A sixth-grade teacher who had been named a finalist for Minnesota’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award has withdrawn from consideration after Alpha News inquired about publicly available, sexually explicit images showing the educator dressed in bondage wear and participating in simulated sex acts with several men.
(Warning: Some readers may find the images in this article disturbing)
Earlier this month, Thomas Rosengren, a teacher at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District in Grove City, was named one of 11 finalists for Education Minnesota’s annual Teacher of the Year award.
On Monday — four days after Alpha News first contacted Education Minnesota for comment regarding the publicly accessible images and received no response — the organization’s official finalists page was updated to state that “Thomas Rosengren has withdrawn from consideration for Minnesota Teacher of the Year.”
Because the images are publicly accessible online, they raise serious questions about whether students may have viewed the content.
The images also raise concerns about whether the school district was aware of the material, as well as broader questions about professional standards and district oversight involving a publicly funded teaching position.
Teacher of the Year finalists announced
In an April 6 Facebook post celebrating the recognition, the school district wrote: “Congratulations again to Mr. Thomas Rosengren who has officially advanced along with 10 other educators as a finalist for 2026 Minnesota Teacher of the Year!”
Rosengren is a sixth-grade social studies and earth science teacher, as well as the school’s theater director and reportedly the coach of the boys’ junior high baseball team.
Rosengren reportedly joined the school district in 2016 as theater director and later served as a long-term substitute before being hired full time in 2021.
Public photos show explicit onstage performance
Alpha News reviewed publicly available photographs from the 2019 “Mr. Minneapolis Eagle” contest showing Rosengren performing on stage with several men in a sexually themed performance.
In one image, Rosengren, wearing a cowboy hat, holds up a sign that reads: “It’s feeding time on the farm. Cowboy Tommy is feeding the six piglets and bull.”
Subsequent images show the men removing Rosengren’s shirt, revealing leather bondage straps, and licking his neck.
Additional images from the same sequence show Rosengren, positioned in the middle, alongside other men simulating group oral and anal sex.
Photos from Rosengren’s Facebook page also show him on stage during a contest wearing a cowboy hat, leather speedo, and bondage straps.
In an online public profile by The Leather Journal, the outlet highlighted Rosengren’s contest win, writing that “Tommy was chosen as MME2019” and describing him as “a boy of service” who had “been collared as a bratty boy since 2016.”
The same profile described Rosengren as “a writer, theater director, and educator.”
School district asked about photos
Alpha News sent Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District Superintendent Kip Lynk a detailed list of questions, including whether district officials were aware of the explicit images and whether they consider it appropriate for a teacher to be in publicly accessible images of this nature.
In response, Lynk wrote: “Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Mr. Rosengren is entitled to data privacy protections, and without his consent, there is limited information I can share.”
However, shortly after Alpha News published this report, Superintendent Lynk confirmed that Rosengren is no longer employed by the district.
Education Minnesota is set to name the 2026 Teacher of the Year winner during a banquet on May 3 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
