Kayla Willmann
2026
Culverden, New Zealand
Amuri School Individualized Education
Kayla Willmann (2026: Culverden, New Zealand) will provide individualized care to students with disabilities and learning challenges in a school setting. This will involve accompanying children in the classroom and extracurricular activities, nurturing the holistic development of students. Encouraging the flourishing of children who often go overlooked, and providing consistent, compassionate care to students who have different abilities will increase the educational and personal wellbeing of all students.
My name is Kayla Willmann, and I am so grateful for this upcoming opportunity to accompany students who experience learning challenges and have disabilities in their educational journey. Throughout my life, I have been gifted with the opportunity to work with a variety of populations of children in vulnerable situations, including those living in poverty, experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, and those at risk for human trafficking. In each of these populations that are already incredibly vulnerable, the children who have disabilities are often even more overlooked, or there is no one who is equipped to care for them in the way they deserve to be cared for, often due to a lack of resources and education. My heart burns for the most overlooked and vulnerable in our society, which led me to embark on a journey with children who are most often forgotten.
In every vulnerable population I have been graced to work with, poverty is a driving risk factor, and data show that education fights poverty. For this reason, learning about how to adequately educate those who are the most at risk is foundational. This is why I chose to partner with Amuri Area School for my Lumos project. This program emphasizes the success and flourishing of all students, regardless of their abilities and challenges. I will be assigned to provide individualized care, both in the classroom and outside the classroom, for students who have disabilities and learning challenges. Individualized care is crucial for the holistic development of students with disabilities. I truly believe that every child is worthy of a fitting education that nurtures their entire personhood. I am honored to get to have a seat at the table in the lives of these children, and look forward to offering an encouraging presence.
Overall, I desire my life to be geared toward seeing the unseen, hearing the unheard, and speaking the unspoken. I hope to continue to join with voices that deserve to be heard, and to nurture the goodness in all of those around me, especially those most in need of love. I look forward to all I will learn from working with the children in New Zealand, and I am excited to implement everything I take away in my community at home.
More about me....
Home Town: Mukwonago, WI
Major(s): Social Work