Join Priscilla Rahn as she converses with retired educator and Miss Senior America 2004, Michelle Rahn. In this enlightening episode, Michelle shares her unique perspective on American education today, drawing from her experience as a teacher during the Columbine tragedy and her ongoing passion for mentoring. Listen as they discuss the critical role of choice, legacy, and the essence of Christian faith in shaping educational outcomes for future generations.
00:00:03 Introduction to Restoring Education in America
00:00:17 School Choice and Excalibur Classical Academy
Welcome to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Rahn. She’s a master educator and author leading the conversation to restore the American mind through wisdom, virtue, and truth.
SPEAKER 02 :
well hello everybody welcome to restoring education in america i’m your host priscilla ron and thank you so much for joining the conversation today i want to remind everybody that it is school choice time so parents are looking at their options I’d love to tell you about a brand new school that’s opening this fall in the Centennial area. It’s called Excalibur Classical Academy. They’re a private school and their mission and vision is restoring America’s heritage by developing servant leaders who are keepers and defenders of the principles of freedom for which our founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. If you’d like to learn more about Excalibur, please go to their website at ExcaliburClassicalAcademy.org. And if you have a child that’s starting kindergarten through third grade, please take a look. There’s lots of information available to you. So as we’re getting ready to celebrate this great new year and it being America’s 250th birthday, I want to bring a sage to the stage, a retired educator, my good friend, Michelle Rahn. Hi, Michelle. Oh, Priscilla, thank you. I’m so glad to see you. I’m always excited to see you. But before we go further, we need to clarify that even though you’re a Rahn student, And I’m Iran. You’re not my mother-in-law. We’re not related.
SPEAKER 03 :
But I’d just love to try that. We sure could.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love to imagine that you are, you know, I’d love to be related to you, but I feel like we’re relatives anyway. We definitely are. We’re sisters in Christ. You bet. Yes. Yes. But before we get into our conversation, I’m going to share your bio with the listeners. Okay. michelle ron is a gifted national speaker and miss senior america 2004 a title that gained steam as she continued on for seven years to direct the pageant and represent a lifestyle of aging with intention passion and generous living a colorado public school teacher for 28 years michelle had a personal connection to the columbine tragedy the heart attack she suffered in its wake led to a personal rededication linking where she’d been with where she was headed. She took her fervor for teaching and 12 years advising school staffs on discipline to MOPS International, sharing experiences and paying it forward as a mentor to women facing the roller coaster of young motherhood. At the same time, she embraced her next phase of life by celebrating her age publicly by winning a national crown that would promote her to a platform of encouraging others to continue to aspire at whatever their age. Michelle is a wife of 57 years, a mom and a grandmother, the most important job that you can have.
SPEAKER 03 :
It is very thankful for that. You bet.
SPEAKER 02 :
So, Michelle, I always like to ask grandmas and grandpas, what is your grandma name?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know what? Mine is grandma. Now, my husband, he came in and it started with our first grandchild when he started to talk and he he got out grandma pretty darn good, but he didn’t get grandpa. So he’s paka. But I am grandpa.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love it. Very traditional, you know. Because they have other grandmas too. This is true. So that I know that complicates things when you have like two grandmas, two grandpas, but grandma works. Yes, it does. Awesome. Young, spunky grandma. Do my best. Do my best. So what’s the difference between being a parent and a grandma? What changed for you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I think it’s the legacy part that you look at this child of God and you think this little person of yours, Lord, came from me. It started from me and my mom and my dad and my grandma and my grandpa. And it was a look of legacy that I really don’t believe I realized when my first daughter was born.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow. And so how many grandbabies do you have now?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I have five perfect ones. Absolutely perfect. Aren’t they all? Of course they are. But we’ve just so enjoyed our kids. We’re fortunate that we live close to both families. And my grandkids are all older now. My youngest one is in ninth grade. And the other four are in college. Excuse me, three are in college. And one has… actually in the working world. So pretty special, very special.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow, that is beautiful, Michelle. And so you’ve served in education. You were a teacher for 28 years. You’ve been a mentor and you’ve served in national leadership roles. When you look at American education today, what first comes to your heart?
