By Robert Williams

Editor

It took a few years and some happenstance for Frazee-Vergas kindergarten teacher Jill Ollmann to find her career. The wait was worth it as Ollmann was named by her peers as the 2025 Teacher of the Year at the elementary school.

“It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do; I didn’t get my teaching degree until 2013,” said Ollmann.

It took 17 years, to be precise, after graduating from Dawson-Boyd High School in 1996.

After high school, Ollmann attended Moorhead State University for two years with plans to pursue a degree in business administration. 

“Then I got a wild hair and I didn’t think that was what I wanted to do,” she said. “I think I want to be an occupational therapist.”

She transferred to the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and over the course of the next year she changed her mind again.

“So, I went back into business,” she said.

That summer, Ollmann went to live with her sister and brother-in-law and worked at The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake.

Her educational pursuits were still in limbo and she decided to continue working, this time managing the restaurant at The Canterbury Inn in Shakopee.

“It was not the best job; it was awful,” Ollmann said.

That prompted a return to The Wilds, where she was a banquet manager, restaurant manager, and a catering sales manager.

“I’m really good at cutting wedding cakes,” she said. 

After more time had passed, a potential divine intervention appeared on the horizon.

She ended up volunteering at the church she attended when they decided to start a school and while helping kids from fifth to 10th grade learn, a fellow instructor said to her, ‘I think you would be a really good teacher.’” 

Ollmann taught math and science and that helped her decide it was time to go back to school again.

She enrolled in an online program through Bemidji State University, moved to Battle Lake with her husband and got her bachelors degree in 2013.

“I knew that was what I enjoyed doing and I do feel like I do a pretty good job at what I do,” she said. “I do what I love.”

Ollmann was an excellent student in high school, but found some difficulties at the postsecondary level.

“It was an adjustment and not knowing what you want to do makes it more difficult,” she said. “Once I knew what I wanted to do—there was work to it. Online school was a lot of work.”

After graduation, she took her first job as a kindergarten teacher in Menahga where she worked for two years. 

After Menahga, she and her husband Andrew decided they needed to settle down to raise a family and decided to live in Perham. The couple met at The Wilds and with Jill’s home base in Battle Lake, and Andrew working at Shearer’s in Perham, it seemed like the best fit for their two boys. Gavin is now 20 and will be graduating from M State in Wadena with an Electrician Technology degree this year. Oliver is a sophomore at Perham-Dent High School.

Ollmann then worked at Lake Park-Audubon for a year and began working in Frazee in 2016.

Her first kindergarten class is now in eighth grade.

“I really like kindergarten and I feel like it’s a good fit for me,” she said. 

Anyone who has been in a kindergarten classroom can attest that it takes a special person to garner the attention of 20 kids experiencing their first real school experience. For Ollmann, there is no secret to that success.

“You make them feel welcome, yet you let them know who is in charge,” she said.

Kindergarten has changed a lot over the years, especially for those who have been out of school for decades. It is far more than play time, learning tie shoes and the very basics of education.

“The majority of the day is academics,” she said.

Ollmann describes it as kindergarten now being more like first grade used to be.

“You start off with your basic numbers and by the end of the year they’re adding and subtracting,” she said. “They can handle more than you think.

With all the technology around, Ollmann makes an effort to steer away from that in kindergarten.

“I think they really need to hold things, write, do things, and manipulate things rather than be on a tablet,” she said. “They ask for it but they only get their tablets out a few times. There is a lot that says writing correlates into your reading and being able to form your letters correctly and if  you’re on a tablet you don’t do that.”

This year’s four sections of kindergarten are one of the biggest totals of new students in the past decade. There are 68 currently enrolled kindergarten students, according to Principal Travis Nagel’s April report to the school board. Having a larger classroom changes how teachers teach.

“It changes how you operate,” she said. “The more kids that you have it seems like the less things you can do as far as hands-on. There is just not enough of you to get around to everyone. It’s hard because they want instant gratification and they want to know if they did right and they want someone there right now.

Kindergarten teachers count on their paraeducators to help with the daily learning.

“I have Mrs. (Marcie) Bucholz, so I’m very fortunate,” Ollmann said. “She’s great and knows what she’s supposed to do and how to help and she has a great relationship with the kids.”

Ollmann said Bucholz’s input and assistance is critical to the kid’s learning success.

“It makes a big difference,” she said. “The kids take a long time to get down to the lunchroom at the beginning of the year. It takes a long time to do anything.”

Kindergarten students make such a large jump in learning during the first year of school that by the end of the school year all those silly things from the beginning of the school year have all but disappeared.

Ollmann also appreciates the positive energy her students bring to their classroom.

“Sometimes, one of them will put their arms up and say, ‘this is the best day ever.’”

Teaching kindergarteners begins slowly and picks up the pace where by the end of the school year the shy or crazy little tyke that enters the classroom leaves like a little adult in May.

Watching that growth is part of the enjoyment for Ollmann.

“You start off slow and you guide them a lot,” she said. “You start with letters and add in some fun things and then you add stuff on and you’re starting to read words and write words and all the little pieces come together.”

Something like the difficulty of mastering handwriting creates what can be an emotional journey for kids.

“They learn so much; they do get accustomed to things and it’s just learning,” she said. “They start to realize that they can learn things and that’s exciting.”

That excitement is the reward for kindergarten teachers.

“They really light up and you can feel how proud they are and then you feel proud too,” Ollmann said. 

Being patient and having a caring heart are two essentials to teaching kindergarten, according to Ollmann.

“I’ve always been patient and calm and I guess it just goes into the classroom,” she said. “You set your expectations and you build up to it. You have to be accepting and they want to feel like they’re loved and accepted. They want attention. You have to be patient, kind and caring.”

Ollmann is very content with her students, her job, her fellow teachers and working in Frazee.

“I work with a great team; I’m really fortunate to work with the people I work with,” said Ollmann. “We work together and get along. We’re open to each other’s ideas.

“I like it here; it’s a good community, there are a lot of good families,” she said. “Teaching just came and I feel like it was what I was supposed to do.”

Receiving the top honor of the school year from her teaching peers proves that true.

“It was a huge honor; I’m very humbled by it,” she said. “It really means a lot.”