-
Alt Text for Image
By Crystal Reith After more than three decades in the classroom, Tina Bengtson closed out her teaching career with the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
Bengtson spent her entire career with the district, teaching primarily fifth- and sixthgrade language arts, while also spending time in third and fourth grades.
Originally from Wall, South Dakota, Bengtson currently lives on Lake Shetek with her husband, Tim. Together they have two children, Logan and Eden.
Bengtson earned her teaching degree from Southwest State University in the spring of 1990. She later received a master’s degree in education from Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall while her children were in grade school.
Her path into education came unexpectedly.
“I went with a friend to Marshall because she wanted to check out the college,” Bengtson said. “I ended up enrolling and that’s when I made the decision to become a teacher.”
After college, Bengtson worked as a substitute teacher around the Marshall area during the fall of 1990 until she was hired in Slayton that November. The school board had approved adding a half-time third-grade teacher to help reduce class sizes in reading and math.
She credits veteran teachers Luann Parker and Sally Boelter for helping shape her early years in the profession.
“My team was phenomenal to teach with and learn from for my first five years,” said Bengtson, who shared her first room with Steve Harms in the high school building since West was closed until 1992.
Throughout her career, Bengtson especially enjoyed teaching through novels and classroom read-alouds, as well as incorporating art into her teaching.
Among her favorite memories are biography wax museums where students dressed as historical figures and recorded reports on cassette tapes for visitors to hear, transforming her classroom into a rainforest museum, plays and performances, coaching speech students and competing at the state competition and creating costumes for theater productions.
She also fondly remembers the years that fifth-grade students were pals with nursing home residents and the visits they made to the nursing home.
As she reflected on her years in education, Bengtson encouraged young instructors to understand the importance of balance and relationships.
“Start with consistent routines and relationships, find supportive people on staff that you can rely on, protect your personal time so that you don’t burn out, and have fun teaching,” she said.
Understanding how to be adaptable was also essential to Bengtson throughout her career.
“Every year is a new year of growth and learning,” she said. “There is always new curriculum and technology to figure out, new students to get to know, and new challenges that make every year different.”
In retirement, Bengtson and her husband plan to move to the Black Hills area, where much of her family still lives. She looks forward to painting, reading, joining a choir and biking the Mickelson Trail. The couple also hopes to travel to national parks across the United States.
Looking back, Bengtson said she is grateful for the many people she worked alongside throughout her career.
“I’ve had so many colleagues over the years who have made a difference in my teaching career who became good friends,” she said. “Our MCC administration, parents and community members really care about our staff and students. I’ve been fortunate to work here.”