SPEAKER 03 :
That I’m thankful there are even educators who are willing to be there because they are facing things that I never had, my generation never had to face. And I’m not saying that ours was easier because there’s always challenges as a teacher for sure. But the teachers today and the educators and the administrations are facing problems and parents who demand rather than ask and who volunteer so much. But there are different challenges altogether. And yet… And yet I know that God’s in charge. I have in my generation, and I’m proud to say that I’m 81. And in my generation where I have friends that say, gosh, I’m so sad that my grandkids are having to live in a time such as this. And I don’t believe that at all. For such a time as this is where God has us. And that’s exactly where he has my grandkids at such a time as this. There is a life plan that God has for each one of us. And yep, they’re facing things that you and I never had to face. They’re facing media. They’re facing things. For example, when I was in school and If I wrote a note to somebody and a teacher intercepted it, maybe four or five people knew about it besides the teacher. But today, kids with media, they walk into school the next day and the entire school knows it. It takes a pretty darn strong kid to face something like that and an administrator to walk them through that life journey. So… It’s a difficult time, but a time that’s so important.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I miss the days when we didn’t have technology. We knew our friends and there were more interpersonal relationships that were developed and we were a lot closer. I’m still friends with all of my high school bandmates. Well, you know, thanks to social media, I’m still connected. I can see what they’re doing on a daily basis. I do like that, but you’re right.
SPEAKER 01 :
You do.
SPEAKER 02 :
has changed, but as a Christian educator, how did your faith shape the way you showed up for your students, even when environments of faith wasn’t openly discussed?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, it’s amazing how God takes care of that because, um, There were several times when, and I’m proud to say that I was a music teacher, just like you as a wonderful person that we had the whole school. I was vocal. So I had the whole school in my daily weekly time. And there were times when around Christmas time, when somebody would say, no, you can’t do that song. You can’t do that one. But, um, went ahead, prayed about it, asked my administrator who was very supportive of myself and went ahead. And yet my answer to you is that I would have parents come up afterwards and say, You’re a Christian, aren’t you? You know Jesus, don’t you? You know, God just places that right across our forehead. And without being obnoxious about it, we live his light. that takes over. It just truly does.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I think that’s the true Testament is the fruit that you share. That’s what people are looking for. And I think they feel it. And that’s been something for me personally that I’ve matured into, you know, we, the more birthdays we have, hopefully the more we mature into our walk with Christ and we learn a few lessons along the way and we get better at that, you know? Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I truly feel that the best news that I think for education right now is that the teachers that are out there, they want to be there. They know there’s no perks. They know they’re dealing with demanding parents. They know that their salary isn’t something that they could be earning in another field. And yet they choose to be there. They know that their safety is important. in jeopardy in many cases, and yet they choose to be there. And kids know that. In my generation, when I graduated, when I went in to choose a vocation for college, in my mind, there were three choices, nursing, secretarial, and education. I chose education and I loved it, absolutely loved it. There were a lot of my age people who chose it just because. And the minute those teachers walked into the classroom, those kids knew they didn’t want to be there. And they were counting the days till retirement. Those kids knew that. And so the teachers that are in the classrooms today, I honestly feel know the price they’re paying. And yet they choose to be in front of kids and to work with them. And I think that’s incredible.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you’re just tuning in, my special guest today is Michelle Rahn. She’s a retired teacher in Miss Senior America 2004. She was Miss Senior Colorado and Miss Senior America. And she’s just an amazing, lovely woman. But Michelle, let’s talk about something that’s really vulnerable and touching to both of us was the Columbine shooting. Yes. You know, that occurred in 1999. I was a baby teacher then. And I just remember that was the first time something that huge happened. And it was so foreign. Right. I couldn’t even imagine something like that. Right. But you were in the district and this really impacted you. Talk about that day and how that really impacted your health.
