis math students)

St. FRANCIS, Minn. — Veteran St. Francis High School teacher Lee Erickson is helping students make the grade in math by opening his classroom as early as 5:00 a.m. for studying. 

Mr. Erickson, who’s been teaching at St. Francis High School for 28 years, opens his classroom at 5:00 in the morning for students who’d like more study time.  Not only is he available for questions, he also provides study snacks. 

“I offer breakfast; five different juices, soup, bananas, doughnuts and granola bars, so students don’t have to worry about that,” Mr. Erickson explained. 

His math classroom was filled to capacity on Thursday, April 29th, as students prepared for a big College Trigonometry test.  Some students worked individually, while others formed groups to study for the exam. Mr. Erickson spent the morning crisscrossing the room to field questions. 

“My motto is I work for the students.  Therefore, I’m going to be there early, so that if they need help, they can come in and get it,” Mr. Erickson said.

The students recently showed their appreciation by voting Mr. Erickson the very first Student’s Choice Award.

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KARE-11 Email Testimonial

After interviewing Lee on live TV for KARE-11 News in 2010, Jeff Olsen forwarded Lee the following email from a viewer, after first stating the following:  “Here is one of the many kind emails that were sent to me about you. You have many KARE-11 fans.”

“It was really cool to hear about Mr. Erickson.  A teacher like Mr. Erickson is very hard to find opening his classroom at 5 a.m. to help his students pass their tests and helping them with their work.  I applaud this teacher; he should be teacher of the year not only in the state but in the nation. I wish my children would have had teachers like him.”

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