26 Years Later, Edina Teacher Still Loves His Job

"The one love triangle which always seems to work is that with the teacher, the content and the student."

social studies teacher Tom Connell has always had a love for teaching, a profession the 48-year-old has maintained for 26 years—19 of them with Edina.

His passion for teaching led to his being a candidate this year for Teacher of the Year Award from Education Minnesota. Connell ultimately did not get the nod, but said it was still an honor to be considered.

Connell's current class load consists of four AP U.S. history courses as well as a mentor connection class. He also serves as the leader of the social studies department and for 12 years coached the boys basketball team.

"This is a fascinating time to be teaching history because of all the rapid change going on in the country and around the world," Connell said.

A native of Chicago and a resident of Edina with a wife and two sons, Connell is a graduate of St. John’s College. His oldest son—a senior at Edina High—will be off to St. Olaf College next fall. His youngest is a sixth grader at .

He believes the key to being a good teacher is to love what you do, while working hard at it.

"I put a lot of time in preparing my classes," he said. "I try to inspire the kids to learn and I want them to relax and participate in the class."

Watching him with a classroom filled with juniors learning about the U.S. acquisition of Hawaii and yellow journalism leading up to the Spanish-American war, Donnell has a casual rapport with his students.

After the class, Connell continued to talk about teaching, especially in the Edina Schools.

"It is a very satisfying place to work and we get great support from parents and the community," he said.

Connell said there can be a misperception that teaching in Edina "is easy."

“Because we have a significant number of bright, hard-working kids, people from outside the school system think this is a pretty simple job," Connell said. "All teaching, regardless of location, is a challenge."

Connell previously taught at Hill Murray and in the Minneapolis and Norwood-Young America schools.

During the interview, two young women stopped by his classroom. Now freshmen in college, they were simply dropping by to say hello to a favorite high shool teacher. Connell took several minutes to catch up on how their collegiate studies are going.

He also said it is important to know and understand the students’ needs.

One of his personal secrets to success in the classroom is to "continually take on new challenges."

To date, it certainly appears Connell has met those challenges.