Cheryl Retrum, a Mock Trial Teacher Coach at MACCRAY High School in Clara City, Minnesota, was honored in April as the Academic Challenge Coach of the Year by the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation. Cheryl received this award for her outstanding work with secondary school students in Academic League Challenges. In addition to a full teaching schedule and her Mock Trial coaching duties, Cheryl also coaches MACCRAY's Knowledge Bowl and Academic Decathlon teams.

The students who nominated Cheryl for the award had high praise for her abilities. "We learned to respect each other and got to know one another's strengths and weaknesses." Cheryl "makes everyone on the team feel valued and I think that's what a great coach is," noted another student.

The award presentation was part of a celebration and rally recognizing the 10th anniversary of the Academic League. The League's membership numbers 265 school districts, which serve about 90% of Minnesota's students.

Since 1989, the number of students who participate in Academic League challenge events, such as Mock Trial, has grown to more than 300,000.