SPEAKER 03 :
You bet. I had retired. And that morning when the TV came on and the media said there was a gun at school and there was a shooter, my immediate response was, what twinkie dink took a gun? I mean, honestly, it was never with devastation that I thought about it. But it was just, ah, the kid got a hold of something he shouldn’t have, she shouldn’t have, and he went in and so forth. And so when the devastation was coming more and more and more, according to the television, I began to have chest pains and heart is in my family. So I was aware, but everyone that day was having anxiety attack or feeling terrible. And So the trick was that I waited and I am an advocate for when your body is telling you something, you answer it, you call the doctor right away because I waited way past three hours. And that particular day, I suffered a heart attack upon hearing Dave Sanders and Dylan Klebold’s names. Dylan Klebold was one of my students for four years. He was in an incredible class called CHIPS. And there were two CHIPS classes in Jefferson County. These were brilliant kids. They are brilliant kids. And as a faculty, we kept track of them. Columbine, Dylan was friends with the 22 kids that were in his particular class. None of us, none of us figured out that he would be one of them that was doing the devastation. My daughter and my husband, coached with the teacher he murdered. And upon hearing Dylan and Dave’s name, I knew I was having a heart attack. And I spent the next six days in ICU. But I came out and I was devastated as the entire world was. I came out with Vonette Bright’s philosophy. Because God and I chatted for those six days, cried more tears than I could possibly ever cry again, and asked God, whatever it is that you have in mind, I am ready to do it. And Bonnet’s Bright’s philosophy is the fact that God has me living means he still has something left for me to do. And unbelievably so, that happened to be the pageant. Because Columbine happened in April. And in June of 99, I met up with two childhood friends. All three of us had been through some pretty icky stuff. And we were 55 at the time. And we all said, what do we want to do after we’ve solved all the world’s problems? What do we want to do when we reach that great apex age of 60? And one of my friends wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on her 60th birthday. My other friend wanted to do a cross country bike trip during her 60th year. I came home from California sharing with my family I want to enter a beauty pageant when I’m 60. Now, you got to know, my daughters were jocks. My husband was a coach. The words beauty pageant are great in many, many families. But in ours, they didn’t have a vocabulary word. And so it was a goal that I went on. But you know that God used that silly crown and banner for his purpose. And I could speak about education during that entire year that I traveled the United States. I met people with a love of Christ who questioned Christ. And backstage, many a time, we prayed. What is it that you want us to do, Father? Show us right now. God uses everything, everything, even Columbine, because there are things that have come from Columbine that would not have come forth before. Now, the sad part to me is every single travesty that has happened since then goes back to Columbine. And that is forever a part of our history.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, that occurrence has changed the way we approach everything in education when it comes to safety. It’s such a big conversation. Everything is referred back to Columbine and are we hardening our schools? Are we keeping children safe? It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when is the next school shooting. And how do we problem solve that? And, you know, our society has changed. Families have changed. Our focus has changed. And I personally believe we need to get back to the family and godliness. What do you think we need to do? The show is called Restoring Education in America. Michelle, what do you think we need to do to restore education in America?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, it’s funny. I meet regularly with four other gals and the five of us are all retired educators, two are still teaching at CCU, one was a former principal, and we discuss this often. We often talk about what a teacher is today. And gosh, my friend Carla, she comes up and she said, we’re facilitators. We’re here to facilitate a life journey. Always safety comes up. I do believe that teachers are more aware of what they need to be doing. Discipline is a huge thing because of parenting. Parenting is a major part of education. the child’s life journey. And a teacher can work with those parents to help that life journey of the kid. But it’s a matter of correspondence. There are so many things. One of my friends in this group, she feels that AI is very concerning because kids are relying on AI and not their own creativity. Technology, again, I think we’re learning to do that. Another thing that I think that’s happening in our education that is for good is that administrators are realizing perhaps better how to deal with teacher burnout and working with the teachers more. Always safety again, always, and I’m, all five of us have said administration makes or breaks the school. And I do believe that. The principal who’s come through from being an educator personally and works their way up, they know what a teacher is going through. And that’s vital as far as I’m concerned.
SPEAKER 02 :
I agree with that 100% that administrators can make the culture and create an environment where teachers want to come to school every day. That’s really critical. But you’ve been a mentor yourself, Michelle. I have.
SPEAKER 03 :
That was a result of the Columbine because when I came out of the hospital, I prayed and I said, Heavenly Father, I have no idea why you have me here, but what is it that you want me to do? Well, to me, Dylan Klebold made a huge, terrible choice that day. Kids are making choices that I never had to make, ever. So I became passionate about choices. And that’s why I went into teaching discipline to school staffs for working with that so that kids have some tools to work with about that. But the communication skills have to be there.
SPEAKER 02 :
So, Michelle, do you think that since Columbine, are we doing a good enough job looking for signs early on? Because it seems like when I see the news and there’s a mass school shooting, people say, oh, this student has been showing all these signs all along and the school never did anything about it. Or do you think we’re actually hyper vigilant and every little thing, you know, that a child does, especially if a little elementary school student brings a toy gun, you know, can they play with a toy gun anymore? Is that going too far? Are we too careful or are we still ignoring signs of mental health issues in our students?
