Minnesota State University Moorhead will award degrees to more than 800 students during its spring commencement program Friday, May 12, in the university’s Nemzek Fieldhouse. This includes 185 graduate students.

Stephanie Ballard will be the commencement speaker. She is a 2014 elementary inclusive education graduate who earned special education licensures in specific learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders. While a special educator at Camelot Intermediate School in Brookings, S.D., she was awarded Camelot Intermediate School Teacher of the Year. She now teaches 7th-grade math at Mickelson Middle School in Brookings. Ballard received the George S. Mickelson Middle School, Brookings School District, SD Region 1 Teacher of the Year in 2021, going on to be named the 2022 South Dakota Teacher of the Year. Additionally, she was recently named one of five national finalists for the 2023 NEA and Horace Mann Teaching with Excellence Award.

Local students who will graduate from MSUM include: Noah Coffey, Ottertail, Construction Management (BS); Sophie Lange, Deer Creek, MS Speech-Language Pathology and Brianna Schwantz, Ottertail, Digital Media Management (BS).