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Homunculus Cowboy by Allisha Enger

Teacher Feature: Ms. Thielen
By Eztli Tallman
Forest Lake, Minn. - Chelsie Thielen is a North Lakes Academy Upper School teacher for the Language Arts Department. She’s a dedicated teacher and an enthusiastic director along with many, many other roles. It’s no surprise that she’s won the trust and likeness of the students at NLA.

“I teach language arts and our University of Minnesota classes, but I'm also NLA's licensed reading specialist, and manage all of our teacher license renewal stuff and our theater program,” she explains.
Thielen is known for restarting the theater department after several years of inactivity. In 2022, Thielen reintroduced theater. The first play - a one-act called Poe Dunked - was small and had little budget, but the cast and crew made it work and did the best they could. This year another one act - The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza - was put on, this time with new cast members and a slightly bigger budget. It gained enough attention among students to add a spring play, Game of Tiaras, which is still in the works. Thielen has been able to make the plays work and created a strong connection with students over it.

“When we did the competition for the One Act, I had forgotten a really great line and was really upset about it, but Thielen said that it wasn't a big deal and that she was very proud of everyone (even cried a little bit),” Claire, a student here at NLA, said when talking about Thielen and the play.
Ms.Thielen was also hired this year as the Environmental Education Coordinator, which means she makes sure our school meets EE requirements set by Osprey Wilds and helps figure out ways to incorporate EE elements into the classroom, as well as finds ways to make the school sustainable and the money aspect of it.

Along all of her responsibilities of being a teacher, director and EEC, she’s also a parent and spouse. She has 3 children - a 15 year old, a 12 year old, and a 5 year old - a husband. Thielen likes building LEGO sets with her 5 year old, reading (Obviously), doing yoga, and running ‘stupid’ distances in her free time.

She enjoys listening to punk music and loves being in the pit. Her favorite band, of long standing, is Green Day. Thielen loves the energy and the people you meet; unfortunately, being that close to the stage has become expensive.

“Core memory was being 20 feet from Billie Joe Armstrong when he sang "Good Riddance" in 2004,” she recalls.

Going back to the school, the one thing Thielen loves about NLA is the environment. She raves about how she has had experiences that not many other teachers have been able to have, like being able to write her own curriculum, teach college literature, serve on the school board, and create and grow programs like the track team and theater department. She loves the passion that the teachers here have to make NLA a thriving community for students and staff alike, and being able to do so many things.

“Here, you can be different and be accepted. Different is the norm. Positivity is the norm. It isn't that way in other districts,” she says, commenting about her love for the community.

“Mrs. Thielen is one of the funniest and smartest people that I know. I go to her for life advice regularly,” Mr. Houle says, also a teacher at NLA, about Thielen when discussing her involvement and impact. “Just reading her posts on social media and reading her emails to the whole staff always make me laugh out loud.”
How does Ms.Thielen get through the day? How does she start it to keep that love for the community going? She listens to true crime podcasts on her way to work and drinks coffee. When Thielen’s having a rough day, she tries to be active.

“Powering through a rough day usually involves exercise of some kind - running or yoga. Sometimes mountain biking. If my body's moving, my mind gets quiet, and it's nice, because, like most folks, I suppose, my mind's usually a pretty loud place.”
When asked about her advice to students or anyone in general she had to say that she shouldn’t be the one to go to for advice (even if others disagree) but she offered some words to follow.
“Don't feel like you have to have life figured out right away - or ever. Life is all just figuring it out, every day. Make a plan, sure, but stop and ask yourself once in a while if you're doing what you want with your time here, and when the answer is no, change it. Sometimes it's a costly realization, but it's worth it,” Thielen explains.
She also offers a last bit of words, saying that it may feel nice to be right, but it’s more interesting when you're wrong and that you learn more when you're wrong.
To end this article, here are some things students at NLA have to say about Thielen.
“I think Miss Thielen is a great teacher that makes the class fun and rolls with punches while keeping it a down-to-earth environment,” says Dustin Jensen (12).
“Probably when, just the other day[when interviewed], she was doing the Ace Ventura cannibal corpse dance,” said Torra Berube (9).
“I think Thielen is amazing! Even though I don’t know her that well, she has quickly become one of my favorite teachers ever,” said Lily Lachmiller (11).