February 10, 2022 - Celebrating teachers who go above and beyond!
March 7, 2022 - We had the honor of delivering breakfast to a Rockstar teacher this morning. Congratulations Melissa Smith for being nominated and winning breakfast for the entire faculty and staff at Pettigrew Elementary.
March 9, 2022 - We started yesterday off bright and early delivering breakfast to the faculty and staff at Harrisburg Middle School South. Drew Reinschmidt was nominated as a rockstar teacher and won breakfast for all his co-workers. It was so nice to speak with Drew and many of the other teachers there. Congratulations Drew!
March 29, 2022 - This morning we delivered breakfast to all faculty and staff at Edison Middle School. Kelly Cornelia was nominated as a Rock Star teacher and received breakfast for everyone. Congratulations Kelly!
April 4, 2022 - Continuing our one week of giving for Caitlyn’s birthday last Wednesday, we delivered breakfast to 110 faculty and staff at Whittier Middle School. Michaela Mayer had nominated Ashley Crownover as a Rockstar teacher! Congratulations Ashley!
Click the image below to watch the video.
Septemeber 5, 2021 - One of the 11 recipients of the Live Like Cat First Year Teacher Grants. Rose is an energetic first grade teacher at Lowell Elementary in Sioux Falls. Congratulations Rose. Have the best year!!!
Septemeber 7, 2021 - Meet Sydney Hirsch. Sydney teaches 6th grade special education at the Yankton Middle School. Congratulations Sydney! Have a fantastic first year of teaching.
Septemeber 9, 2021 - Meet Haley, Makenzie and Whitney. Haley teaches K-5 Special Education in Marion, SD. Makenzie teaches the 2nd grade in the Parker, SD school district. Whitney teaches K-5 Special Education at Horace Mann Bridges Elementary School in Sioux Falls. Congratulation girls on your first year of teaching. Live Like Cat wishes you all the best!
Septemeber 13, 2021 - Meet Jamie Person. Jamie teaches at Harvey Dunn Elementary in Sioux Falls. We are excited to see how she uses her grant money for her 1st grade classroom.
Septemeber 16, 2021 - Meet Quentin and Mackenzie. Quentin teaches at the Tri-Valley Elementary School in Colton, SD. Mackenzie teaches 8th grade math at Whittier Middle School in Sioux Falls. Live Like Cat is excited to see how they use their grant money in their classrooms. Congratulations to both of you! Have a great school year.
Septemeber 26, 2021 - Meet Jacey Stratton. Jacey graduated from Buena Vista University and teaches the 1st grade in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Jacey plans to use her grant money on student manipulatives to aid in learning and some flexible seating for the students. Congratulations Jacey, have a great year!
November 7, 2021 - Meet Kelly Vondrak. Kelly was a recent grant recipient who teaches high school special education at East High School in Sioux City. She plans on using the grant money for alternative seating, supplies, and fidgets for her special education classroom! Congratulations Kelly!
Click the image below to watch the video.
May 27, 2021 - Delivered gift cards to the first lucky winner of the recent drawing. Kelly Brose is a 2nd and 3rd level Spanish teach at Ogorman High School. Congratulations to Kelly!
July 23, 2021 - Hayley Warren is a teacher at Roosevelt High School and also recently completed teaching summer school reading. Congratulations Hayley on being nominated.
July 26, 2021 - Mrs. Freeman was a middle school teacher of Caitlyns at Memorial Middle School. She is now making the exciting move over to Ben Reifel Middle School. Congratulations Mrs. Freeman on being selected!
July 29, 2021 - Kendall was another winner during the Teacher Appreciation Week giveaway. Kendall teaches 5-8 grade disabled students at East Middle School in Moorhead, MN. Congratulations Kendall!
Click the image below to watch the video.
August 16, 2020 - Tonight we started the dispersing of the First Year Teacher Grant funds. What awesome young adults! Pictured left to right - Lizzie Hansen, Audre Nilges and Zach Gors on the far right. Each one received $300. We will be getting distributing the remaining checks throughout the week.
August 17, 2020 - Delivered 3 more checks tonight to first year teacher grant recipients. So exciting to hear their enthusiasm of how they wish to use the funds. Live Like Cat wishes you all the very best.
