Axtell Park Teacher Awarded $500

Teachers do so much for kids and their community – and a lot of their contributions come from their own pockets. That’s why, each year, Levo seeks out nominations for educators who go above and beyond to make an impact in the lives of others. This year one of our Adopt a Classroom winners was Mr. Ryan Kruse from Axtell Park Middle School in Sioux Falls, SD. Jen McKeown from Levo talked with Mr. Kruse and his nominator, Loree. To see the full list of awesome educators go to levo.org/adopt-a-classroom.

Transcript:

(0:00) Levo is very proud to be able to recognize one of our 2026 Adopt-a-Classroom winners, (0:07) Mr. Ryan Kruse, and Mr. Kruse was nominated for being an amazing educator by Loree, (0:13) who's going to tell us why she nominated him. (0:16) Okay, so Mr. Kruse, as you guys all know, students, he often shouts people out. (0:22) Sometimes it's just working on strengths, sometimes you've had a bad day, (0:25) but Mr. Kruse brings the best of himself into staff and student world.

(0:30) So he teaches us really about ourselves and about each other and about the world we live in, (0:35) and he wants to focus on what you're doing well and build on that. (0:38) So on hard days, we just know that he continues to be the glue, the kind of cog in the wheel that keeps us all together. (0:44) So thank you for keeping us rolling.

(0:46) Thank you. (0:47) Thank you for nominating him. What are you going to use the money for, Mr. Kruse?

(0:50) This money is going to be used to do all the things that we do here, (0:54) which is to build on our incentives and our parties that we do on Fridays, (1:01) gift cards for students and staff of the month.
(1:06) So, yeah, I'm just going to use it for and give it back to our program.

(1:10) That is fantastic. Well, thank you for the big impact that you make in people's lives.

(1:14) And thanks again for submitting the nomination. (1:16) I appreciate it. Thank you.