It"s Golden Apple Award week here on 10/11 News. Each year, we honor teachers around the state who are making a positive difference in children's lives.

Don Rytych of Shickley is one such individual.

Don is the exception to many rules. First of all, he's been teaching for 51 years! That's right, he's taught elementary school for more than a half a century! And then, oh by the way, each and every one of those years has been spent at the same school. We surprised Mr. Rytych at an impromptu school assembly.

One very good way of telling just how much students love their teacher is when they get a standing ovation. Mr. Rytych got one, and he was humbled, "This school has just been wonderful. Somebody asked me what changes I would have done in my life if I could start over and I told them I would change absolutely nothing."

That's because this Munden, Kansas native was born to teach. After attending Fairbury Junior College, Mr. Rytyck was off to Shickley. And that's where he's been for the past 51 years. Don says, "I really love Shickley and the reason I love Shickley is because of the people, the caliber of people that are here in this community is just tremendous."

Kale Kleinschmidt's nomination letter echoed the sentiments of the entire community, "Mr. Rytych is an awesome teacher and person. He loves his job and every student the same."

Whether it's in the classroom or on the playground, "Mr. Rytych has a special way of showing his kids just how much he cares.

This veteran teacher is 71 years young and Kale says, "He is a lot of fun and even plays with us at recess. He taught 51 years and is going to be retiring after this year, the inspiring thing about this is all 51 years were in our school."

Don says, "I'm starting to feel sadder by the day because I know I'm gonna miss it, I'm going to miss it tremendously."