Remembering Mariel Wolter

Mariel Wolter, Youth in Government Delegation Director for Burnsville from the 1980s-2000s passed away February 18, 2026. Click here for her obituary.

Mariel was a beloved member of the Center for Youth Voice community. During her time as a volunteer, she touched many people’s lives. In 2005, in honor of her retirement from teaching, a group of alumni gathered to raise funds to recognize Mariel’s 29 years with Youth in Government and more than 35 years in the classroom. They established the Wolter Endowment Fund to provide ongoing support for student scholarships.

It’s difficult to fully capture her dedication to Youth in Government and to the students she mentored. Over decades, she helped shape the experiences and lives of countless young people. A few YIG alumni shared what her impact meant to them.

Bill Davidson, YIG alum (participant and volunteer), shared,

“Mrs. Wolter was my eighth-grade social studies teacher and the person who told me to join Youth in Government, and unknowingly set me down a path to become a lawyer. She was a very optimistic and energetic teacher who went out of her way to connect with students and encourage them. She taught me that who you are and how you interact with others matters. The effects then ripple across generations.

Ms. Wolter was an incredible teacher and person who saw the good in everyone and tried to bring it out of them and encourage them.  Despite seeing and interacting with her well after becoming an adult and working with her in YIG, it took me many, many years before I was comfortable enough to call her Mariel. Even then, I wasn’t always comfortable doing so—not because she was intimidating or unapproachable, far from it—but because she was so well-liked and respected, it just seemed fitting to still call her Ms. Wolter.”

Jay Kim, YIG alum (participant and volunteer), shared,

Mariel Wolter was my teacher. One day, she caught me in the hall and told me I needed to come to a meeting after school. I showed up at my first meeting for Youth in Government without asking many questions about what it was about and what I might be required to do. I went because I trusted Mariel and knew that anything she asked me to do would be for the best.

My experience in Youth in Government changed my life, but in truth, Mariel Wolter changed my life. Over the years, I was in the program, our delegation grew to become one of the largest in Minnesota Youth in Government. Each year, more new students showed up at the first meeting, and while one could easily think that it was because word was getting out that it was a great program, in truth, what was really happening was that the room was filling up with students who felt special.

We all felt special because Mariel was an amazing teacher; she saw us, and she pulled us aside one day and told us we should do this. I think what Mariel had a real talent for was seeing how all her students could reach their full potential and how that might happen. This was one of the beautiful things she was doing. She was helping us create a community of students that helped each other reach our potential.

Years later, when we heard that Mariel was retiring, several of us gathered when Youth in Government was in session to honor Mariel. We wanted to surprise Mariel by letting her see, once again, many of the students whose lives she had changed. To bear witness to who we had become. 

Several of us stood to speak and thank her. As each person shared their stories and thanks with Mariel, it became apparent that the room was full of her students, each of whom felt that Marie had picked us out of her class, had seen our unique potential, and had changed our lives. It never ceases to amaze me how much one person, one teacher, can have such a great influence over so many, as evidenced by all of those who came together to thank her that day.

I take comfort in knowing that while we may not see all the headline-grabbing changes we might have hoped for when we were young, we are each helping move our world forward, and that this is reason enough to keep trying. 

How do I know this? I know this because Mariel Wolter has done just that. She touched so many of us, and I know that each of us will carry part of her soul with us and, in turn, help others and our world move forward. In this way, Mariel has and will continue to change the world we live in for the better, in a way more wonderful than any headline I could have imagined, and I take comfort in knowing that she will always be there with us.