Growing up just down the highway in Le Center, Kayla Wills always wanted to be a teacher, but after taking an intro to speech therapy class at Minnesota State University Moorhead, all of that changed.
“I loved it and switched my major, and I still get to enjoy working with students and seeing their progress through the school year.”
Providing speech and language services, Wills joined Cleveland School this year. In the past, the school outsourced these services, but adding Will as a direct employee was a significant cost savings.
Wills graduated from Le Center High School. After earning her undergrad degree at MSU, Morehead, she went on to earn her master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology there.
Her first position as a speech therapist was at a private practice in Bozeman, Montana. Later, she moved back to Minnesota and worked at a private practice in the Twin Cities that contracted with schools. From there, it was on to Faribault and a position at Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. After that, she took a job at Belle Plaine schools before accepting the position at Cleveland.
“I chose Cleveland because of the small school and the strong community,” she said.
When Wills is not working with students, she enjoys being outdoors, going on family walks, kayaking and traveling.
She has two boys, who were already attending Cleveland school last year: Colton, who will be a second grader this fall, and Cooper, who will be going into kindergarten.