This month's Golden Apple Award winner is an educator who's career spans more than 30 years, but the list of lives she has touched is endless.

Judy Rhodes, who teaches at John C. Myers Elementary School, continues to mold the young minds of tomorrow and even takes special care of one student with autism.

Julie Burch, a mother who wrote a letter explaining why Rhodes is a good teacher, says, "I am so happy that Mrs. Rhodes isn't just like a normal teacher, but an extraordinary teacher. She saw the potential and didn't want to give up on a child who needed a little extra help bringing this out in a student. It seems that when children have disabilities that the teachers just don't want to bother with these children, but Mrs. Rhodes wasn't like that. She welcomed the opportunity to have a child with a disability in her class."

Rhodes is her son, Reagan's, second grade teacher. Reagan was diagnosed with autism six years ago, and Julie says Rhodes has gone the extra mile to help her son.

"She is teaching him and molding him into the little man that he is. So that means a lot," says Julie.

For more than 30 years, Rhodes has taught in classrooms in the Shenandoah Valley doing what she can to make a lasting impression on young minds.

"Every child is unique and I think that they need to take them and work with them from where they are and expect the best out of them," says Rhodes.

While teaching summer school, Rhodes noticed great potential in Reagan, and she believed she could help this special young man in dealing with the demands and challenges of autism.

That's why she insisted that Reagan's mother place him in her care for this school year. Now, Reagan is an active member of Rhodes' second grade class, and his mother says, because of this passionate teacher's guidance, he has come out of his shell.

"I think carrying the love of children and caring about children, it's a big responsibility and I take that very seriously," comments Rhodes.

Julie adds, "It's just hard to put in words how special someone truly is. And I guess a picture says a thousand words and you've capture that today."

So for the month of January, we award Mrs. Judy Rhodes the WHSV Golden Apple Award for her work as a life changing educator.