Teacher of the Year Marilyn Horn accepted into the Peace Corps and spent two years in Urubamba, Peru
Sra. Horn Es Numero Uno!
By Sue VanDerzee
Marilyn Horn is starting her 20th year teaching Spanish at Coginchaug Regional High School, and every day is still exciting and new. That spirit may be one reason that she was the consensus choice of the District 13 Administrators' Council to represent the school system as Teacher of the Year.
"It's a real honor," she said, commenting that the process, which includes nominations by council members (mostly principals) and then discussion until consensus is reached makes the nomination at the local level "non-competitive and a real surprise because teachers aren't nominated in public or don't volunteer for this."
After earning District 13 endorsement, the recipient fills out a thick application to go on to the contest at the state level where it is definitely competitive. Several years ago, District 13 was honored to have Maureen Hamilton reach the "final three" stage in the state contest.
Despite Horn's success in the classroom, she didn't start out to be a teacher, but graduated from Nebrask Wesleyan with a degree in Sociology, aiming to be a psychiatric social worker. Before starting graduate school, however, Horn went to South America with a YMCA service program. While there, she was smitten by the Spanish language and culture, as well as the desire to begin work rather than return to school. After a semester of graduate school, she was accepted into the Peace Corps and spent two years in Urubamba, Peru.
In Peru, Horn saw first hand the power of education in the life of poor villagers and began to consider whether she wanted to work at the end of the spectrum that prevents problems through education rather than dealing with the end that solves problems through social work. Prevention and her love affair with the language and culture won out, so when Horn returned from the Peace Corps, she enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) fast-track program at Wesleyan University.
Teaching apparently runs deep in the Horn family as husband Robert is an elementary school librarian in North Have, son Jason is a third grade teacher and daughter Ashley is majoring in Hispanic Studies at Vassar and will graduate certified to teach though she's not sure yet that the chemistry is right for her.
Horn credits her enthusiasm for her job to the fact that she truly enjoys high school age students and that the job is "never the same from one day to the next." She is not satisfied to reproduce what she did last year, but continues to look for new activities and challenges for herself and her students. For that reason, she was very much in favor of the "rotating (every other day) block schedule" instituted in September of 1997 because it allows her to vary activities and expand lessons and really meet student needs. "Now, when we have a one-hour block for some reason or other, I am totally stumped," she explained. "What do I cut out?"
She feels that most students respond to her enthusiasm for her subject and can recognize that she loves what she's doing so "they respond to that and to humor in the classroom," she said.
This response is evident in the letters of recommendation she received from two former students, letters which must be filed with the state application. Eric Langhans wrote: "What makes her a great teacher is that she gets to know all of her students and takes an active part in helping them grow." That's why Horn also cherishes her involvement with extracurricular projects. She advised the yearbook for ten years—a record, she says—and started a chapter of the National Spanish Honor Society at CRHS in 1999.
The advice she would give to potential teachers is that "it's an exhausting but rewarding career. The best way to decide if it's for you is to spend time in schools. Teaching is not for everyone, but if the chemistry works, it's wonderful and every day is a new start," she concluded.
