To Albert Lea Area Schools 2015 Teacher of the Year Todd Lange.

We congratulate Albert Lea High School English teacher Todd Lange, who was named the 2015 Albert Lea Area Schools Teacher of the Year on Wednesday.

Lange has taught for the district for 18 years and is the English department head at the high school.

It’s clear the award was well deserved after seeing all the positive buzz on the Tribune’s Facebook page after the announcement was made Wednesday afternoon.

We applaud Lange and all of the area’s hard-working teachers for the difference you make in our children’s lives.

Who doesn’t remember their favorite teacher growing up?

 

To the last of the ice melting this week on Fountain Lake.

It’s a sure sign that spring weather is on its way when Bill Malepsy, barber and annual watcher of the lake ice, calls and announces that the last of the ice has melted on Fountain Lake.

Wednesday will be recorded as the date of the ice-out for 2015, as the last of the ice on the lake melted near the channel to Bancroft Bay.

According to the records, the median date for ice going out on the lake is April 9 and the latest was April 30 in 1953.

We hope the warmer weather forecast for this week sticks around. Though we’ve had a milder than normal winter, we’re ready to move past the snow and get outdoors more.

 

To the players on the Tribune’s All-Area Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball Teams.

This week and last the Tribune has recognized the top girls’ and boys’ basketball players in our coverage area. The students come from Albert Lea Area Schools, Alden-Conger, Glenville-Emmons, United South Central, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, Northwood-Kensett and Lake Mills Community School.

The All-Area girls’ basketball Player of the Year, Hattie Davidson, a Northwood-Kensett junior, led the area in scoring with 20.2 points a game. Her 84 steals were best in the area as well.

Leading the boys was Lake Mills junior Granger Kingland, who led Class 2A in scoring and was the only player in the state of Iowa to make more than 60 3-pointers at a rate of better than 50 percent.

We applaud these players for all of the hard work they have put into the sport, and we wish them the best in their futures.