Lowell’s Karlgaard named 2021 Teacher of the Year Karlgaard, who teaches third grade at Lowell Elementary School in Brainerd, said she never would have gotten the award without her incredible students. 2:00 pm, May 14, 2021 × Erin Karlgaard, a third grade teacher at Lowell Elementary School, was shocked at the news of her being named Brainerd's 2021 Teacher of the Year Thursday, May 13, 2021. Karlgaard said she would not have won the award were it not for her incredible students. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch Erin Karlgaard’s third graders were spread out in the gym Thursday, May 13, their masked faces and makeshift classroom the marks of a strange year, complete with a pandemic and school construction project.