Albert Lea High School English teacher Todd Lange has been named the 2015 Albert Lea Area Schools Teacher of the Year.

He was revealed as the 2015 Teacher of the Year Wednesday afternoon in the Albert Lea High School commons, with his family, colleagues, former Teachers of the Year and members of the community present.

Lange has been with the district for 18 years and has a master’s degree in teaching English from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He got his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College and his teaching license from Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota. He is also the English department head and a concurrent faculty at Riverland Community College.

He was selected as Teacher of the Year from five finalists. His fellow finalists were Penny Hagen, Robin Hundley, Beth Nelson and Lynda Kiesler. These five finalists were selected from over 50 nominated licensed staff, according to 2013 Teacher of the Year Kathy Niebuhr.

In addition to the Teacher of the Year Award, Lange was presented an award from Randy Kehr, executive director of the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce, and a check from Paul Schuster of Vern Eide Chevrolet for use in his classroom.

During his speech, Lange thanked the Teacher of the Year Committee members, his friends and colleagues, his students and his family.

Lange joked with the audience candidly as he accepted his award.

“There were much, much, much better candidates,” Lange said.

Along with Lange, Linda Laurie, of the school board, Al Helgerson, of the Albert Lea Education Association, and Paula Buendorf, the 2014 Teacher of the Year, gave speeches.

Lange, who is from Eden Prairie, has traveled around the world and enjoys woodworking, home improvement, playing guitar and reading. He is married to his wife, Christma, who teaches fourth grade at Hawthorne Elementary School, and has three children: Solveig, who is a senior; Jens, who is a ninth-grader; and Henrik, who is a fifth-grader at Sibley Elementary School.

In his Teacher of the Year Award biography, Lange wrote about his professional goals.

“Professionally, I hope each day that I am a better teacher than I was yesterday,” he wrote. “I want to continue to improve, grow and learn for another 20 years of teaching.”