Lutheran School Teacher Surprised with Award
Wisconsin’s first-ever Private School Teacher of the Year was announced in a surprise student assembly at Hales Corners Lutheran School yesterday, leaving veteran teacher Jana Horn nearly speechless with delight from the honor.
In addition to being surprised by the presence of her husband and daughter, Jana was presented with a WCRIS plaque and an unrestricted award of $3,000 from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation.
Jana was selected from among the pool of 14 WCRIS 2016 Kohl Teacher Fellowship winners. An independent, state-wide panel reviewed the 14 winners’ applications to identify the recipient of this new award.
Wisconsin has had a Public School Teacher of the Year program for nearly a decade, which is supported by the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation.
In talks with WCRIS, the Foundation agreed in 2015 to support the creation of a Private School Teacher of the Year Award that would be similar to the public school award program, including the element of surprise.
WCRIS worked with the Kohl Foundation and the DPI over the summer to learn from their existing process and create a selection panel of WCRIS representatives who could review the applications.
The panel of diverse private school representatives from around the state met for a day in July to review all 14 of the applications.
Jana Horn, a middle school science and religion teacher at Hales Corners Lutheran School was selected the winner. Jana is supported in her work by the school’s principal, Albert Amling. The School is part of the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod.
Jana, a Wisconsin native, has been teaching at Hales Corners Lutheran for the last nine years. She has taught mostly middle school science for the last 16 years in Wisconsin and Colorado. She is married to Dave Horn and is the proud mom to Courtney, Ben, Alyssa, and Kelsey. Three are currently away at college and the youngest is a junior in high school.
WCRIS administrators will be able to meet Jana on February 10 at the 2017 WCRIS Leadership Conference at the Country Springs in Pewaukee.
