During the course of a recent conversation with a coworker at Cazenovia High School, math teacher Ron Luteran was asked what he would be doing if he weren't a teacher.

"I would be preparing myself to become a teacher," he said. "I can't think of anything I would rather be doing than teaching."

Equipped with that kind of passion for teaching, it came as no surprise to members of the Cazenovia Central School faculty that Mr. Luteran received the district's Golden Apple Award as the "Teacher of the Year " during a faculty assembly in September.

Recipients of the award are determined through an open nomination process by faculty members. Once nominations have been closed, previous recipients of the award meet to discuss the nominees and select the winner from that pool.

The ability to stay upbeat and positive has been one of Mr. Luteran's most enduring qualities. Whether he's working through a difficult situation in the classroom or on the basketball court coaching the eighth grade boys basketball team, or confronted with a personal challenge his lasting mark is that of embracing the challenge.

"In all the years I've been teaching I don't think I've ever really had a valley," Mr. Luteran said. "I don't think I've ever had a bad year. I work with way too many positive kids to let a problem every now and then get me down."

Mr. Luteran attended Westhill High School where he participated in football and basketball, was a member of the National Honor Society and was president of a club called "The Trip Club" which raised money to go on a trip to Europe. While the club's effort was successful, the club president stayed behind because he had made a commitment to his football team.

From Westhill Mr. Luteran went to Ithaca College where he distinguished himself as a math student and was named the recipient of the college's math award four straight years. During his time at Ithaca he worked as a teaching assistant with a professor who introduced him to teaching. "I had the good fortune to work with a professor named Shirley Hockett," he said. "She was the one who helped me realize I could combine my love for math with the pleasure I derived from working with kids."

Professor Hockett was able to secure some volunteer work for Mr. Luteran at Ithaca High School which led to his student teaching at that school district later during his college career. Upon graduation from Ithaca Mr. Luteran applied to three school districts for a teaching position. None of them was Cazenovia.

"On my way to apply for a teaching position somewhere else I drove through Cazenovia and remarked to a friend that this would be a great place to teach and the next day I got a phone call from Cazenovia asking me if I would be interested in coming out for an interview," Mr. Luteran said.

That messenger of goodwill was none other than Professor Hockett who had been contacted by Cazenovia Schools about some potential teaching candidates.

Mr. Luteran also acknowledged the influence of two administrators, Walt Sullivan, now the school superintendent at Skaneateles, and Tom Long, who retired as Cazenovia High School's principal four years ago.

"The best part of teaching is seeing what happens to former students after they graduate and being able to continue those friendships," Mr. Luteran said. "It's been 22 years and I still hear from some of my first group of students. It's not enough that two former students were the altar boys at my wedding. Between Andy and Matt Johnson I was the shortest person on the altar at 6'3"."

While his combination of a sharp sense of humor and the ability to not take himself too seriously have made Mr. Luteran a favorite among students, his ability to teach math and make learning fun have distinguished him as a teacher.

"My philosophy on teaching is that I don't view the subject matter as being the most important," he said. "Teaching is a process in which students enter your classroom in September and they leave in June with a higher level of skill. We make them better problem solvers and build their critical thinking skills. Seeing that change take place during the year is the most rewarding thing I can imagine. That kind of development is more important to me than the score they get on a test."