Richard Aaron Daenell

As part of the buisness world, I always enjoyed the training aspect of management. I enjoyed teaching people new skills and seeing them succeed as they moved forward. My wife was a teacher when we met and for years I thought she was crazy for doing it! I had an opportunity to work at her school as Student Support and fell in love with being able to help kids. I felt what could be better than helping our youth learn how to be successful and navigate their world and I have never looked back.

One afternoon during my 2nd year teaching, a former student walked into my classroom as I was sitting down for a Teacher of the Year interview. I knew her well and could see she was broken. I made my interviewers wait for 2 hours while her and I talked & cried and came up with a gameplan for getting through the next few days. She was the 1st of many students that have relied on me to help them at their most vulnerable and THAT day I realized just how blessed and grateful I was to be a teacher.

A small army of former students are alive today because I answered their phone call or noticed something was off. I made promises to attend graduations, weddings and big life events as long as they never gave up. I would use the money to attend their college graduations, I've been asked to walk 1 of them down the aisle in place of her Dad and I would make sure her big day was perfect, and I would help another start a business that she has dreamed about since 8th grade. #oncemykidalwaysmykid