After a decade of teaching, Mandy Horn received the surprise of a lifetime when she was awarded the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Horn serves as the Career Tech and Business teacher at Luverne High School (LHS) and is the junior varsity and varsity cheerleader sponsor, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) advisor, yearbook and school picture advisor and also works with the Miss LHS beauty pageant.

Horn was nominated by a former student and was not only shocked by the award, but also deeply honored. “I had absolutely no idea that I had even been nominated,” said Horn.

Horn is in her third year teaching at LHS and had made many memories over the years. Her goal as a teacher has been to always strive to make a lasting impression on her students.

She has not only been privileged enough to teach students, a passion she has greatly enjoyed pursuing, but she has also had the opportunity to learn valuable lessons from them.

“I have learned that all students need and want to learn,” said Horn. “Every student is different and unique in their own special way. They each desire for someone to care about them and as a teacher, that might be us.”