Toni Kaui

Teaching is my second career, after spending almost 10 years as a project architect. When I knew I wanted to leave the profession, I decided to get into teaching because, at the time, I was volunteering with Save Our Moms, an organization dedicated to helping teen moms graduate from college while being a mom. The work I was doing was so rewarding. I loved serving those young mothers and watching their lives change! This experience convinced me to become a teacher to serve more youth.

My most memorable teaching experience happened with a student AFTER she graduated high school. I taught this student math for three of her four high school years. She struggled with math but persevered in taking her three required courses. About five years after she graduated, she intentionally returned to school, found me in my classroom, and shared with me how successful she was in her job as a cashier because of the math knowledge and skills she gained with me.

As a primary school STEM teacher and a science and engineering fair mentor, I am always in need of equipment and materials. Consequently, I would spend at least $20,000 on much needed equipment and replacement materials. Visiting the headquarters of Lego in Billund, Denmark is a huge bucket list item, especially visiting on one of their behind-the-scenes days, so I would use the remaining $5,000 to fund that trip.