“Teaching wasn’t your purpose; it was your platform. It’s how you lived out what you wanted to do with your life. It was a job, and now that you can no longer use that platform, what is your purpose?”
This conversation with On With Life Neuropsychologist Dr. Allison Logemann was a pivotal moment in Megan Schmelzer’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury. Megan had always dreamed of being a teacher and had been teaching at Southeast Elementary in Ankeny for the last 12 years. But after a fall in an icy parking lot, her future in teaching was brought into question.
Megan attended outpatient therapy at On With Life’s Ankeny campus for two months where her therapists worked with her on vision, balance, memory and ability to multitask – a very important quality needed in a classroom.
“Anything my therapists could tie into my life as a teacher and mom was huge,” said Megan.
Even still, it became reality for Megan that going back to a classroom with 30 kids to teach just wasn’t realistic anymore. It was with the help of Dr. Logemann that a new possibility came to light.
“My purpose was to work with and help children,” said Megan. “I have always been passionate about teaching and education and have loved kids, so tutoring became my new platform. From there I started The Little White Schoolhouse.”
The Little White Schoolhouse opened in August 2021 with the belief that every child is smart and can learn. Several teachers quickly jumped on board to join Megan’s mission making the tutoring business a greater success than Megan could have imagined. The Little White Schoolhouse has given Megan the opportunity to turn her experience into a positive and use it to connect with children who find challenges in learning.
March 2023 update: The Little White Schoolhouse has started a foundation! If you are interesting in learning more and/or supporting, visit The Little White Schoolhouse Foundation website.