SPEAKER 03 :
Mental health is huge, but I honestly feel that we’re doing the very best we can in the situation of where we’re living right now. A teacher surely has to know her kids. And as a music teacher and for you with your instrumental music, you know that we’re dealing with hundreds of kids. And an individual teacher, she begins to know her kids and the kids know her. Yes, there’s always going to be more that we can do. Again, I’ve got to pray about it because I can’t do this, Father. You can’t. You know the heart of this child in front of me. Is there something I need to know more? Is there something I need to know to help her? You’re in charge, Father, and I’m going to trust you, but you’ve got to show me, please.
SPEAKER 02 :
Michelle, I love what you’ve done with your time since retirement. And, you know, of course, as a music educator, and we both have this really great last name. Yes, we do. And shout out to our friend Gail, the beautiful Gail. She was actually the connection between the two of us. She and I had some issues. And I said, oh, this is someone amazing. She’s in Colorado. Let me friend request her on Facebook. And she admitted later on that she accepted my friend request because she thought I was your daughter-in-law. I’m like, I’ll take it. And she came to my middle school and she did a little talk about her career because she was a restaurateur and just all of the things that she was involved in. And, you know, you call it a beauty pageant, but it’s more than just the beauty pageant, because even though you’re beautiful and you’re healthy and you’re a go-getter and a jet setter, it’s deeper than that. Tell me a little bit more about the organization and what are they looking for when they’re selecting candidates to be a representative?
SPEAKER 03 :
First of all, the key word in that pageant is senior. It’s Miss Senior America, and you have to be 60 or older. Our oldest contestant was Stella Vanu Kirkland from Pennsylvania, who won, who entered the pageant when she was 99 and She learned to tap dance when she was 80. And I’m going to answer the question that many of your audience will have in their mind, and that is, no, no, no, no, and no, there is not a swimsuit competition. But we are judged on so many things about what makes a person. And we care about that. how we are aging aging is so much of a choice again back to the choices that we make but it’s it’s an organization where every single contestant who has entered into this pageant from all over the united states they’ve been through tough times i don’t care who it is but they’ve been through tough times and we know what’s important at this stage in our life and therefore there’s not the bickering there’s not the The jealousy. It’s such a different organization. This was the first pageant I had ever entered into. And it was a great one because, again, we cared for each other. And that year of traveling the United States and meeting women… who loved Jesus, who I could pray with. And no, you don’t have to be a Christian, but I met many Christians that God had placed just like me to do something that he needed done. And that’s our life journeys are all his, what he’s about. So please let us listen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Well, it’s a great testament that you didn’t feel like you had to hide the fact that you are a believer because I know in public education, a lot of times we as educators can feel the pressure to be quiet and not be vocal about our faith. And, you know, there are a lot of forces in society that are very negatively aggressive towards Christians. So what is your message to young Christian educators today? who may feel like they can’t say anything about their faith ever?
SPEAKER 03 :
Pray about it. God takes over. Absolutely. It’s like my daughter says to me, mom, you wear that across your, your forehead. That’s, that’s all him. That’s all him. I, from a mops perspective, I, those young mommies that are facing more difficult things than my generation had to also. But at a MOPS convention, Rick Warren was the speaker. And the first words out of his mouth were, be bold about Christ. Christ will take care of the other end. And yes, we know that we need to do it. Again, it’s all him. Lord, put the words in my mouth or don’t put the words in my mouth. But use me as your light. If this is where you place me, this parent is who you place me with, this PTA is where I’m at, show me how to be your light, but don’t let me be obnoxious about it, Waller.
SPEAKER 02 :
Please take over. Well, Michelle, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with me today and to my listeners. Unfortunately, we’re out of time, but I’m so glad we get to see each other and talk with each other anytime that we like it. So it was my pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. And to my listeners, thank you for tuning in and catch me next time. And remember, educating the mind without the heart is no education. So seek wisdom, cultivate virtue and speak truth. Thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thanks for tuning in to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Ron. Visit PriscillaRon.com to connect or learn how you can sponsor future episodes to keep this message of faith, freedom, and education on the air.
