Last fall, Dalton Thelen was chosen by the Gustavus Football team to be one of its captains.
This winter, since he took over Ashley Genelin’s first-grade class, Thelen is putting his leadership skills to a whole new use.
Genelin accepted position at Cleveland teaching English learners (EL) and some special education.
Thelen grew up in Cold Spring, MN and graduated from Rocori High School. He completed an Elementary Education degree at GAC. This is his first full-time teaching job, but he did student teaching in St. Peter and in Cleveland. He was also a paraprofessional at Cleveland this fall.
“I choose Cleveland because of the strong community vibe,” he said. “With already being introduced and involved within the community, I think I fit in great.”
His mom influenced Thelen to become a teacher. She teaches third grade in Richmond Minnesota.
His favorite subject to teach is math.
“There are so many different activities you can do regarding math that make it fun for students.”
When he is not in the classroom, Thelen’s favorite hobby is football.
“It used to be playing football, but with me being done with college sports, I would have to say my favorite thing to do is watching the Vikings every Sunday with my roommates.”
Now that his college athletic career has come to an end, he would like to get involved with co-curriculars at Cleveland.
“I have been involved with sports my entire life, so coaching baseball or football has been a goal of mine as well.”