August 19, 2020 - Continuing our week of giving. Delivering more checks to first year teacher grant winners. This is Stephanie Sanderson and Paige Golden who both will be teaching in Yankton. Live Like Cat wishes you both the best!
August 26, 2020 - Wyatt Kayser was one of Live Like Cat’s first year teacher grant winners. Wyatt teaches 5th grade in Bridgewater - Emory. Wyatt has plans to use his funds to purchase several lessons bundles through ‘Teachers Pay Teachers’ that he was unable to purchase this summer. He feels the lessons bundles will keep the students engaged better than traditional textbooks. Thanks Wyatt for sharing your plans. Have a great school year!
September 2, 2020 - Meet Gracelynn Jones who was one of our First Year Teacher grant winners. Gracelynn teaches the 6th grade at Huron Middle School. Gracelynn was excited to purchase new books and spruce up her old bookcase. Best wishes Miss Jones.
September 9, 2020 - A message we received from Hannah: “Good morning Live Like Cat. I want to first start off by saying thank you so much for blessing me and my students by being part of the LLC first teacher grants. I will be using the money to give my students more sensory items such as light covers for the classroom. I heard about LLC from my future in laws and I have been following your story ever since. Your support towards teachers means the world and I hope to help spread Cats story. Thank you again!"
September 12, 2020 - Meet Hannah Jessen, a first year teacher grant recipient. Hannah teaches the 4th grade at Jefferson Elementary in Watertown, SD. Shout out to Lisa and Laken Dahl who arranged the meeting with Hannah in Watertown. Have a great school year Hannah!
Live Like Cat is proud to announce the establishment of the endowed USD Caitlyn Carman Education Scholarship. This scholarship will live on forever! Every year a gifted education major will be selected and receive a $2,000 award in honor of Caitlyn. Her name and passion will remain forever within the walls of the USD education building. A huge shout out to the LLC board of directors who worked hard to make this happen! Established March 6, 2020
Meet Laken Dahl. The recipient of the first Caitlyn Carman Education Scholarship. Live Like Cat was overwhelmed by the number of applicants that applied for our first scholarship. It was an extremely tough decision. Every applicant was high quality and we have no doubt that each one of the applicants will go on to be an awesome teacher.
Laken is from Watertown, SD and attends Augustana. It was an extremely emotional surprise presentation tonight as today would have been Caitlyn’s first day of student teaching and the start of her senior year. Laken emulates Caitlyn’s qualities in so many ways. Thank you to EVERY applicant. You made our decision extremely tough. Best wishes for a great school year to all!
The Live Like Cat Cheer Bow - The sales of these bows are how Live Like Cat is able to fund the Dakota Spirit Live Like Cat scholarship each year. The $500 scholarship is awarded to an amazing athlete who exemplifies Caitlyn. Bows are $10. Thank you Shayne Kennedy for your amazing bow making skills and for all your help!
March 27, 2018 - Lauren Jaton is the first recipient of the Dakota Spirit Caitlyn Carman Legacy Award and Scholarship.
April 4, 2019 - Recipient of the second annual Dakota Spirit Caitlyn Carman Legacy Award and Scholarship goes to Derrek Kennedy.
May 2020 - Congratulations Caitlyn Ryswyk! Caitlyn is the recipient of the Dakota Spirit “Live Like Cat” award this year. She honors our Caitlyn with her passion and vivacious personality.
April 15, 2021 - Congratulations to Andrea Lawrence who was selected for the Dakota Spirit “Live Like Cat” award including a $500 scholarship. There were so many deserving cheerleaders; the decision was hard. Wishing you all the best Andrea.
April 4, 2022 - Congratulations to Ella Stearns who was selected for the Dakota Spirit “Live Like Cat” award including a $500 scholarship. She will be attending Augustana University. Wishing you all the best Ella.
April 4, 2023 - Congratulations to Ashlynn Daniels who was selected for the Live Like Cat Cheer Scholarship awarded annually at the Dakota Spirit Spiritfest. Ashlynn emulates Caitlyn in so many ways and is 100% deserving of this award.
April 18, 2024 - Congratulations to Morgan Anderson who was selected for the Live Like Cat Cheer Scholarship awarded annually at the Dakota Spirit Spiritfest. Morgan has been in Dakota Spirit for 11 years and plans to attend SDSU where she will pursue a degree in Nursing. She also plans to try out for the SDSU cheer team.
