Many talented educators have achieved success in fields other than education. One such chalkboard champion is Sondra Erickson, a retired English teacher who was employed at Princeton High School in Princeton, Minnesota. This amazing woman also served as a state legislator in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Sondra was born in 1942, and raised in Taft, North Dakota. She graduated from Hillsboro High School, and then from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, earning her bachelor’s degree in English. She attended graduate school at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The talented educator served on the Minnesota Board of Teaching from 1992 to 1997, bringing her “students first” philosophy to the table.

First elected to the state legislature in 1998, Sondra was re-elected in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, and served until 2008. Sondra carried her interest in educational matters with her into her new position. She worked tirelessly on the committees for education policy and education finance.