Welcome

Hello!! My name is Mrs. Thoendel and I am SO glad that I get to be your teacher this year! It is going to be such a fun year full of lots of learning and tons opportunities to challenge our thinking to help us be the best version of ourselves!! I want to get to know all about you, but first I want you to know a little bit about me to ease any nerves or apprehensions you may have.

I am happy and excited to be returning for my third year of Colorado teaching at Northeast with you! I am very grateful that I get to be a part of such an inspiring and committed community, of which is Northeast. Prior to coming to Northeast, I spent 5 years in eastern Nebraska teaching 5th grade My passion and hope is that everyday you come to our classroom ready to grow into a more productive and empathetic citizen through hands-on education, honest conversations, and real-life applicability of our learning.

I am the oldest kid in my family. My younger brother, Brady, is an art teacher and a football coach in Nebraska. My younger sister, Bailey, is studying early childhood development at UNK and is a nanny for a family. My mom and dad still live in the house I grew up in with our two golden labs, Baxter and Buddy! I am married to Mr. Thoendel. We just celebrated our first anniversary! We have three kids from his first marriage: Tyler (16), Taya (14), and Chase (11). They live in Canada with their mom and come visit us throughout the year. We also have a cute rescue dog, Belle, that we enjoy to spend time with.

I love learning new things and challenging my thinking. I believe that we all have the potential to be lifelong learners and have a positive impact on our communities. I have been to college two different times, and am currently going back for more. I just LOVE learning that much! For my undergrad degree, I studied Elementary Education and Spanish. I couldn’t stay away from the college learning classroom, and therefore, during my first year of teaching, I went back to school and got my Master’s Degree in Elementary Education: Math and Science. Even though I studied math and science throughout my college career, I absolutely love teaching literacy: reading, writing, and grammar! I cannot wait to share my love for literature with you!

When I am not at school I like to live a healthy life by lift weights, running and biking, and eating clean and healthy foods. I also really enjoy travel to neat and unique places, play golf, shop at antique stores, garden and grow my own produce, and read books by the pool. Lately I have been reading a lot of historical biographies. When the weather is nice you will most likely find me outside enjoying the fresh air and soaking up the sun!

I am most looking forward to having you be a significant part of our classroom this year and sharing all of your brilliant ideas and learning with me. I cannot wait to celebrate all of your success throughout the year. I am anxious and excited to share in all your successes this year!