MELISSA OBERG AND A STUDENT PREPARE A DRINK FOR HER SCHOOL'S COFFEE CART DELIVERY SERIVICE, ONE
OF SEVERAL PROGRAMS THAT OBERG HAS DEVELOPED FOR HER STUDENTS.
PHOTO COURTESY OF COOK COUNTY ISD #166
March 14, 2025
Teaching wasn’t originally part of the career plan for National Rural Teacher of the Year Melissa Oberg. After earning an undergraduate degree, she started her career in marketing and sales. But a few years in, “I realized it wasn’t for me. It wasn’t fulfilling,” says Oberg, a special education teacher in Minnesota’s Cook County ISD #166.
She began her teaching journey 18 years ago as a paraprofessional, working with students with disabilities. Impressed by her talent and passion, teachers and administrators encouraged her to pursue a teaching certification. She did this through the Naadamaadiwin Tribal Special Education Cohort, also earning a master’s degree in education from Augsburg College. About 12 years ago, she accepted a position with the 430-student Cook County Schools. Located in Grand Marais, on the north shore of Lake Superior, the town is home to approximately 1,300 residents. It is about 110 miles northeast of Duluth and 40 miles southwest of the U.S. Canadian border.
The district’s remote location makes it challenging to attract already scarce professionals like counselors and social workers, Oberg says. It also results in extremely high transportation costs. Internet availability is nonexistent in a large portion of the county, she adds.
Oberg, who teaches at Cook County Senior High School, also runs the transition program for 18- to 21-year-old special education students, trains a group of peer mentors, and sponsors various programs, such as the Special Olympics bowling and Unified Club. She spoke to ASBJ Senior Editor Michelle Healy about working in a rural district, nearly leaving the profession a few years ago, and the joy she experiences daily working with students, their families, and the community.
How did you know you’d found your calling in special education?
Although I had no experience at all, and I was completely like a fish out of water, I ended up absolutely falling in love with my job [as a paraprofessional]. I initially wanted to work with elementary kids, but the school I applied to had openings that needed to be filled in the high school. So, I just took what I got. I was nervous because I was young, and the kids were just about as old as I was. But what I completely loved about it was the authenticity of the students. There were moments of the day when I was laughing so hard, I was crying. It was just so fulfilling and so fun, and I was able to feel like I did something worthy today. It was also challenging. There were so many hard moments every day, but every single day, I was able to find something I felt good about.
What kind of disabilities do your students have?
I have 15 students this year, and every single different disability — cognitive delays, autism, emotional behavior disorders, and learning disabilities. In a rural district, I don’t get to specialize and get really good at one thing. I have to be really good at lots of different things. I love being able to do all of these different things. It keeps me excited; it keeps me coming back. I feel so incredibly lucky to get to know these students at such a deep level. Our conversations give me so much insight into how their brains work. Every single day, I just get these gifts, these kids opening up to me and being vulnerable, and that is a privilege. I’m asking them to do hard things and allow me to be alongside them in the process. I’m so lucky that I get to be a person that they trust.
Does your location add to the challenges that your district faces?
Where we live, I’m two and a half hours away from the nearest Target or Walmart. McDonald’s is two hours away. We have a local hospital, but they have very limited services. You have to travel to Duluth to have a baby. Distance alone is something that we battle, and it’s difficult. For instance, our bus routes go 60 miles in three different directions, so the percentage of our budget that goes to transportation is going to be larger than some other districts.
Last fall, you were named the National Rural Teacher of the Year by the National Rural Education Association. You were previously named an Educator of Excellence by the Minnesota Rural Education Association. What do you like about working in a rural school district?
There’s a reason why I raise my kids here, and that is community. You’re so tight-knit. You have to be to thrive here. You have to rely on your neighbors. I think it’s magical. And perhaps it’s one of the reasons that rural graduation rates are a little higher than our urban counterparts, because if my students aren’t showing up to school, I will be banging on their doors, talking to Auntie, trying to get them here.
What led to you nearly pulling out of education a few years back?
I was pretty cooked. I saw so much need, and I wanted to do it all. I wanted to help in all the ways. My thinking was, OK, if I’m on this committee, I can make more change, and I need to be on that committee, too, because that committee and this committee work together. I would sign up for all these different leadership positions and all of these different extra things — I was helping with prom, I was helping with homecoming, I was helping with the union, I was helping with XYZ, all these things. I was also doing my job and then doing this other huge job that special education teachers face called paperwork. That’s a completely different, demanding job. And I had my own kids at home. With all that good intention, it led to me feeling like it was all on my shoulders. And that led to this feeling of complete and utter burnout. I thought, what am I even doing here? I’m not making a difference. I was just focused on the wrong things. I was saying yes to everything instead of saying yes to what I was most passionate about. I didn’t take a moment to stop and think about how much I can actually take on.
How did you rebound?
Through a lot of work and a lot of time, I reprioritized everything, and I scrapped a lot of things. I said no to a lot of things. Now my tagline is, if I say yes to something, what are you going to take off my plate? If I say yes to this committee, what do I not have to do anymore? No longer can I say yes at the expense of my own self-care. I think that’s hard in education because we’re always thinking with this lens of, I need to do more because these kids deserve the best. We forget that they deserve us at our best.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)