April Newsletter
April 29th, 2025
Roseville, MN- Teaching is more than a professionâitâs a calling. A calling that is answered by passionate individuals who are ready to show up every day and believe in their students, even when they donât yet believe in themselves. Itâs staying after class to explain a concept one more time, seeing past the frustration to the potential within, and celebrating the small victories that mean everything. As April winds down, we stop to ask ourselves, our donors and supporters â what can we do to help our educators get through the finish line for the year? Eight months into another incredible year of instruction and inspiration, this is the time of year when an outpour of reciprocation of what theyâve shown their students is needed most.
Teacher Appreciation Week is just around the corner, May 5 to May 9âfive days filled with opportunities to shower our educators who commit their lives to shaping young minds. From early mornings crafting lesson plans, to late nights grading assignments; teachers pour their hearts into ensuring their students succeed. This week is our chance to show them just how much their dedication means to their communities.
This Teacher Appreciation Week, we encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the educators who have made a lasting impact on your life or in the lives of those around you and find opportunities to express your gratitude. Whether through a surprise treat, a classroom wishlist fulfilled, or a simple âthank youâ spoken with sincerity, your kindness reminds teachers of their incredible impact. Teachers give so much of themselves to nurture, guide, and inspire the next generationânow is our chance to give back and show them how deeply they are valued. Your support, no matter the size, helps ensure that teachers have the resources and encouragement they need to continue their important work.
Letâs come together to honor their unwavering dedication and make them feel as appreciated as they truly are. âââââ
Over the past few months, Kids In Need Foundation hit the road to visit schools, connect with students and sit down with our educators to hear about their educational journeys, careers, communities and resilience as they navigate the ever changing world of learning. Getting to hear firsthand the challenges they face, the triumphs they celebrate, and the deep commitment they have to their students has been nothing short of inspirational. One teacher at Life Prep School has been picturing herself inspiring young minds in the classroom since before she was out of one.
For Madison Theusch, teaching was never a questionâit was a calling. One that requires resilience, passion and a deep love for the futures sheâs helping shape. From the time she was a student herself, she knew exactly where she belonged: in a classroom, making an impact in students' lives.
âI have always loved to be in the classroom. I can remember being a child in a classroom myself and the teacher asking, âWhat do you want to be when you grow up?â My response was always a teacher. (...) I was really heavily impacted. I had a lot of great relationships with teachers, and I just wanted to be, and hoped to be, that same positive influence.â
Now, in her seventh year teaching, Madison brings that same energy, that same desire, into her own classroom every single day. She walks through the doors each morning knowing her role as an educator doesnât end when her lesson plan does.
But that role isnât an easy one. Each child that steps into her classroom carries their unique world of experiences, some joyful, some heavy. Some students arrive eager to learn, their hands raised high, their minds open to possibility. Others, however, hesitate at the door, weighed down by self-doubt, by circumstances beyond their control, by the fear that school is just another place where they might not belong. Some act out because they feel unseen. Some struggle in silence, afraid to try because failure has always felt inevitable.
Madison refuses to let that be their story.
She remembers a particular studentâa child who walked into her classroom lacking confidence, reluctant to engage, unsure of his place in school. Madison saw beyond his silence. She saw the flicker of potential beneath his doubt, the brilliance waiting to break through. And so, for two full years, she worked to understand him, to find what lit him up, to reach him. To remind him, day after day, that he was capable, that he was valued, that he mattered.
By the end of that time, something shifted. He smiled more. He engaged in class. He believed in himself. And long after he left her classroom, he still comes back. â[He] still comes and visits me and thanks me for not giving up and making sure that he knew that he could be successful here, too.â
But Madisonâs impact stretches far beyond just one student. She is helping build something biggerâa community where students feel safe, supported, and loved. She knows that the lessons she teaches arenât just about numbers and words; theyâre about resilience, kindness, and self-belief. And for Madison, it all comes back to one core principle: empathy.
âThe most important lesson I feel [I can teach] outside of academics, for me, is empathy. I feel as [though] empathy can be one of those umbrella terms. Thereâs so much involved in empathy that I think are important life skills. Students are connecting to others, understanding othersâ emotions, but really diving into their own as well, which I think can really just help build a more compassionate world.â
For Madison, teaching is more than a professionâitâs a purpose. Through patience, encouragement, and unwavering belief, sheâs helping shape not just her students' outlook on education but their confidence in themselves. As she continues to inspire, her impact will echo far beyond the walls of her classroom, shaping lives for years to come; undeniable proof that she is in fact the positive influence she had hoped to be.
