Marsha Wilson, a fourth grade teacher at Banfield Elementary School, has been chosen as one of 37 semifinalists for the Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year honor.

The field will be whittled to 10 later this month.

A selection panel of 23 community leaders chose the semifinalists from an initial field of 132 candidates from across the state.

The panel will review the semifinalists’ portfolios again in late March and will select about 10 finalists from among the group. The current Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Abdul Wright, will announce his successor at a banquet May 7 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington.

Education Minnesota, the statewide educators union, organizes and underwrites the Teacher of the Year program. Candidates include pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade and Adult Basic Education teachers, from public or private schools.