Meet Teeli Thao
There are certain places you'd expect to find a future teacher. A Bass Pro Shop isn't typically one of them.
Teeli Thao was browsing the store last September when Molly Hayes, his high school's Student Engagement Coordinator and Root 2 Rise coordinator, ran into him and told him about the program. She knew he liked working with kids and thought it would be a good fit.
"Send me the information," he said. "I'll do anything to join this program."
What Molly shared was how Root 2 Rise trains and compensates high school juniors and seniors to work as Tutor-Mentors in elementary classrooms — giving high school students a structured leadership role where they build real professional experience while expanding learning support for the younger students they serve. Thao, now a La Follette senior finishing his second semester at Root 2 Rise, has worked across two elementary classrooms. He likes the range. More students, more backgrounds, more perspectives.
Thao's family immigrated to the United States, and he grew up as a first-generation student — moving through a school system without the context that comes from having parents who'd navigated it before him, or older siblings who'd decoded it first. He knew what it felt like to sit in a classroom and not quite feel like it was built for you. He carries that perspective into every room he works in now.
"I feel like if I can take what I experienced from my childhood and bring it to my future, I can change a lot of kids' lives — because I know what a lot of kids struggle with. I had the same thing as them. If I can help them, I can probably make a better impact on their lives . . . I don't want any kids to go through what I've been through."
Thao said he was anxious on the morning of his first placement — nervous enough that his stomach hurt. He didn't yet know the teacher. He didn't know if the students would warm to him. He checked in at the front office, got his freshly printed badge, and walked outside to where the class was at recess.
He played football with the kids. By the time they walked back inside, he already knew their names. He noticed that afternoon, and has since watched it play out consistently, that kids engage differently with him than they do with their teachers — he's closer to their age, a bit less formal, he’s someone who still remembers what it felt like to be in that seat.
From there, he learned how to act fast. In his second week, a fight broke out at recess. He hadn't anticipated that level of intensity in students so young. He moved toward it anyway, steadying the kids at the edges, redirecting them, keeping things contained. Hearing Thao talk about this incident, you can tell how disarming it was for him to witness. It led him to reflect further on an ever-present truth in teaching: that the kids walking through the classroom door every morning were carrying things nobody could see just by looking. He knew something about that from his own childhood.
In his current classroom, Thao has his own table — a consistent spot for students who need more individualized attention. Students come to him when it's time for Lexia, a reading program that tracks weekly progress in units. One student started showing up at Thao’s table at the start of every session. He needed help — with the reading and with the vocabulary underneath it. Noun. Verb. Adjective. Thao started writing them on a whiteboard at each session so the student could reference them as he worked.
Then one day the student went to his classroom teacher excited that he'd hit his weekly goal. "Mr. Teeli really helped me with my Lexia," he said. "That's how I got my units in!".
"I was so proud of myself,” Thao says. "I actually made a real impact on this student.”
Ask Thao to compare himself now to who he was at the end of junior year and he pauses. "Last year, I was tired of school. I just didn't have anybody to look up to."
He hadn't felt particularly close to his teachers in high school. But Root 2 Rise put him in a different kind of environment. He bonded with staff across his placements, not just his Partner Teachers. It’s clear Thao has become a valued member of the team at his schools. "Every time I go to school, I know I'm going to be working with kids, and it brings me joy,” he says. "I feel motivated.” That motivation runs through everything.
During a stretch of college test days this spring — days when he wasn’t required to come to his classroom — Thao came in anyway, then went straight to his after-school job. Several days running. "If I stayed home I wouldn't do anything," he says. "So I was like, let me just go in and enjoy my time."
His Partner Teacher Lauren Cruz noticed. She told him she wants him back as a student teacher when he enrolls in college. He said he was in.
When Thao wrote his college admissions essay, he named Root 2 Rise as one of the experiences that defined his high school years. He described it this way:
"Through the Root 2 Rise program, they helped me learn that leadership is not just about taking charge, but about listening, encouraging, and being a good role model. I was able to build a strong bond with students, which helped me develop strong communication skills and self-confidence."
Cruz, who partnered with Thao during his first semester, had watched those qualities take shape in real time. "He has a great relationship with kids and definitely discovered his teaching persona," she said. "He's always engaged, responsible, and accountable. I wish I had this experience when I was in high school. It's a great way to determine if someone really likes a career in education."
Thao plans to attend Madison College and major in early childhood education. He will arrive with something most of his classmates won't: a year of real classroom experience.
